Mary Spuhler is the executive director of Downtown Ecumenical Services Council, Inc., a multi-faith charitable organization which provides food, basic necessities and financial assistance to the poor.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“The first three years I was the only employee so I did everything. I handle the administrative duties, case management, payroll, grant proposals, the financial responsibilities, mop the floors, clean the toilets.” Spuhler has three part-time staffers and 18 volunteers. “We’re the greeters, the secretaries and the security.”
HOW DO YOU HANDLE NOT HAVING GUARDS?
“The best security is how we talk with our clients. We can let it escalate or diffuse the situation.”
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY
“This is the 20th year of the agency so we have 41,000 people on file. We see 40-50 a day. People hear about us from friends, relatives, the Department of Children and Families or First Call for Help, which is run by the United Way. Often they’ve used us in the past.” Downtown Ecumenical interviewed 5,500 persons so far this year.
WHAT DO THEY PROVIDE?
“Emergency services like rent or mortgage payments, deposits, food assistance and a limited amount of emergency prescription needs, but only as a one-time stop gap measure. We also help with toiletry items.”
HOW ARE THEY FUNDED?
The Council survives solely on private contributions from individuals, churches, foundations and sponsors of their annual catfish tournament. “This year the money has not been coming in. Charitable giving has been down. Some of the underwriters for the tournament can’t be there for us. We’re looking at having to do a 30 percent cut of financial assistance. My professional challenge is to get the word out and get people to donate. It’s going to be a downturn but a lot of executive directors are in that boat, we’re not alone.”
WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS?
“Low or no income. There are no income requirements but people don’t come in unless they’re low income because the food is canned or packaged goods — nothing’s fresh. For financial help we do an extensive interview to document the need and deal directly with the vendor.”
STRANGE CUSTOM
Spuhler brings her dog Millie with her to the office. Each morning the staff has a quick devotion and the pooch always joins in the prayer circle.
HOMETOWN
Girard, Pa.
COLLEGE
Music education was Spuhler’s major at both Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Florida.
IN THE LAND OF ICE AND SNOW
Prior to being a homemaker for 12 years, Spuhler taught music at the junior high level in Pittsburgh and Lexington, Mass.
HOW DID YOU LAND HERE?
“I wanted to go back to work but there was nothing available in secondary education, which is what I wanted to do. I was working for the state employment service as a temp and this job came across my desk. I had known about the position from being an elder at First Presbyterian. I knew it was going to be crisis all day but it stuck with me. My faith is why I do this. It just seemed like a good thing to do. I’ve never felt a sense of fear and I’ve never not wanted to come to work. I figure this is what I’m supposed to do. I’m fortunate to be here 16 years and still love to come to my job. Four years into it one of my volunteers said that she’d been in church all her life but found God down here.”
THE BEST PART
“I used to teach school and I thought that was rewarding but I would fret at night about how to get an idea across to my students. I don’t take this job home. What we do makes a difference in people’s lives. We’re not altering their lives but we’re altering their current emergency situation.”
THE WORST PART
“The challenge is not becoming jaded or cynical because of the teenage mothers we see and the many unwed mothers. I’ve seen 19-year-olds with four children. There isn’t any hope; they will never get out of that situation. But those children don’t have less of a need for food or shelter than my children. Faith is the issue.”
FAMILY
Spuhler resides on the Westside. She has three grown daughters. Tara is a seminary graduate and has a ministry in Washington, D.C.; Lee is an environmental engineer in Los Angeles and Riley, her youngest, is a research coordinator for mistreated children in foster homes in Colorado.
AFFILIATIONS
Spuhler is a member of Leadership Jacksonville, Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. and the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition.
HOBBIES
Juggling three or four non-fiction books, particularly history books, is Spuhler’s favorite pastime. She tunes into the television show “The West Wing” and the film “You’ve Got Mail.” To “find her mind” Spuhler likes to visit the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. Back in her school days, she did a little acting at Indiana University.
WHO DO YOU ADMIRE?
“I would enjoy meeting Bill Moyers [author and television producer]. He works exclusively with public TV and is also an ordained Methodist minister. Moyers was the White House press secretary during [President Lyndon] Johnson’s administration.”
— by Monica Chamness