Beatitude House, Emmanuel center join efforts

By Linda M. Linonis

The collaboration is to increase the level of services and lower costs.

A shared mission brought Beatitude House, 238 Tod Lane, Youngstown, and Emmanuel Community Care Center, 2 N. State St., Girard, into a mutually beneficial collaboration.

Sister Patricia McNicholas, Beatitude House executive director, experienced firsthand how it is working in one area. When the storm Tuesday night left her without electricity Wednesday morning, the power company was called but she also relied on help from Humility of Mary Housing Inc.’s plant management services that include maintenance, housekeeping and custodial services.

Beatitude House, sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, and Emmanuel center, sponsored by Sisters of the Humility of Mary and Humility of Mary Housing Inc., both provide transitional housing for disadvantaged women with children and offer educational and employment services to help the women become independent.

In the collaboration, Beatitude House will provide programming services including counseling and child advocacy to families at Emmanuel center. Humility of Mary will provide plant management services to Beatitude House.

The two organizations, which formally began the collaboration July 1, also plan joint efforts in technology.

Sister Jean Orsuto, Emmanuel’s executive director, said she and Sister Patricia started meeting two years ago. After attending a workshop on collaboration given by the Sisters of Charity, the two groups focused on how to take the idea to reality. “We had a lot in common ... our mission, values, clientele and what we want to accomplish,” Sister Jean said.

“We took all aspects — mission, development, plant management, programming, technology — and evaluated strengths and weaknesses. We saw how it could mesh together,” said Sister Patricia, who noted the two organizations previously had worked together informally.

The formal agreement is for a year, but both nuns said they envisioned the collaboration as ongoing. By working together, the two organizations can increase the level of services and lower costs, they said.

Sister Jean said Emmanuel center provides housing for five women and their children; Sister Patricia said Beatitude houses 31 women and their children. Beatitude House has 12 apartments in the Lora Avenue area, off Fifth Avenue; four on the West Side; eight scattered around Mahoning County; and seven in Warren.

Emmanuel center, a smaller operation than Beatitude House, was offering programs similar to what it will now get from Beatitude personnel. Sister Patricia said programming involves child advocacy, counseling and career assessment and education.

“Child advocacy focuses on the role of the parent and teaching parenting skills,” she said. “It’s also about safety issues and discipline,” she added, noting that one aspect is knowing how to install a car seat.

But that’s not all. “We also teach parents about child development and age-appropriate behavior,” Sister Patricia said. Discipline and school work also are addressed.

Counseling for women who are dealing with personal issues, including domestic violence situations, and grief counseling for those who have lost loved ones, some to violence, also is part of the Beatitude-Emmanuel exchange.

Beatitude House also will provide assistance with education and career assessment. “And it’s about what is realistic and obtainable,” said Teresa Boyce, Beatitude development director.

Humility of Mary Housing Inc. will provide plant management services, which includes maintenance, housekeeping and custodial, for Beatitude House buildings. “Contracting for all these services would be expensive,” Sister Patricia said. Already, plant management services have provided input on new furnaces.

Sister Jean said Humility of Mary has a centralized technology in place. Computers used at Beatitude House will become part of that network with benefits in the areas of intranet, information, maintenance and upgrades.