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 New
at... The House of Bread
February, 2006
We are expanding our feeding services to include the Hartford Boys
and Girls Club which is located at 170 Sigourney Street in the
Asylum Hill Neighborhood of Hartford. There will be approximately
125 children, ranging in age from six to twelve, fed a nutritious
and balanced meal each evening. Sister Kristen Johnsen, a Sister of
St. Joseph and a qualified chef, will be the full-time sister
directly involved with the program. She will plan the menu, prepare
the meals with volunteer assistance and will deliver them to the
Boys and Girls Club. Sister Kristen will also give the children
instruction on proper nutrition.
If you are interested in volunteering or hearing more about this
program, please contact Sister Maureen Faenza at the House of Bread
(860-549-4188).
The Rise Of The House Of Bread
Two Nuns Launched TheSoup Kitchen 25 Years Ago; Today It's A
Conglomerate Of Social Services
By PAT SEREMET
Courant Staff Writer
December 5, 2005
Sister Maureen Faenza and Sister Theresa Fonti are the toast of the
town.
They found each other 25 years ago, and together they founded the
House of Bread. Its purpose was to feed the hungry people of
Hartford - at first, mostly the older men who lived in rooming
houses that used to abound on Main Street just north of downtown.
Faenza had just returned to a New Britain parish after working with
the poor of rural Kentucky. Fonti was working at St. Michael's
Church in Hartford, where people often came looking for food.
"It was the Reaganomics of the '80s," Fonti said. "People were being
displaced and homelessness had become a reality."
They decided to do what they could to fill the need, and so they
went to a priest in a social services organization called the
Propagation of the Faith who gave them $3,000 to set up their first
House of Bread. They found a luncheonette - with no kitchen counter
- on High Street, and they fed the people who came in with a 12-cup
coffeepot and a two-slice toaster. Doughnuts were served on special
occasions.
"We were young and energetic," Faenza said.
"And we had a lot of passion," Fonti added.
Faenza is 59 and Fonti is 67, so they've got a few years on them
since their 30s and 40s, but the energy and passion are still there.
Like bakers who have lovingly, painstakingly kneaded their dough,
they've watched their little House of Bread rise and expand.
They now serve 200 meals a day in their soup kitchen on Chestnut
Street. The sisters also run a transitional housing program, a day
shelter for the homeless, a single-room facility for homeless men,
GED programs for mothers, a Saturday mentoring program, an
affordable housing complex, a summer camp for Hartford children in
Vermont, a thrift store and job-training programs.
The day of our visit to what they humorously describe as their
"corporate headquarters" on Main Street, a babysitting service was
in play. Preschoolers scamper around slides and play kitchen as
Christmas music plays. Pam Scott, wife of Larry Gold, president and
CEO of Connecticut Children's Medical Center, one of the volunteers,
gently rocked a sleeping baby, and gave a thumbs up, adding in a
whisper, "House of Bread is the best."
The House of Bread relies heavily on such volunteers, and there is a
strong allegiance.
"We've had volunteers like the ladies in our thrift shop who've been
here 17 years," Faenza said. "There's Joan Dahlberg who's been
coming from the Cape for 18 years, visiting her elderly parents, and
every Thursday afternoon she comes here to volunteer. And there's
Gillie Costa, 87, who feels her week isn't complete if she doesn't
come to help out."
And, this may be the House of Bread, but it's not always a picnic.
"Many of our clients have issues of addiction," Fonti said. "They've
stunted their growth and the littlest things can upset them. They
can be like kids, saying that the other guy got a bigger piece of
cake or their tea isn't hot enough."
"You have your ups and downs," Faenza said. "The other day a man
came in to see me who had been in our supportive living, he had gone
to our substance abuse counseling, and he said, `Sister, it's been
eight years that I've been sober. I'm a licensed plumber and
married.'
"Those are the stories that keep us going," Fonti said.
The sisters have 17 people on staff, including chef Sebastian
Kolodziej, who supplies very balanced meals every day, getting a lot
of food from Foodshare. But they are always in need of donations and
volunteers.
And because of Hurricane Katrina and the extraordinary needs of its
victims in the south, local donations are down considerably.
For people who want to volunteer time, the sisters have something
for everyone, be it in the kitchen, babysitting or tutoring, even
painting one of their facilities.
They also need items for the kitchen such as plastic ware, paper
goods, dish detergent, nine-gallon trash bags. For the day shelter
they need laundry detergent, socks and T-shirts. Games and toys are
welcome for the children.
"People want to give classy things," Fonti said, but it's the nuts
and bolts of everyday living that are paramount.
Just that day, Fonti was telling Faenza that the clothes washer in
the shelter had broken and they had to buy a new one.
The sisters never dreamed when they started the House of Bread that
they'd still be providing such services 25 years later.
"It's unfortunate that these issues have not gone away," Fonti said.
"But we're fortunate to still be able to do this work. It's the
stories of families that give you new energy. We're their station
where they hang out, a little community they've established."
And they'll continue, Faenza said, "unless we get too cranky or too
old."
http://www.courant.com/hc-howtohelp1205.artdec05,0,552935.story
Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant
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The House of Bread
EDITORIALS
May 23,2005
Sister Theresa Fonti was working at St. Michael's Parish in the
North End of Hartford in 1980, and every day, people came to the
church looking for food.
Then she met a friend, Sister Maureen Faenza, just back from working
with the poor in rural Kentucky. The two Roman Catholic nuns decided
to find a place to serve breakfast to Hartford's hungry. After a
brief stint in a church building, they moved to a closed
luncheonette next to a package store on High Street and started up
with a 12-cup coffeepot and a two-slice toaster. When the building
was damaged by fire, they continued serving from the back of a van.
They soon got another building, and their little venture began to
grow. They called it The House of Bread. Over 25 years, it has
become a remarkably successful volunteer agency - so integral to the
city that it's hard to imagine downtown Hartford without it.
The soup kitchen, now on Chestnut Street after surviving another
fire in an Ann Street building, serves 1,500 meals a week. The
agency also runs a transitional housing program, a day shelter for
the homeless, a single-room occupancy facility for homeless males,
GED and pre-GED programs for mothers raising children, a Saturday
mentoring program, a 27-unit affordable housing complex, a summer
camp for city youngsters in Vermont, a Thrift Shop and job training
programs.
Because they were serving food, the sisters decided to train people
in the culinary arts. That enterprise, undertaken in conjunction
with Foodshare, began in 1999 and has produced 51 graduates, 38 of
whom are employed at hotels, restaurants and institutional kitchens
in Hartford and the suburbs.
The sisters have had a quarter-century of success not only because
of what they do, but how they do it. They approach their demanding
and sometimes heartbreaking work with respect for the people they
serve with great senses of humor. Thus, they've attracted hundreds of
volunteers, from students to corporate leaders and, meaningfully,
former clients who have moved ahead with their lives.
Sister Maureen said the need is greater than it was in 1980, yet she
worries that society is becoming hardened to the problems of the
poor. She said homelessness is becoming accepted as a fact of life,
something people no longer see. That is dangerous, not good for the
people or the city. Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-houseofbread.artmay23,0,2013713.story
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