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Hull House staffers surprised by early closing
Produced by Eight Forty-Eight | Jan. 27, 2012
Friday evening will mark the end of an era in Chicago, when The Jane Addams Hull House will officially close its doors at 5:00 p.m. In 1889 Jane Addams created Hull House. According to Addams, the purpose of Hull House was to, "aid in the solutions of life in a great city, [and] to help our neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families."
Addams received a lot of help--monetarily speaking and otherwise--throughout the years. However, after years of declining donations, Hull House has been forced to shut its doors. Eight Forty-Eight was joined by the Hull House Association's board chairman, Stephen Saunders, to find out what is next for Hull House. But before addressing the future, Hull House volunteer coordinator Mark Tisdahl joined the conversation to ask Saunders--what happened? Many employees said they, like many community members, were surprised to learn that Hull House would be closing its doors earlier than expected.
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Comments
I just wanted to give a little follow-up to this story. I just received word from Steve Saunders that the health care benefits are being paid through January 31st.
Laura- Thank you for your kind words. That is one of the things I tried to get across in this interview. Closing is bad, but it may have been the right thing to do. The way this was handled wasn't the right way.
Hull House has always been a leader and a teacher of other nonprofits. I hope our closing is one of those teaching lessons as well. It is certainly an example of what not to do.
I am.
I am Jane Addams.
I am unbending, reliant, and resilient,
I believe in building community, I believe
In advocacy for the underserved, I believe
In improving the social condition, she will
live in me and all those that carried her message
will live for her legacy, our legacy, our place
in this Metropolis of broken systems, where we
belong, to carry on, to rebuild, to rub the tears
of our children’s fears from the face of inequality,
to envoke change as and advocate for our brothers and
sisters, to insist that we are all people, of the same blood,
of the same place, go and share her story
through your compassion, through your understanding
through your ability to listen, she is all around us,
she is in the eyes of the hopeful and the hopeless,
she is, as I am, as you are, all of these things,
we are Jane Addams and we are the future
of her dreams.
My name is Ivan Ramos and I have worked for Hull House since 2007. The staff who work for this amazing organization literally give their blood and tears to the people they unselfishly service every day. Jane Addams mission will forever be in our hearts and minds. Her legacy will continue with all those who seek justice and equality for all.....
I am.
I am Jane Addams.
I am unbending, reliant, and resilient,
I believe in building community, I believe
In advocacy for the underserved, I believe
In improving the social condition, she will
live in me and all those that carried her message
will live for her legacy, our legacy, our place
in this Metropolis of broken systems, where we
belong, to carry on, to rebuild, to rub the tears
of our children’s fears from the face of inequality,
to envoke change as and advocate for our brothers and
sisters, to insist that we are all people, of the same blood,
of the same place, go and share her story
through your compassion, through your understanding
through your ability to listen, she is all around us,
she is in the eyes of the hopeful and the hopeless,
she is, as I am, as you are, all of these things,
we are Jane Addams and we are the future
of her dreams.
This is one of the most frustrating interviews I've heard on WBEZ. As someone who has worked in nonprofits 20 years, many times as a volunteer coordinator, to hear of how poorly not only the clients but the employees were treated during this process made me angry and frustrated. Hull House is a venerable Chicago institution that deserved better management than this. Hearing that they didn't even tell their employees that their health insurance was no longer in effect raises serious questions in my mind about whether the closing was handled legally and ethically.
People who work in the for-profit sector sometimes think that mistreatment of employees does not happen in non-profits that have a human/social services mission, but those of us who have been subject to abject malfeasance and mismanagement by nonprofit boards of trustees and managers know better.
It would have been sad for Hull House to close under any circumstances, but to close this way is truly upsetting.