the House with a Heart

440-240-1851info@blessinghouse.orgwww.blessinghouse.org

Help Us Help Our Children. Please consider making a donation to Blessing House, www.blessinghouse.org

Christmas 2019

Dear Friends,

Rejoice in the spirit of Christmas which is Peace, The miracle of Christmas which is Hope,

And the heart of Christmas which is Love.

As we celebrate the Christmas season we invite each of you to “Be Part of the Heart” that invites our children in and cares for their many needs. Our children continue to experience homelessness, to live in dangerous situations and to see their parents affected by addiction, mental health and abuse. The request to care for these children has grown and we are growing along with the need.

We ask you to open your heart and be part of that caring community that will provide for the children of our area. Together we can expand the opportunities to heal the hurts and strengthen the spirit of each child. Our new facility will give us more opportunities to touch the lives of these little ones.

We want to thank each of you for being such a support for our children. You are the reason we are able to help so many and we ask for your continued prayers and support. As we move forward on our journey, we invite you to continue to “Be Part of the Heart”.

God bless,

Sr. Mary Berigan

Blessing House Executive Director

Be Part of the HeartBuilding for the FutureWe are getting very close to finalizing the purchase of the land for our new building. Every possible space in our existing two houses is being utilized, and it became apparent that we have outgrown our space. This new building fulfills one of our strategic goals to have adequate space to carry out Blessing House’s mission.

New Building Highlights

• 16,730 sq. ft. one story facility

• 8 bedrooms and 7 full bathrooms

• Will accommodate up to 28 children at a time

• Two child activity rooms

• One large indoor centralized play area – 1,680 sq. ft.

• Expansive, secure outdoor play spaces

Working together with our management team and Board of Directors, Ron Cocco of Clark & Post Architects, designed a building that addresses all of our needs. We are grateful for his expertise and collaboration in bringing our vision to life.

Please view our Capital Campaign video on our website, blessinghouse.org, and also read updates on the progress of our project.

“Be Part of the Heart” was the theme for the 15th annual Rock-a-Bye Ball this year as our $3.3 million Capital Campaign officially kicked off. This year 280 guests enjoyed an evening of fine dining and dancing at Tom’s Country Place while supporting the children of Blessing House.

We would like to thank our sponsors, our auction donors and our guests for helping make our event a huge success

2019 Rock-a-Bye Ball

How You Can “Be Part of the Heart”Donate online at www.blessinghouse.org/donate. Online donations can be set up to be paid by automatic withdrawals.

Mail in donations to Blessing House, 5440 Grove Avenue, Lorain, OH 44055

Donate in honor of/ in memory of a family member or friend through a naming opportunity in the new building. Pledges of $1,000 or more may be paid over 3 years. Contact Donna Humphrey for more information at 440-240-1851 or visit our website.

Contact us to set up an opportunity for a presentation/ appeal at your workplace, church or civic group meeting.

this year. A special thank you to our Co-Chairs Cindy Cromling, Molly Lucas, Brenda Norton and Lisa Zidar along with their hard-working committee for all they did to prepare for an amazing evening. We were able to raise $120,000 to support the “Be Part of the Heart” Capital Campaign. We could not continue to do our work without your generous support of our mission.

Blessing House is in need of a larger facility so that we can help the

many children who need a temporary, safe place to stay.

For every child who stays at Blessing House, another is turned away because of space:

166 children cared for during the last12 months

45 of these children had to wait for space to open up

179 additional children were unable to be cared for because of no space

Donor SpotlightBlessing House is able to help children and families because of our generous supporters. We would like to thank and recognize one of the families that has been instrumental in the success of our program.

Dan and Mary Jo Sustar

Dan and Mary Jo Sustar have generously supported Blessing House through their time, talent and treasure. Five years ago, Mary Jo started volunteering on the Rock-a-Bye Ball Committee, and for the past 3 years the Sustars have been the presenting sponsor for this annual fundraiser.

Mary Jo also donates her time helping the school age children with their homework, and serves on the Blessing House Board of Directors. Mary Jo says, “I enjoy helping the children and families, and seeing the smiles on their faces. My hope is that I am able to touch their lives for the better by helping them learn skills to take with them for the rest of their lives.”

The Sustar family feels that it is important to help those in need locally. They are grateful for all that they have, and feel that giving back is a way to teach their children the lesson of giving and supporting others. To that end, The Sustar Family Foundation has generously pledged $100,000 to the Be Part of the Heart Capital Campaign. They are sponsoring the Indoor Park in the new Blessing House because they want to be sure that the children have a safe, amazing place to play and feel like kids.

We are grateful for the continued support of the Sustar family in support our mission, and are blessed to have them as partners.

Thank You for Your Generous Gifts!Thank You to the following donors who have pledged over $1 million dollars to the “Be Part of the Heart” Capital Campaign. We are grateful!

Nordson Corporation Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000

Ohio MHAS Capital Grant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000 (through Senator Gayle Manning)

The Sustar Family Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000

Marguerite Vida (in Honor of Louis Vida) . . . . . . . . . $ 60,000

Bloomfield Family Charitable Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 50,000

Bret Holden (in Honor of Kirsten Miller Jaster) . . . . $ 25,000

Girls Give Back (Avon Lake Summer Market) . . . . . $ 40,000

John and Karen Kirk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 25,000

William Cromling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 25,000 (in Memory of Maureen Cromling)

Maureen Cromling Memorial Donations. . . . . . . . . $ 17,455

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, LLC . . . . . . . . $ 15,000

Mary Herrick (in Memory of Philip & Mary Kobb) . $ 15,000

The Norton Family Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 15,000

Ben and Brenda Norton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 15,000

South Holden & Kirsten Miller Jaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 15,000 (in Honor of Annika Marie Holden)

Jon & Cindy Cromling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10,000

Paul & Cheryl Janik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10,000

Denise Shafer & Jim Strunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10,000

Ohio Boys Town, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10,000

BLESSING HOUSE

$3,250,000

$3,000,000

$2,750,000

$2,500,000

$2,250,000

$2,000,000

$1,750,000

$1,500,000

$1,250,000

$1,000,000

$750,000

$500,000

$250,000

0

HELP

MAKE

THE

LOVE

GROW

AND

GROW

GOAL $3,300,000

United States Coaches Association Presents

A Sports Educational InitiativeJoin fellow coaches and parents of all youth sports for a night of sports education, networking and a Cleveland Cavaliers game! The keynote speaker is John O’Sullivan,Author of “Changing the Game Project”.

When: Sunday, February 9, 2020 starting at 5:00 PMWhere: Rocket Mortgage Field House

Call 888-894-9424 for more informationRegister for the event at www.uscanow.com

Profits from this event to benefit Blessing House

5540 Grove Avenue Lorain Ohio 44055

Blessing House Board of Directors

Mary Herrick, PresidentJennifer Randall, Vice PresidentBrian Tetkowski, SecretaryDenise Shafer, TreasurerMichele Silva ArredondoJessica BaggettCindy Cromling

Blessing House Staff

Sr. Mary Berigan, SND, Executive DirectorDonna Humphrey, Director of DevelopmentElizabeth Patterson, Operations ManagerLea Arcuri, Family AdvocateLaurie Conrad, Child AdvocateColleen Dirk, Shelter ManagerSr. Pat Flores, HM, Shelter ManagerCameron Albright, Business ManagerValerie Dillard, Administrative Assistant

St. Josephe Fernandez, SNDStephanie GillespieDavid JanowiczMolly LucasMary Jo SustarLibby Davis WilliamsMichael Zidar

Please support Blessing HouseWhere love grows, faith sustains

and hope is found.

5540 Grove Avenue • Lorain, Ohio 44055

www.blessinghouse.org

440-240-1851info@blessinghouse.org