2022 Good Friday Gift: An Interview with Dc. Sandy Oyler

This year, the Vestry has selected the Employment Opportunity Center of our longtime ministry partner, Outreach Community Ministries. Through training and paid internships, the EOC helps folks get a job, keep it, and improve their lives. Please read more here and watch one participant’s video. 

We are blessed to have our own Deacon Sandy Oyler working at Outreach as a social worker, and value the opportunity to interview her to learn more about the Outreach and the EOC. 

How long have you worked at Outreach Community Ministries as a social worker? And what do you enjoy most about working there? 
I've worked at Outreach Community Ministries for nearly 20 years.  For the first 14 years, I worked at Wheaton Youth Outreach where I oversaw a transitional housing program for homeless young women.  In 2016 I made the switch to our Warrenville location, Warrenville Youth and Family Services, where I serve as the director of their counseling program.  I really enjoy being in a missional, non-profit environment that offers an array of services to people who might otherwise not have access to social services due to lack of income or other barriers.  

 
What caused you to recommend this as our Good Friday Gift?
I recommended the Employment Opportunity Center to be Savior's recipient of our Good Friday gift because I believe the program meets an unique and much-needed niche in DuPage County  It's easy to assume that everyone knows how to go out and get a job; but that is not the reality for many young people who live right here in our community.  The EOC helps young people learn all the skills they need to secure meaningful employment... and then helps them actually get and sustain a job.  

 
What do you think is unique about the Employment Opportunity Center?
The Employment Opportunity Center is unique because it is the only one in DuPage County that serves young adults who are completely unprepared for employment.  There's a growing group of people lacking in the most basic of skills.  It's the only program that doesn't assume the participants enter with a certain baseline of knowledge and abilities.  

 
You’ve worked at Outreach a long time. How do you keep serving people in situations that are difficult?
What keeps me energized the most is seeing change in people that I have the privilege of working with, even if it's incredibly small.   Witnessing those changes, and being part of what can often be a slow, incremental process is also redemptive  and life--giving, and I'm thankful that I get to be part of that.  God is working in me even as he works in my clients.  

 
In addition to giving financially to Outreach, how might we at Savior support and serve those individuals receiving support from the Employment Opportunity Center? 
There's a need for volunteers to drive program participants to/from their places of work.  This can even be just one time a week - it doesn't have to be an everyday commitment.  Tutors are also needed, especially in the subjects of math and language arts, as participants receive help to earn their GED certificate if they don't have it upon entering the program. Visit Outreach’s website to learn more. 

 
Giving Details: 
You may give any time between now and April 30. Online: on our Giving page, click “Choose a Fund” and select “Savior - Good Friday Gift.” Mail: PO Box 507, Wheaton, IL 60187. Please write “Good Friday Gift” on the memo line of your check. 

Good Friday Gift 2021

Helping DuPage Pads move unhoused families into their own homes!

For our Savior Good Friday offering this year, the Vestry has selected DuPage Pads. The mission of DuPagePads is to end homelessness in DuPage County. DuPagePads is the area's largest provider of interim and permanent housing, coupled with support services to help people work toward a place to call home. They provide case management and life coaching, employment support such as GED courses and job coaching, as well as engagement with employers—effectively stopping the cycle of homelessness. 

Because of the pandemic, the numbers they are serving through their emergency shelters are 1/3 more than they have seen in past years, and they’re serving far more children than ever before. It’s their goal that no child will sleep in a car this winter, but rather in their hotel-based shelter or one of their PSH apartments.

Last year, they served over 1,100 unhoused individuals in Wheaton and DuPage County. You can see their impact statement for a breakdown of who they helped and how.

With a gift of $3,000, Pads can get a family into their own home instead of staying in shelters. Right now, they have a great number of families staying in their hotel-based shelter. Of their approximately 205 clients in this program, 1/3 are children. This spring and summer, they will be working with them on case management and the ability to transition into an apartment of their own. This requires first and last month’s rent and a security deposit plus moving expenses and staffing to help them get to a better place. DuPage Pads also works with their clients to ensure they have connections to medical care and remote learning so their children are healthy and furthering their educations.

Friends of the Savior, how many families will we be able to help with our Good Friday gift this year?!

When it's safe after COVID-19 for them to welcome volunteers, DuPage Pads will need volunteers to help. In addition to giving in the special offering, consider volunteering with DuPage Pads in the future.