Bringing Home the Fight Against Homelessness

It takes a community to end homelessness – that message was repeated like a mantra at Thursday night’s dinner for the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County at the Michigan League ballroom, which brought together many of the people responsible for working toward that goal over the past 25 years.

Foremost among them was Ellen Schulmeister, the association’s executive director, who was honored at the event – much to her surprise.

“They got one over on me this time,” she said, just after being given an award by the board’s chair, Judy Rumelhart, and its president, Karen Andrews.

Schulmeister recalled a reception that was held when she was hired 10 years ago to lead the organization. At the time, she said, she told that gathering, “We can do it as a community, and really, that’s the only way we can do it.”

The same sentiment was often repeated in remarks made by 13 other honorees, all people who were instrumental in strengthening the nonprofit and in building the Robert J. Delonis Center, which opened five years ago. There was clearly deep affection among many of those who’ve worked closely together. Schulmeister called Bob Guenzel “my No. 1 hero.” Guenzel, Washtenaw County’s administrator, in turn praised Frank Cambria, who served as the county’s chief operating officer and deputy administrator before retiring in 2006. Guenzel credited Cambria with leading the fight for the Delonis Center, which faced opposition from neighborhood groups and others reluctant to build a shelter close to downtown. Cambria is now vice president of the Shelter Association board.

Two elected officials – county commissioner Leah Gunn and former city council member Jean Carlberg – were also honored for their work in helping push the bodies on which they served to fund the center. “This is not a journey that began with a lot of community support,” Gunn told the crowd on Thursday. “But I want to tell you, the board of commissioners hung in there.” She said the commission took 37 different votes related to the center, “and 37 times we voted yes.”

Others honored before the crowd of about 250 people were:

• Diane Davidson: She served as the first executive director for the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits, and helped develop the countywide Blueprint to End Homelessness.
• Del Dunbar: Schulmeister said, “Everything I know I learned from Del.” He was instrumental in raising money for the Delonis Center, and served on the Washtenaw Housing Alliance’s fundraising steering committee. He’s currently a WHA board member.
• Garry Faja: The president and CEO of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, Faja embraced the vision of Sister Yvonne Gellise and maintained St. Joe’s involvement in the Washtenaw Housing Alliance.
• Joe Fitzsimmons: Known for his golden Rolodex and fundraising prowess, Fitzsimmons was part of the committee that raised over $8.7 million to build the Delonis Center. After working on the project, he said, “I know more about floodways and floodplains than I ever imagined.” Of the 250 people they tapped for significant contributions, “would you believe 183 of them gave us the money?”
• Sister Yvonne Gellise: The former CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Gellise marshaled support for the Delonis Center and made St. Joe’s the lead institution in forming the Washtenaw Housing Alliance. She urged the crowd to remember that the community needs to invest in programs that actually end homelessness, “not simply soothe our conscience.” She serves on the WHA board.
• Pam Horiszny: Along with Dunbar, Fitzsimmons and Rumelhart, Horiszny worked on the Washtenaw Housing Alliance fundraising committee. She is a Washtenaw Community College trustee, chief financial officer of the Ann Arbor YMCA and former executive director of the Washtenaw Red Cross.
• Barbara Penrod: The executive director of Neighborhood Senior Services was chair of community leadership at St. Joe’s, working with Sister Yvonne Gellise on the homelessness issue. Schulmeister called her “an unsung hero and a woman who weaves compassionate caring into everything she does.”
• Judy Rumelhart: A philanthropist who is deeply involved in many community nonprofits, Rumelhart helped lead the fundraising effort for the shelter and serves on the boards of the Shelter Association and the Washtenaw Housing Alliance.

The final honoree of the evening was Sue Delonis, wife of the man for whom the shelter is named. Her poignant remarks described how Bob Delonis, former chairman of Great Lakes National Bank (now part of TCF), championed the effort to build a center in the late 1990s. His talent for coalition building was crucial in getting community support for the project. He died in 2001 after a long battle against kidney disease, but lived long enough to see funding for the shelter secured. The last public meeting he attended was at city council, where they approved funds for the project, she said, and Bob Guenzel sat next to him to keep him warm. Delonis was 48 years old.

Sue Delonis noted the irony of celebrating an organization that everyone would love to see put out of business, and she urged the audience to remember: “If we stick together, we can do anything, and in the end, it takes a community.”