Introduction to IVC Stories and Maureen Kennedy Barney
Who could have known that the last almost five months would thrust us onto this new, uncharted path? We are in a forced time-out together and alone. Many of the ways we serve society’s most vulnerable — refugees and immigrants, prisoners, patients, the hungry and the unsheltered — have been severely challenged by social distancing.
And yet, during this chaos, now more than ever the Ignatian Volunteer Corps Chicago (Maura Rogan, Director: mrogan@ivcusa.org) is committed to staying on the course we started in 2001, connecting and serving others and reflecting on God’s presence and power in our volunteer service and all we do —we are not about to stop in the face of a pandemic!
While we are keeping ourselves safe and healthy, we are continuing to fill hearts as we keep our mission and values alive during these challenging times.
Maureen Kennedy Barney
You’ve Got Mail: Connecting, caring and continuing to serve adults with disabilities during the pandemic
For five years, Maureen Kennedy Barney has been inspiring adults with disabilities to express their unique talents and gifts as an IVC service corps member leading Trinity Volunteer Corps housed at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago.
COVID-19 may have physically shut down the church building and the group’s meeting site and forced her to change her outreach tactics, but she refuses to let it halt her efforts to empower the adults in her care with a sense of purpose and belonging through continuing their work to help others.
Who could have known that the last almost five months would thrust us onto this new, uncharted path? We are in a forced time-out together and alone. Many of the ways we serve society’s most vulnerable — refugees and immigrants, prisoners, patients, the hungry and the unsheltered — have been severely challenged by social distancing.
And yet, during this chaos, now more than ever the Ignatian Volunteer Corps Chicago (Maura Rogan, Director: mrogan@ivcusa.org) is committed to staying on the course we started in 2001, connecting and serving others and reflecting on God’s presence and power in our volunteer service and all we do —we are not about to stop in the face of a pandemic!
While we are keeping ourselves safe and healthy, we are continuing to fill hearts as we keep our mission and values alive during these challenging times.
Maureen Kennedy Barney
You’ve Got Mail: Connecting, caring and continuing to serve adults with disabilities during the pandemic
For five years, Maureen Kennedy Barney has been inspiring adults with disabilities to express their unique talents and gifts as an IVC service corps member leading Trinity Volunteer Corps housed at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago.
COVID-19 may have physically shut down the church building and the group’s meeting site and forced her to change her outreach tactics, but she refuses to let it halt her efforts to empower the adults in her care with a sense of purpose and belonging through continuing their work to help others.
“During this shutdown, I’ve been determined we would stay connected,” says Barney about the 12 members in the group. “I know how hard this must be for their parents.”
A women on a mission, the clerks at her Northwest suburban postal office witness her determination every Monday when she arrives bearing boxes of post cards, craft kits, cookie mixes, gardening seeds, and whatever she’s selected as the project of the week, which she mails to the homes of members of her group. She’s delivered larger packages to their doorsteps. The group also attends OSP Sunday Mass “together” (albeit virtually on ZOOM) and each member meets personally on ZOOM or the phone weekly with Barney and often together as a group. And, birthdays are on the must celebrate list too!
Before COVID-19, the Trinity group were regular volunteers at Old St. Pat’s, doing everything from folding the weekly worship aides and assembling cheer bags for shut-ins, greeting Mass-goers, assisting at special events, preparing the 4000 Giving Tree tags, serving meals at the Ronald McDonald Houses, preparing weekly food bags for the homeless who find their daily sustenance at Old St Pat’s, and much more.
“The Monday packets are meant to allow for interaction based on each person’s ability,” says Barney.
The range of packet-inspired activities includes:
• Spending time on the computer to find answers to a topic depicted on a postcard they’ve received (i.e. a picture of the Statue of Liberty or Golden Gate Bridge or Lake Michigan or a baseball park).
• Reading the books she sends on timely topics for example, the history of the American flag for Memorial Day and the Celebrations for 4th of July.
• Planting gardens and tending to them from the seed packets she has sent.
A women on a mission, the clerks at her Northwest suburban postal office witness her determination every Monday when she arrives bearing boxes of post cards, craft kits, cookie mixes, gardening seeds, and whatever she’s selected as the project of the week, which she mails to the homes of members of her group. She’s delivered larger packages to their doorsteps. The group also attends OSP Sunday Mass “together” (albeit virtually on ZOOM) and each member meets personally on ZOOM or the phone weekly with Barney and often together as a group. And, birthdays are on the must celebrate list too!
Before COVID-19, the Trinity group were regular volunteers at Old St. Pat’s, doing everything from folding the weekly worship aides and assembling cheer bags for shut-ins, greeting Mass-goers, assisting at special events, preparing the 4000 Giving Tree tags, serving meals at the Ronald McDonald Houses, preparing weekly food bags for the homeless who find their daily sustenance at Old St Pat’s, and much more.
“The Monday packets are meant to allow for interaction based on each person’s ability,” says Barney.
The range of packet-inspired activities includes:
• Spending time on the computer to find answers to a topic depicted on a postcard they’ve received (i.e. a picture of the Statue of Liberty or Golden Gate Bridge or Lake Michigan or a baseball park).
• Reading the books she sends on timely topics for example, the history of the American flag for Memorial Day and the Celebrations for 4th of July.
• Planting gardens and tending to them from the seed packets she has sent.
“We also send each other e-cards or funny stories with the goal of keeping everyone engaged and connected,” she says. “The parents of these wonderful people have no break and a small project, a call, a shared video...anything that allows for a focus can be good for all.”
Barney also is putting her team to work for Old St. Pat’s outreach ministry, helping her send personal cards to those on the list for special occasions such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for those with children in the UIC Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and to organizations including Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and The Boulevard, persons faced with extra challenges during the isolation.
“A telling comment of the impact this time has had was voiced when one of the young men at the beginning of the quarantine was very concerned that all the work they had done all year was for nothing,” says Maureen. “He also asked if Fr Hurley were missing them and would want us back. I explained to him that we are all still doing very important work with the cards, our outreach messages and our prayers for others. And yes, Fr Hurley is always caring for all of us at OSP, and definitely eager to welcome us back to work as soon as we’re allowed. And, he got it. Even in the middle of all of this, he now knows what he and his TVC friends are doing is important and is helping others because, no matter what the form, we're always connected, always taking care of one another”
Barney also is putting her team to work for Old St. Pat’s outreach ministry, helping her send personal cards to those on the list for special occasions such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for those with children in the UIC Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and to organizations including Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and The Boulevard, persons faced with extra challenges during the isolation.
“A telling comment of the impact this time has had was voiced when one of the young men at the beginning of the quarantine was very concerned that all the work they had done all year was for nothing,” says Maureen. “He also asked if Fr Hurley were missing them and would want us back. I explained to him that we are all still doing very important work with the cards, our outreach messages and our prayers for others. And yes, Fr Hurley is always caring for all of us at OSP, and definitely eager to welcome us back to work as soon as we’re allowed. And, he got it. Even in the middle of all of this, he now knows what he and his TVC friends are doing is important and is helping others because, no matter what the form, we're always connected, always taking care of one another”