Zaagkii Project

Unsung Heroes Project founder John Argeropoulos, left, and registered nurse Trina Johnson, director of employee health and education at the Norlite Nursing Center in Marquette; accepts a check recently (Nov. 5, 2007) from Jim Lori, right, manager of the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union.

The $500 check was donated to the Cedar Tree Institute, a Marquette non-profit, that coordinates a wide-range of stress and other training for northern Michigan nursing home staff and healthcare workers who treat elderly and hospice patients. (Photo courtesy the Cedar Tree Institute/Unsung Heroes Project)

The Unsung Heroes Fund: Donations help

train nursing home staff to deal with the

stress of loving caring for the elderly & hospice patients

(Marquette, Michigan) - November is National Family Caregivers Appreciation month and the Unsung Heroes project in northern Michigan is sponsoring free workshops to help healthcare workers provide loving care for the elderly and hospice patients.

The Unsung Heroes project in Michigan's Upper Peninsula recently began its second round of stress and resiliency training for northern Michigan nursing home staff.

Donations help underwrite costs for numerous caregiver workshops in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during November and December.

A recent donation from the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union is part of the funding for the workshops at the Norlite Nursing Center in Marquette and the Marquette County Medical Care Facility in Ishpeming.

Organizers say caring for the elderly and hospice patients is stressful for the family and for healthcare workers who often become extremely close to the person undergoing treatment.

“The next Unsung Heroes training will be helping us learn what our stressors are and how to take care of ourselves - with our health concerns - because it is such a vastly increasing and very strenuous job,” said registered nurse Trina Johnson, director of employee health and education at the Norlite Nursing Center in Marquette. “We need to know how to take care of ourselves - it is a good benefit to our staff.”

Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) Director Rev. Jon Magnuson, standing, listens to CTI volunteer Paul Olson, left, during the first round of Unsung Heroes Fund training in February 2007 training for staff at the Norlite Nursing Center in Marquette, MI.

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The Unsung Heroes Fund provides stress management and resiliency training for nursing home employees who sometimes become secondary family members to both the patient and their loved ones.

"It's like taking care of your grandmother or your grandfather - you do get close - it's very personal - they learn to trust you," Johnson said.

Training is provided by Dr. Michael Grossman, Twin Cities Medical Clinic (Bell Memorial Hospital); Dr. Larry Skendzel, FamilyCare Doctors (Marquette General Health System); and Dr. Ann Constance, Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network.

The Unsung Heroes Fund is a collaborative project between the Cedar Tree Institute and the Marquette Community Foundation. It was established in 2005 through an endowment by John and Mary Argeropoulos of Marquette.

Cedar Tree Institute volunteer Paul Olson, who also counsels youth, spends on-on-one time with a couple employees of the Mather Nursing Home in west Ishpeming, MI during the first round of Unsung Heroes Fund training in February 2007.

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The project relies on financial support from businesses, community organizations, and individual donors.

Argeropoulos created scholarships and training for northern Michigan nursing home staff after his mother received ten years of quality care at the Mather Nursing Center in west Ishpeming where he witnessed the related stress and other effects on the staff.

“We found out about the effects on caregivers from personal experience with my mother being in the nursing home for ten years where she received loving care,” Argeropoulos said.

An Unsung Heroes scholarship fund has been set up at the Marquette Community Foundation for healthcare workers to receive continuing education grants . The scholarships will be awarded once the project is fully funded by donations. The recipients will be selected by each of five Marquette County nursing homes..

The project has been supported by public donations and most recently by a $500 check from the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union.

“I have some personal experience with concerns about properly being taken care of in a nursing home with my mother and understanding how difficult it is on employees of nursing homes who go out of there way to be involved and provide proper care,” said Jim Lori, manager of the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union.

CTI director Rev. Jon Magnuson, top right, and CTI counselor/trainer Paul Olson listen to employees of the Eastwood Nursing Home in Negaunee, MI during February 2007 training provided by the Unsung Heroes Fund.

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“The training sounded like a great idea and a way the credit union could help out the community - I know how important it is,” Lori said.

Johnson said caring for the elderly and hospice patients is “very hard and a struggle for their families - so we deal with the families and some of our staff actually become an extra extended family member for that resident.”

“The Cedar Tree Institute and the Unsung Heroes Project is helping us at the nursing home deal with our stress and finding out what our triggers are for the stress,” Johnson said. “It’s very high stress for some of them as the different disease processes take over their bodies.”

Unsung Heroes offers a wide-range of spiritual support, stress and technique training, and grants for rural healthcare workers including often overlooked patient-care staff like nurses, aides, housekeeping, cooks and custodians.

The project involves doctors, clergy, relaxation techniques, money management, diet experts and others to help overworked healthcare/hospice aids and support staff.

“The training assists healthcare workers with the compassionate care of patients and their own stress-related issues in a rural health system that is stretched to the breaking point due to shrinking budgets that often don't address additional training needs,” said Rev. Jon Magnuson, director of the Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) in Marquette.

Magnuson said continuing education grants recipients report back on what they have learned and how it applies to their medical jobs.

“Financing for the additional training is not readily available from their own employers due to the economic hard times facing northern Michigan due to the highest unemployment and lowest household income in the state,” Magnuson said.

Staff at three Marquette County nursing homes - Eastwood, Norlite and Mather - received self-awareness and resiliency training in February 2007.

“Unsung Heroes is a support and renewal training program for nursing home, hospice and home health care workers,” Magnuson said.

“Physicians, nutritionists, and psychotherapists work together as a team to provide one-of-a kind training for the staff who are doing the overlooked real hands-on work for the elderly and patients in these care settings,” Magnuson said. “They teach coping skills and provide spiritual education that the participants use to provide better patient care and an improve relationship with co-workers.”

For more information on the Unsung Heroes Fund call 906-225-0504.

The Unsung Heroes Fund thanks and honors all employees of U.S. nursing homes for the loving care they provide to the elderly and hospice patients.

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Unsung Heroes Fund contact info:

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Unsung Heroes founder:

John Argeropoulos

350 E. Ridge Street

Marquette, MI

Hm: 906-225-0504

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Cedar Tree Institute:

Rev. Jon Magnuson, director

906-228-5494

email:

Cedar Tree Institute

403 E. Michigan Street.

Marquette, MI

49855

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Marquette Community Foundation

Email:

Marquette Community Foundation

P.O. Box 37

401 E. Fair Avenue

Marquette, MI

49855

Phone: 906-226-7666

Fax: 906-226-2104

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Dr. Larry Skendzel

FamilyCare Doctors (Marquette General Health System)

Upper Peninsula Medical Center

Suite 36

1414 W Fair Ave

Marquette, MI

wk: 906-225-3864

Upper Peninsula Medical Center:

FamilyCare Doctors:

Dr. Larry Skendzel:

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Dr. Michael Grossman

Twin Cities Medical Clinic

Suite 6

100 Malton Road

Ishpeming, MI

wk: 906-475-4127

Twin Cities Medical Clinic:

Dr. Michael Grossman:

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Dr. Ann Constance

Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network

Suite 420

220 W. Washington

Marquette, MI

49855

Phone: 906-228-9203

Fax: 906-228-4421

Email:

Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network:

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Trina Johnson, RN

Norlite Nursing Center

Director of employee health and education

228-9252

Norlite Nursing Center

701 Homestead St

Marquette, MI 49855

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Marquette Community Federal Credit Union

Jim Lori, Manager

Office: 906-228-9850 - press 3 for staff; press 1 for Jim

Marquette Community Federal Credit Union

1230 Washington Street

Marquette, Michigan

49855

Phone: 906-228-9850

FAX: 906-228-7662

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November is National Family Caregivers Appreciation month info:

Proclamation by the President:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071031-3.html

National Family Caregivers Association:

http://www.nfcacares.org/

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The Turtle Island Project: Centering prayer, jubilation, fighting for the environment, and clergy standing up for social change were all part of ecumenical retreat in northern Michigan

(Munising, Michigan) - A Chicago theology professor told northern Michigan clergy, church leaders, and the public "we live in a kyros moment" involving the environment and other social issues during a recent ecumenical retreat sponsored by the Turtle Island Project in Munising.

"We as human beings have not been good stewards of creation," said Rev. Dr. George Cairns, co-founder and board chair of the Turtle Island Project (TIP). "Native American peoples are the best living teachers of how to respect the environment."

The environment and the gifts of nature "are not something to simply be consumed," said Rev. Cairns, research professor theology for the Chicago Theological Seminary and an ordained United Church of Christ minister.

"The children of a generation or two from now are going to face a very very difficult time," said Cairns of Chesterton, Indiana.

The TIP project promotes respect for the environment and Earth-based cultures like Native Americans, Celts and others.

The TIP plans including national conferences and Native American roundtables providing a platform for American Indians to speak out on issues of concern to themselves or tribes without interference from whites.

Quoting internet research by several environment groups, Cairns said nearly 15,600 species are threatened with extinction and over the past 500 years humans have forced 844 species into extinction with the exception of a few from some of those groups who remain alive only in zoos, preserves and other manmade facilities.

Cairns noted several 2007 United Nations reports stating that almost one-third of the world's species of animals and plants are expected to be at risk of extinction by climate change within 50 years.

The U.N. studies were reported widely in Europe but received little attention in the U.S. news media. The TIP encourages clergy to become beacons for social change by speaking out about civil rights, environment and other issues.

"The Inconvenient Truth is good news compared to what I read on species extinction," warned Cairns, referring to the controversial global warming film by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore who shared a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"It's not that people are evil necessarily - it’s just that there are a lot of us and we are pushing for places to live," Cairns said.

One person attending the conference noted that the environmental problem is heightened by the fact people are living longer due to new drugs and better healthcare.

Cairns said it can be disheartening for the average person who wants to respect nature but witnesses some countries and corporations causing more pollution in a minute than a human can prevent in a lifetime.

"They are building new coal-fired power plants in China every week," Cairns said.

"What’s going on are there are really huge corporations who are trying to hoist off the environmental responsibility to individuals," Cairns said.

"We need to treat the Earth like we would treat a beloved spouse or friend," Cairns said.

An event of the TIP's Grand Island Grand Island Conference and Retreat Program, "Quest for Harmony: The Contemplation of Nature in the Christian Tradition" was held on Friday, November 9, 2007 at Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising.

Cairns demonstrated "centering prayer" that is a method of silent and contemplative prayer.

Clearing the mind of extraneous thought and choosing a word to help focus thoughts are among ways to silently pray for twenty minutes two times daily.

"There is no wrong way to do centering prayer," said Cairns, who learned the art from Father Thomas Keating, one of three Trappist monks considered to be the founders of the technique.

"Centering prayer helps us develop a deeper intimacy with God," Cairns said. "We open ourselves to God’s movement within."

Centering prayer creates a "little more compassion and kindness" Cairns' said.

All the world’s religions have some form of silent prayer, Cairns said.

The daily silent prayer, Cairns said, enables him to better face the evil in the world and to strive for social change with a clear mind.

"We can’t do this (fight evil) with just our brains," Cairns said. "It allows one to engage more fully - we are re-empowered for engagement."

The calming of entering prayer allows people to become a "full human being" and be "more efficient and effective in our lives," Cairns said. "You free yourself from blinders. It reveals the dark spaces in the heart that restricts what you are doing."

TIP co-founder and director Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard said centering prayer revitalizes "individuals like us who spend so much time in our rational brains."

"You retreat to recharge your batteries to fight another day," said Hubbard, pastor of Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising.

Those attending retreat were introduced to "jubilation" a former of chanted prayer or singing that creates unique sounds. During jubilation, people create music through emitting more than one sound or pitch at the same time using a form of humming.

A group of people performing jubilation sometimes creates sounds that no one individual has made because the sound waves collide with each other and the objects in the room, Cairns said.

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Related websites:

Stories on U.N. reports prepared by about 400 of the world’s scientists on global environment, global warming, and other issues since June 2007:

TIP website:

Northern Michigan youth from

preteen to twenties protect the earth

in rebirth of 1960s student environmental activism

The Emanuel Lutheran Youth group protects environment through projects, education and donations

Youth wing of Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia donates to NMU Lutheran Campus Ministry, support NMU EK student projects

A successful fundraiser was recently held for the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team and NMU Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) to support environment related projects in northern Michigan.

The Emanuel Lutheran Youth group of the Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia gave a check to the groups from money raised during recycling and cleanup projects.

Pictured left to right are Johnny Bergdahl, Jon Berglund, Pastor Chad Christensen, Sammy and Breanna Bahrman (hidden), Sammy Bergdahl, Kendra Heikkila, and Elizabeth McCarthy.

(All photos by Greg Peterson)

Rev. John Magnuson addresses the hundreds of people who attended the free October 2007 benefit concert for the NMU EK Student Team and Lutheran Campus Ministry.

Led by Pastor Chad Christensen, the ELY are the youth arm of the Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia.

"This year we were learning about the environment," Rev. Christensen said.

The youth group has learned how "in our day-to-day lives, we can best care for the Earth and our surroundings," Christensen said.

Formed in 2002, the ELY is comprised of youth ranging in age from 11 to 18.

The ELY learned this summer what they can do at home like creating a compost pile and the best use of household hazardous waste - everyday items that can have a negative effect on the environment if not properly handled, disposed or recycled.

"They learned about reading labels on cleaning agents and herbicides used for gardening," Christensen said. "Why we should not flush pharmaceuticals so they don’t get in groundwater."

The Emanuel Lutheran Youth group of the Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia. Pictured Left to right are Kendra Heikkila, Elizabeth McCarthy, Andy Bahrman, Breanna Bahrman, Johnny Bergdahl, Jon Berglund, Sammy Bergdahl, and Pastor Chad Christensen.

The Munising Band Greg LaCombe and Loose Ends played music that inspired lots of people to dance at the free benefit concert for the NMU EK Student team and LCM.

Greg LaCombe of Munising and his band Loose Ends perform in Marquette, Michigan

The ELY presented a check to the NMU Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) during an October 2007 benefit concert for its environmental wing, the NMU EK Student Team in Marquette.

The student EarthKeepers, who are attempting to start student chapters at three other universities, are part of the overall Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative that was recently declared one of America’s 15 hardest working faith-based non-profits for the second year in a row by a national magazine.

Reminiscent of student environmental activism 40 years ago, the youths are being noticed in an area where some adult business leaders are supporting a controversial sulfide mining proposal.

The ELY members "are learning to protect the earth and they are concerned about the state of the planet that my generation is leaving them," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, director of LCM and the NMU EK Student Team.

During the presentation of the check, Magnuson thanked the Skandia youths for raising the money one dime at a time.

The ELY group "have the same environmental goals as the Earth Keeper students they are helping," said Magnuson, who dreamed of creating the interfaith Earth Keepers ten years ago.

Hundreds attended the free NMU EK benefit concert featuring the Munising band "Greg LaCombe and Loose Ends."

The annual NMU EK benefit concert is sponsored by the non-profit Turtle Island Project, its founder/director Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard , and Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church, all of Munising. Other benefit concert sponsors include Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the public.

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard, left, founder/director of the Turtle Island Project and organizes the annual benefit concert, holds a paper with a list of upcoming events while Rev. Jon Magnuson talks to the audience. Magnuson is director of Lutheran Campus Ministry and founded the NMU EK Student Team, a vital part of the Michigan Earth Keepers.

Hubbard said he organizes the annual concert because "the student Earth Keepers are doing important work to protect the environment that deserves to be supported."

The ELY group pick a different theme each year for their October lock-in retreat and in 2007 it’s learning how to protect the environment and putting those lessons to work.

"Prior to concert, we had come from (LCM) Lothlorien house and the NMU students talked to us about climate control and pollution," Christensen said "We also toured the Marquette Food Co-op."

The university students and the Skandia area youths both participated in the 2006 and 2007 Earth Keeper Clean Sweep that collected old/unwanted drugs and old/broken electronics like computers and cells phones. All items in the Earth Day collections were either recycled or properly disposed

Pastor Christensen said the ELY "wanted to give the donation to Lutheran Campus Ministry for their work in environmental care."

"We are learning in confirmation classes about the environment in the scriptures," Christensen said. "In Genesis the Bible explains God’s creative hand is forming the world."

"We learned from the NMU students that it does make a difference on how we dispose of oil, and where our trash may end up if we are littering," Christensen said.

During October’s "lock-in" the ELY group "played games and trivia on bible and environment issues and held Saturday morning worship," Rev. Christensen said.

The "lock-in" part is spending a night at their church, but the youth are very active for several weeks surrounding the event including collecting bottles and cans to raise money - one dime at a time - for organizations that help the community.

The ELY have raised money for the Nifty Thrifty Food Pantry, Inc. in Eben Junction and collected canned food from the Emanuel Lutheran Church congregation.

"Last year the youth had a fasting retreat so we learned about world hunger themes," said Rev. Christensen.

The numerous ELY service projects include cleaning road ditches and caroling at Christmas time for people who are shut in for most of the winter.

Christian education is a big part of the ELY program including a retreat at the Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp in Crystal Falls, MI that examined "participation in church life and what that will mean when they get older," Christensen said.

In the spring of 2008, the ELY will take a field trip to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota that is named after Martin Luther, the founder of Lutheranism and the Protestant (and German) Reformation.

Christensen joined the Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia in 2000 as his first calling after studying at Luther Seminary. Christensen hails from the Rockwellian town of Walnut Grove, MN - home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the celebrated author of the "Little House" Books - a series of novels that inspired the Little House on the Prairie TV show.

The numerous ELY service projects include cleaning road ditches and caroling at Christmas time for people who are shut in.

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Related info:

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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans:

http://www.thrivent.com/

Michigan Chapters:

https://service.thrivent.com/apps/FraternalOnline/public/RegionalFinancialOffice?action=GetChapters&RegionalFinancialOfficeId=283

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The Central Upper Peninsula Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans:

http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=page&gid=00018000001064232660724081&newsletter_id=20071078409678118401111555&mode=display&expanded=1

http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=page&mode=display&gid=00018000001064232660724081

Judith Ann Quirk, president

Marquette, MI 49855-3335

906-228-6729

juqu@charter.net

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Emanuel Lutheran Church of Skandia

9812 U.S. 41 South

Skandia, Michigan

49885-0150

Pastor Rev. Chad Christensen

chchriste@yahoo.com

906-942-7245

email:

emanuel@tds.net

related websites:

http://www.godsworkourhands.net/ScriptLib/OS/Congregations/cdsDetail.asp?Id=A5A3A6AB92

http://www.godsworkourhands.net/ScriptLib/RE/Trendnet/cdsTrendNet.asp?Id=A5A3A6AB92

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Northern Michigan University Lutheran Campus Ministry

Lothlorien house

Marquette, Michigan

49855

http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,207119.shtml

http://www.elca.org/campusministry/celebrate100/pdf/essays.pdf

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The Cedar Tree Institute:

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

906-228-5494

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Luther Seminary

2481 Como Avenue

St. Paul, MN

55108

Admissions: 1-800-LUTHER3

Info: 651-641-3456 .

Website:

http://www.luthersem.edu/

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Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp

138 Fortune Lake Camp Rd

Crystal Falls, MI

49920

Phone

906-875-3697

Toll Free:

877-569-4968

Fax:

906-875-4829

http://www.fortunelake.org/

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Marquette Food Co-op

109 W. Baraga Ave.

Marquette, Michigan

49855

Co-op:

906-225-0671

FAX:

906-225-1169

email:

info@marquettefood.coop

website:

http://www.marquettefood.coop/

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Laura Ingalls Wilder - Author of the "Little House" Books

http://www.lauraingallswilder.com/