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A
WARMER PLACE TO SLEEP — Up to
32 single women and eight women with children
can stay at any one time in the Cathedral Center
shelter, 845 N. Van Buren St. in downtown Milwaukee.
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MILWAUKEE — The halls are decked,
the malls are full of frenzied shoppers, Charlie Brown’s
sickly little tree is being revived on television, and
hope is in the air this time of year — even among
those who would seem to be having the hardest of hard
times.
The Cathedral Center, 845 N. Van Buren St., housed in
a former convent, has been in operation for six months.
It provides counseling services and temporary shelter
for up to 32 single women and eight women with children.
The average shelter stay, according to executive director
Donna Rongholt-Migan, is 30 days for single women and
five days for families, “although families are
less predictable,” she said. “There are
more resources available for families because of the
children.”
“Elizabeth,” who asked that her real name
not be used, has been a shelter resident for two months.
She doesn’t have drug or alcohol problems, has
a bachelor’s degree from a university in New York,
and wasn’t on the streets before arriving at the
Cathedral Center — just staying with members of
her dysfunctional family.
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NEW
BEGINNINGS — “Elizabeth,”
a Cathedral Center shelter resident, spends
some time in the center’s “quiet
room,” or living room. She hopes to be
able to move into a place of her own in the
new year. (Catholic Herald photos by James Pearson)
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“What brought me here is what brings most people
here,” she said. “It’s when your support
system falls apart.”
Elizabeth went into a deep depression after her son
was killed as a result of gang violence, and thought
she could go back to her family for support.
“But I couldn’t,” she said. “I
come from a world where my mom was battered. In the
1950s, minorities were unskilled. We lived in a world
where women thought they had to take abuse. I grew up
on the streets screaming for the police to come help
my mother. And I did go through some abuse with my husband
(she’s now divorced). Shelters in my generation
were nonexistent.
“In my generation, you were supposed to stay with
your husband — problems in the home, you were
taught to hide them. They dressed you up in a nice dress
on Sunday, and you went to church. I’m glad I’m
here now. It’s allowing me to rebuild my life.”
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COORDINATE
CLAUSES — Mr. and Mrs. Santa,
made by a Cathedral Center resident from bleach
jugs, tissue paper and grocery bags, look out
over the “quiet room.” (Catholic
Herald photos by James Pearson) |
Elizabeth recently started a job at a local department
store and plans to move into a place of her own in the
new year. Long-term, “I want to be a foster care
mom and adopt a child,” she said. Her best advice
to other women is “don’t be afraid to ask
for help. Today there are resources.”
The Cathedral Center’s partners include the American
Red Cross, which provides mental health outreach and
coordinates the shelter’s assessment center; the
Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, which provides
volunteers to serve as mentors and support operations;
Catholic Charities; and St. Ben’s Clinic, which
provides health assessments, brief treatments, and links
to appropriate medical resources. The Milwaukee County
Department of Human Services program known as ANET also
has several programs involved, such as Health Care for
the Homeless.
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist provides the
physical space free of charge and cooperates with other
area churches in offering spiritual support.
Cathedral
Center wish list |
• Prepaid phone
cards for guest use ($5-$10 increments)
• Bus tickets (not dated bus passes)
• Blank journals
• Alarm clocks
• Infant changing pads
• Full size sheet sets
• Towels and wash cloths
• Hats, gloves/mittens, scarves for women
and children
• Hygiene bags (smaller or trial size products)
for infants, children and women
• Cleaning supplies (laundry detergent,
paper products, trash bags)
• Food (perishable for daily lunch program)
• Office supplies
• Tools
• Bookshelves
• File cabinets
• Laundry baskets
Contact Donna Rongholt-Migan at (414) 831-0394,
Ext. 2114
or e-mail
<drongholt@cathedralcenter.org>. |
The women who come to the center must establish goals
and an independence plan. Rongholt-Migan said the partners
are working on a “winter policy,” however,
in which beds, or at least a warm room, will be available
for those who don’t meet the rules.
The center also is starting to offer day program services
to help women in pursuing their goals, Rongholt-Migan
said.
“We have to ask our facilitators to do it for
free, so we have to be flexible with the schedule,”
she said. “Topics include things like money management,
self-esteem, life skills, decision-making. Attendance
is good at the self-esteem group. It’s facilitated
by one of our case managers, and it’s an opportunity
for the women to support one another.”
Group sessions are “a one-shot deal,” Rongholt-Migan
said, “because we don’t know who will be
here next week,” which makes it more difficult
for the women to work on long-term issues. Referrals
to community mental health agencies are given as needed,
but state budget cuts have endangered or eliminated
many of those programs.
In the meantime, the center is trying to raise funds
for its own operations. “The Cathedral Center
is a partnership,” Rongholt-Migan said. “It’s
real difficult to raise funds for an organization where
partners contribute. I’m the only employee, but
we have overhead, electricity. People aren’t real
attracted to paying for someone’s electric bill.”
The center is in the process of developing a donor base.
Once the $250,000 needed for next year’s operations
has been raised, work on an endowment will begin.
Rongholt-Migan said “the community has been a
tremendous support in reducing our overhead by supplying
office equipment, food, bedding — the different
things consumed that families need. That’s been
a wonderful help.” There’s still a wish
list, however.
More than 540 families have been referred to the center
since June. Rongholt-Migan believes they have been well
served.
“The vision behind all these things being put
together was very thorough,” Rongholt-Migan said.
“We still have some rough spots, but we’re
making great progress.”
