The Wellness Lounge
By The Rev. Dr. Micheal A. Smith
|
|
Working in conjunction with the Chief Nursing Officer of John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Bishop Anderson House sponsored a wellness event for more than 20 nursing managers. The event was provided by a team of alternative health and fitness professionals from The Well Being Lounge by Tayonon Holistics.
The Well Being Lounge provides onsite and event based wellbeing services in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The eight-hour event for the nursing managers included massage, self-care and mediation stations. The massage stations provided Swedish, deep tissue and shiatsu pressure point work. The self-care stations provided self-massage instruction, restorative yoga positions, Zen stretches and coaching tips for workplace and home. The meditation stations offered instruction for guided mediation while reclining in a zero-gravity chair.
The intent of the event was to create a completely relaxing and integrated day of wellbeing for the nursing managers. The desired outcomes were to reduce stress, fatigue, burnout and influence sustainable self-care practices for the hospital and home. At the conclusion of the wellness event, each nursing manager received a teddy bear and wellness card from Bishop Anderson House. In addition, the Well Being Lounge gifted each nursing manager a wellbeing box which included a 4oz bottle of Yasou (yasuo means a toast to your health in Greek), natural skin care hydrating body cream, wild orange aromatherapy and a sample of white sage for clearing one’s environment.
|
|
Partners in Caring
By The Rev. Rose Cicero
|
|
One of the most heart-breaking experiences in Labor & Delivery or NICU is when a child dies. The grief seems unbearable to parents who must leave the hospital without the child they so longed for and loved. The relationship with an unborn child begins long before birth. A bond between mother and child only strengthens during growth and development. Families are filled with anticipation, dreams and hope before the birth. Then, after a loss, parents are devastated when the unthinkable happens.
In order to help these families with their grief, we offer a virtual drop-in support group for parents who have experienced loss through miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons or infant death. Kim Sangster, Bereavement Support and Education Coordinator at Rush University Medical Center, and I co-facilitate this group. Each month couples can come together and share their stories. They talk with each other about their sorrow and their struggles as they try to piece their lives back together after their loss. Kim and I are always amazed after each meeting about how participants support each other as they navigate a world that has changed so drastically for them. From the time a woman knows she is pregnant, her identity begins to change as she sees herself as a mother. She must now reconcile being a mother without a child.
Very often during a meeting a woman will say, “This is a group that nobody wants to be a member of.” Yet they are, and they are able to come together in their grief and offer each other support. Some of the topics include telling other people, dealing with a friend who was pregnant at the same time, responding to people who don’t know what to say, handling anniversary dates, preparing for holidays, being on social media, how to say no when things are too much, and being patient with themselves because there is no timeline to grieving. Most importantly, these women (and sometimes men) know they are not alone in their experience of this type of loss. Many parents have found encouragement, strength, and healing while coping with loss and sorrow through the support of this group.
How grateful I am that these women and men have an opportunity to come together and that they have each other to help them through this most difficult time. I am also thankful that Kim and I are present to witness their journeys toward healing.
|
|
Spiritual Care Visitor Training On The Move
By The Rev. Dr. Ebony D. Only
|
|
Spiritual Care Visitor Training (SCVT) is intended to enhance existing spiritual care skills by teaching enrollees how to support members of their faith community. I was honored to guide the Deacon Ministry of the historic Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, through a series of on-site workshops utilizing our SCVT modules as a foundation, at their church located on the Southside of Chicago.
Together, we reviewed each module over the course of 8 weeks and took the time to discuss its practical application within their ministry context. Additionally, we were able to unpack some of their own experiences, grief and trauma and learn how to utilize those life lessons to help them to identify with the members and families they will visit as part of their ministry.
At the conclusion of the training, attendees remarked improvement in their own spiritual health in addition to deepening their spiritual care competency. It was an amazing period of self-discovery and learning for all of us. Join me in welcoming these 2023 Spiritual Care Visitor Training graduates:
|
|
 |
Deacon Richard Anthony
Deacon Charles Bridgeman
Deacon Jonathan Brooks
|
|
|
|
Deacon David Kizart
Deacon Isaac Walker
Deacon Steven Wilson
|
|
|
|
Rev. Dr. Ernest Ledbetter, III |
|
Happenings around the House |
|
2023 Spiritual Care Visitor Training |
|
The dates of our 2023 Spiritual Care Visitor Training retreat sessions have been set. We are pleased to share some exciting changes for this year:
-
Due to a generous foundation grant we have received to support this program, for 2023 only the cost will be the $50 application fee.
-
We will return with in person retreats - Saturday, March 23 in Park Ridge and Saturday, September 30 in Chicago.
-
A virtual retreat will also be offered on Saturdays January 21 and 28 (both sessions are mandatory).
-
The application process will be open year round. Classes will have a maximum of 20 students. Please register early!
Click on the image to see all details and print the flyer to share with those who may be interested. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Registrar, Kim Lessner at 312-563-4825.
|
|
Welcome to our Newest Board of Trustee Members |
|
At our board meeting held on Tuesday, November 13, the following five people were elected to serve a three-year term beginning in January, 2023. Welcome to Dan Dorman, Dr. Catherine (Kit) Grotelueschen, Renitta Jacobs, The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Lagman and The Rev. Sue Nebel.
|
|
Monthly Resiliency Calendars |
The Rev. Dr. Ebony D. Only is providing a monthly calendar with daily realistic actions for your emotional well-being along with some words of wisdom and encouragement. Please go to the Spirituality & Wellness / Resiliency page on our website to get the current calendar.
|
|
|
|
how much the Bishop Anderson House staff appreciates our donors as heroes? This was sent to our donors via US Mail in late November. If you didn't receive a copy and would like to be added to the mailing list, please click here to provide your information.
|
|
Gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure |
How grateful we are to have received an abundance of support for our ministries. Here is a list of recent donors:
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Downers Grove for prayer squares; Trinity Episcopal Church, Wheaton for stocking our shelves with teddy bears; Church of the Holy Nativity, Clarendon Hills for hand-knitted comfort bears; Moira Fearncombe, St. Mark's Episcopal Church for prayer shawls, hats and scarves; and a special thank you to members of St. David's Episcopal Church, Glenview who came and helped fill Samaritan Backpacks with supplies purchased through a grant received from their Loaves and Fishes Grant Committee.
We are most grateful to everyone who has supported us in 2022 with their gifts of time, talent and treasure! Here is a list of all donors who have supported our ministry over the last year. (as of Monday, December 12 at noon)
|
|
Chaplaincy // Social Responsibility & Racial Justice
Spirituality & Wellness // Education
|
|
Bishop Anderson House is an interfaith agency rooted in the tradition of the Episcopal Church,
providing pastoral services and education programs for faith and health care communities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
