Comfort and joy
Leader of a volunteer army provides
meals, companionship
and love.
Editor's
note: 7his is one in a periodic series of profiles of local residents who
exemplify two civic virtues: first, giving of their time to address community
needs--at the grassroots; second, using their expertise to build long-term
solutions to those needs. If you'd
like to nominate a Citizen Hero,
please call 215-854-5943 or e-mail inquirer.letters@phillynews.com. Nominations
offered earlier this year do not need to be repeated. .
Aid
for Friends aptly thinks of itself as the modern miracle of the loaves and
fishes.
It
all started with one dish: Rita's Quickie Mexican Skillet Casserole. A pound of ground sirloin, 2 tablespoons dehydrated onion,
can of crushed tomatoes, can of corn, 6 cups of Uncle Ben's rice - typical 1970s
family fare.
What
if, thought cook Rita Ungaro-Schiavone, I just packaged up the leftovers for a
shut-in I know?
From
that one meal in 1974 grew an agency of 12,100 volunteers who this year will
provide $5.6 million in free homecooked meals and support services to 2,700
clients in five counties.
"When
I started the program, I was dreaming big dreams," says Mrs.
Ungaro-Schiavone, "but they weren't this big."
She
certainly didn't envision herself as executive director of the largest volunteer
agency serving the aging poor in Philadelphia - and the most well known.
Everyone in aging is on a first-name basis with her.
She's Rita. Just Rita.
In
27 years, Rita Ungaro-Schiavone has grown from a homemaker with good intentions
to a savvy head of a nonprofit. The
voracious reader who kept intending to go back to college became a self-taught
administrator, public speaker, bookkeeper, grant writer, recruiter, fund-raiser,
motivator. Throughout, she's
battled her own debilitating 'depression 'and health problems, including cancer.
Motivated
by a Christian family group to volunteer, Rita decided when her youngest son
started school to devote a half-day per week to charity work. It evolved into a
24/7 job. involving her entire family.
"She
never put in just a half-day's work," said Monsignor Charles Devlin, who
worked with Rita on the Cardinal's Commission for Human Relations.
"She became totally consumed with the needs of society."
After
a stint organizing food distribution centers for the archdiocese, Rita began
helping a friend at the Frankford YWCA with community outreach to shut-ins.
After just a couple visits, Rita recognized a gap: Homebound elderly -
"the hidden hungry" - lacked regular nutritious meals. In that gap,
she found a mission.
"I
think the frail elderly and sick are the least
loved members of our society," Rita says.
"Because they have Social Security and Medicare, people think they're taken care of.
They're
not."
She
started cooking meals in her home and then enlisted helpers from her parish, St.
Jerome Roman Catholic Church in the Far Northeast
As
word spread, Aid for Friends outgrew a trailer in the church parking lot and a
storefront on Holme Avenue. This spring, its board purchased the former Schmidt
Bakery on Townsend
Road. Aid For Friends is
now headquartered in 27,OOO
square feet of office and warehouse space.
Most
clients are in their 60s and 70s, but more than 200 last year were 90 or older.
About 70 percent live in Philadelphia. Virtually all have multiple
disabling illnesses, such as arthritis, heart disease, cancer or stroke.
Those
elderly make up a growing segment of the population.
The latest census figures showed a 20 percent jump in the number of
85-and-older Philadelphians since 1990.
Referrals
come from social workers, hospitals, doctors, family members, even clients
themselves. Each week a
"visitor friend" delivers seven home-cooked meals and prepackaged
breakfasts and soups. .
"Some
just want the meals, and they don't want you to stay," says Toni Lynch, a
volunteer since the beginning. "Some don't have family here, and they're
anxious for you to spend an hour or so."
Aid
For Friends also offers holiday gifts, and emergency financial aid for home repairs or utility bills.
Rita
recruits most volunteers from a network of 268 churches, six synagogues, 400
schools and various community groups. Aid
For Friends has been cited nationally as an exemplary faith-based organization.
In fact, John DiIulio Jr., who's heading up President Bush's faith-based
initiative, spoke at the dedication of the new headquarters.
At
first, recruiting was hard for her, Rita says.
"In the early 70s, Catholic women didn't speak at Lutheran
churches." Rita did, and people responded.
"I
was just a kid," remembers John Krol, now 45 and president of the Tiffany-Kistler
Foundation, which gives money to Aid For Friends."My folks and I were
members of St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church.
I vividly remember Rita ... getting up after Mass to ask the
congregation to help feed the needy. To
see how that request has expanded into this extraordinary charitable network is
remarkable."
Even
if congregants don't volunteer, Rita hopes to touch their hearts. She wants them to ask themselves: What are we doing for our
mom and dad? Fighting the prevalent
American impulse to push the elderly aside, Rita raises awareness of their place
in the continuum of' life.
Now
67, Rita is training a staff to replace her, including her youngest son, Steven,
who is director of finance and administration. "Many people will be doing
what one person did," predicts assistant executive director Cathy Pfeiffer.
But
Rita vows to go on as long as her health allows. "What would I do? Watch
TV?"
Besides,
she's still brimming with ideas.
Her
eyes light up when she announces she needs a commercial kitchen.
She marches to an empty corner of her new warehouse and confidently
sketches out the plans. "We'll start out small. Donated equipment. A table
there. A refrigerator. We'll need some electric work."
With the help of master chef Toto (of Toto on Locust Street), she envisions demonstration classes and food safety lessons. If history is any indication, she'll make it happen - one loaf, one fish at a time.
from The Philadelphia Inquirer Monday June 18, 2001
10/24/2003