1. December 2015
Dangers of Cold
Weather
1
Affordable Housing
Needed?
2
Upcoming Events 4
VIP Tea! 5
Contact Information 6
Upcoming Meetings &
President’s Letter
3
Inside this
Month’s Issue:
“And this will be the sign
unto you: You will find a
Babe wrapped in swad-
dling cloths, lying in a
manger.”
--Luke 2:12
Mission Statement:
Our mission is to provide temporary housing and living
essentials to those in need, in a safe environment that
fosters a sense of self-worth, promotes self-sufficiency
and strives for independent living.
T.R.U.T.H. Three Rivers United Temporary Housing Inc
Dangers Of Cold Weather
Each year, as winter approaches and the temperature begins to
drop, many homeless people move from their summer encamp-
ments to their towns shelter system to escape the cold. Howev-
er, few communities in our area have a city-wide cold-weather
response plan, and the plans currently in place leave holes in
accessibility.
Our Sisters’ House is currently at ½ capacity, and the weather is
only now starting to turn cold. We are the only homeless shelter
in Lincoln County and we may not be able to accommodate the
influx of residents. Despite our best referral efforts, some of
those people who seek shelter will be turned out into the cold,
with nowhere to stay except the streets, cars, tents, or other
unsafe and undesirable accommodations. We plan to add a
benevolence fund to our 2016 budget that could provide hotel
rooms on the coldest of nights to those seeking shelter when we
are full or when they don’t meet our criteria for admittance. The
Salvation Army also tries to help out in these situations as funds
allow.
People experiencing homelessness have a much higher risk
than the general population of developing exposure-related
conditions such as hypothermia and frostbite. Hypothermia can
happen at temperatures as high as 50F. These conditions can
be immediately life threatening and may also increase the risk of
dying from unrelated conditions in the future.
Continue on Page 2

2. Affordable Housing Needed
Page 2
The scarcity of affordable housing is
one of the root causes of homeless-
ness. The Joint Center for Housing
Studies of Harvard University reports
that 71% of extremely low-income
renters spend over half of their income
on housing, a huge cost
burden that squeezes out
money for other items in
the household budget.
Meanwhile, rent subsidies
are only available to 24%
of households who are
eligible to receive them.
Families cope with exces-
sive housing costs by over-
crowding, “doubling up,”
and choosing between their basic ne-
cessities. For households on the brink
of homelessness, almost any financial
setback can be enough to result in the
loss of housing. High rents and the lack
of available subsidies are also the main
hurdles in solving homelessness for
many people who are currently in the
shelter system.
Dangers Of Cold Weather (continued from page 1)
Increased homeless services; especially additional winter shelter availability, is needed in
our area to accommodate the amplified need in the winter. If you are part of a church or
organization that would like to help in an emergency…please call Kevin at 715-224-3520
and let us know. We will enter you into our database of service providers for emergency
shelter. If this is an area close to your heart, please consider a gift “earmarked” for our
benevolence fund.
Together, let’s bring ALL our neighbors in need out of the cold this winter!
Given these harsh realities, it is nearly
impossible to envision a pathway to
end homelessness without significant
expansion of rental assistance. Based on
research’ nearly 9 million low-income
households are in critical need of help with
their housing costs. Yet
current programs assist
less than a third of this total
number.
What can you do to help us
help our residence find
affordable permanent hous-
ing? If you or someone
you know owns apartments
in the area with affordable
rent, please make a phone
call to Kevin at 715-224-3520 and ask to
be placed on our data base for potential
apartments. If you are a landlord and have
an open apartment, consider calling us first
and letting us know about it.
We may have a resident ready to move in-
to a place of their own or perhaps will team
up together.

3. We’re making a Difference!
♦ One resident found a job
♦ Gave shelter to Nine people
♦ A total of 139+ Bed Nights
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
PR & Fund Raising Meeting: December 7 — 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
at Our Sisters’ House
Board Meeting: (closed) December 8 — 5:45 pm to 7:00 pm
Public Committees Meeting: December 8 — 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
at St. Mary’s Corpus Christie Center
We encourage any and all attendance at meetings.
Bring your passion and your ideas!
Please consider sharing your time and talents
by joining one of our committees
As we continue to help
our residents, I would
like to say THANK
YOU to our very
dedicated Volunteers.
Whether you have
worked many hours,
donated something or
just supported us with prayer, WE WOULD NOT
BE HERE WITHOUT YOU! We are still in need of
that continued support. We need more house volun-
teers as we are still having problems with weekend
days and nights. We are also in need of food and
gas cards for our current residents. To help with any
of this please call 715-224-3520.
Our residents have been wonderful and the month
flew by like no other. We are looking at doing
something special for Christmas and hope that we
can get your support.
If you would like to donate a gift for our men,
women, and children (currently 3 boys ages 4 & 5 )
or food for their Christmas dinner please call me at
715-966-0245 so we can coordinate gifts for all
residents.
Once again thank you for your continued support
and kindness.
Bernice Duchac
TRUTH President
We will be celebrating Christmas
at Our Sisters’ House
Our goal is to purchase gift cards that will
be wrapped with a donated item.
The gift card will state that it's from
SANTA'S HELPERS.
If you would like to participate and
donate cash for this cause…
There will be a labeled box located in
OSH office for Christmas $ donations.
Checks can also be sent to TRUTH, Inc.
P.O. 423 Tomahawk WI 54487
Please remember to note your
donation intent such as…
“Christmas Gift Cards”.
December 14th will be
the deadline!
Calling All Volunteers!
Page 3

4. Mark Your Calendars!
Page 4
Saturday -Dec. 12th
Do you think your
Chili recipe is the best?
Why not put it to the test for a good cause?
1st Annual Chili Cook-off
to benefit
Our Sisters’ House &
Lincoln County Humane Society
There will be 50/50 raffles and door prizes
This shindig will start at 3pm
Buy a ticket to sample and become a judge!
Stop at the Bar, or call 715-224-3449 to enter
your Chili, sampling tickets will be on sale soon.
Stick around for Karaoke by Tim Haring
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
FEBRUARY 20TH
LOOKING FOR PARTICIPATON
FROM LOCAL RESTAURANTS
If interested in helping please call Debbie at 715-966-5131

5. Speak Up! Volunteers
Page 4
Saturday, Dec. 12TH
10 AM—NOON
St. Mary’s Corpus Christie Center
Building Next Door
As a house volunteer, YOU are a
Very Important Person
in the success of
Our Sisters’ House
We want to take this time to not only THANK YOU for all that you have done, but also to give you an
opportunity to SPEAK UP! Will you please make your best effort to attend this event? We truly want
to hear your thoughts, ideas, opinions on what has been done right, and more importantly where
improvements are needed.
This is open to ALL those who have volunteered at the
house, whether it was 1 time or if you’ve been there
often, we want to hear from you. Even if you had
intended to volunteer and have not, for what ever
reason… we want to know what we can do to improve the
“volunteer experience” for each of you!
Refreshments will be served.
Northwoods Association of Realtors
presented $500 to Our Sisters’ House .
L-R, Bernice Duchac, TRUTH Presi-
dent, Jon Long, Shelley Cole and Karen
Stroming, TRUTH Vice President.
Northwoods Riders Snowmobile Club presents
Our Sisters’ House with a $500 check. Pictured
here Back Row (all Northwoods Riders board
members) L-R: Roger Selmer, John Russo,
Vice President; Rick Ross, President; Cliff
Hansen, Diana Schneider, Recording Secretary;
and Julie Eberle. Front Row: Cathy Sennett,
TRUTH board member; Lori Rogney, North-
woods Riders board member and volunteer at
Our Sisters’ House; and Ann Jelinek, TRUTH
board member.

6. Do You know anyoneDo You know anyoneDo You know anyoneDo You know anyone
who mightwho mightwho mightwho might
want towant towant towant to
Volunteer?Volunteer?Volunteer?Volunteer?
Ask aAsk aAsk aAsk a
Friend!Friend!Friend!Friend!
Our Board of Directors
Kevin Heinking — Executive Director
715-224-3520
Kevin.OurSistersHouseTomahawk@gmail.com
Bernice Duchac — President
715-966-0245
berniceduchac@gmail.com
Karen Stroming — Vice President
715-453-4051
bkstroming@charter.net
Lori Winch — Treasurer
715-252-8036
loriwinch@yahoo.com
Cathy Sennett — Secretary
608-513-1626
csennett4201@gmail.com
Ann Jelinek — St. Mary’s liaison
715-453-4573
jel1028@charter.net
Jeff Jaeger
715-536-6272
jjaeger@co.lincoln.wi.us
Randy Scholz
715 539-2501
randyscholz29@charter.net
Want to be added to the list to receive
this newsletter by email?
Contact Robyn Lebron
Rockin-robyn@msn.com
Direct Number for Our Sisters’ House
715-224-3520
oursistershousetomahawk@gmail.com
Donations should be mailed to:
Our Sisters’ House/ TRUTH, Inc.
PO Box 423
Tomahawk, WI 54487
Or you can donate online through PayPal