Marc A. Sparks

Search this site »

The Samaritan Inn Report - May 12, 2009

Posted by Marc A. Sparks in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on May 13, 2009

The Director's Report

Week 19/2009 May 12, 2009

There are 101 people living at The Samaritan Inn, 33 are children.

Weekly Statistics:

Intakes: 6

Exits: 5

Graduates: 5

Program Notes

front road sign

Did you hear our volunteer, Jeff Johnson, on Collin County's KLAK radio station last Friday? He and I spent a few minutes discussing our shooting clay tournament on June 5th with DJ and friend of the Inn, Johnny B. There is still time to register- see our sidebar for all the details.

At last Tuesday night's City Council meeting in McKinney, council woman and Samaritan Inn Board member, Geralyn Kever, read a proclamation , written by Mayor Bill Whitfield, congratulating the Samaritan Inn for 25 years of service and proclaiming May 16th Samaritan Inn Day. 15 staff members attended the meeting and the inn logo

thanked the community for their continued support of our mission.

Janet Warren, Friends of The Inn Thrift Store manager, hosted a party last week for our gala volunteers. It takes an inordinate amount of people to plan our annual gala and we were pleased to have an opportunity to thank them. Nan Riederer, gala committee volunteer said, "At my age, I have had an opportunity to serve on many boards and committees, but none have been like The Samaritan Inn. There is absolutely no agenda; they are only trying to serve the homeless people in our community, and we are reminded of that at every meeting".

taste addison logo

Taste of Addison last weekend was a huge success-many, many thanks to Chambelain's Restaurants, who designated the profits from their food booths to The Samaritan Inn. Thanks also to the staff and volunteers who helped serve the food.

One of our Plano supporters, 13 year old Evan, has chosen The Samaritan Inn as his community service project for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. This creative young man has designed an online auction with the hope of raising $2,000 for our program. The online auction includes information about the Inn and its services and offers up several exciting items to bid on-including a Red Door Spa Make-Up Party, a Herschel Walker signed football, four tickets to the Ringling Brothers Circus and much more. The auction will run from May through June 30. Please check out the website and bid- you can make a difference, just like Evan is. http://www.auctionfortheinn.com.

Story of the Week

In September of 2005, I was offered the position of Executive Director of The Samaritan Inn. I was thrilled, excited, and more then a little scared. Not for profit management was my professional background, but I had spent the last ten years as a stay at home Mom with my three children.

My first day on the job was spent welcoming evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately ninety people from New Orleans stayed at The Samaritan Inn and two of the ninety were Kenny and Hugh. Maybe we bonded because we all arrived on the same day or maybe because we were all the same age and our birthdays were September 8, 9 and 10, but whatever the reason, we were a team.

Kenny and Hugh stayed about 5 months and both eventually settled in Collin County. Kenny got a job with a local company and an apartment that he said was nicer then any he had ever lived in before. Hugh got a job too, but his real goal was to go to college.

Every September we have a mini reunion and it's always amazing to see how we have all become more comfortable in our roles. Hugh had enrolled at Collin College but he confessed how hard it was to study and hold down a full time job.

Fast forward to April of this year, Hugh came by the office to meet with me, he'd said he had important news, and he did. On May 14th Hugh will receive his Associate of Arts Degree from Collin College and I will be delivering the Commencement Address. I told him how proud I was of him and he said he was proud of me too.

Moral of the story: New beginnings happen everyday, FOR EVERYONE, at The Samaritan Inn.

Sincerely,

Lynne Sipiora

The Samaritan Inn

"Collin County's only homeless shelter"

Dates to Remember

Gala Committee meeting-

Friday, May 15, 11:30am, The Samaritan Inn board room

Gala Sponsor Committee meeting-

Monday, May 18, 11:30, Rick's Chop House

Board of Directors Meeting-

May 26, 7:00 pm, The Samaritan Inn board room

Speaking Engagements

We are always availabe to meet with your group to speak about the Inn and our program. Please call Lynne at (972) 542-5302, ext. 229 to schedule at time for us to visit with your group.

Special Events

Sporting Clay

June 5

Dallas Gun Club

Clubhouse Wine Tasting

June 5

Dallas Gun Club clubhouse

Anniversary Gala

October 17

Embassy Suites Hotel,

Convention Center and Spa

Community Events to benefit The Samaritan Inn

Second Annual Fundraiser Cruise

Departing Galveston January 20, 2010

2nd Annual Good Samaritan Fund Run

May 23

Cadillac Pizza Pub

Annual McKinney Historical Run 2009

August 8

Downtown McKinney

Quick Links

www.thesamaritaninn.org

Volunteer

Shopping Cart

Subscribe through this link to receive your own copy of our Friends of The Inn Thrift Center weekly sales flyer.

Want to win a new car? You can win the chance to choose one of three- a Mazda Miata or a 4door Jeep Wrangler or a Chevy Silverado Extended Cab Pickup- from Eldorado Motors in McKinney when you buy a raffle ticket for $100.00. The winner will be drawn at our October 17th gala and need not be present to win. Interested? Contact John Trick at The Samaritan Inn (972) 542-5302, ext. 242 or jtrick@thesamaritaninn.org

or Raffle Chair Cheryl Massey at ccmassey@aol.com