We were honored to feature Elvina in our February 2010 Newsletter: MEMBER RPROFILE ELVINA MOEN Spirit, Determination, and A Little Help From Her Friends and Her Village Two years ago, Elvina Moen fell and broke her pelvis - "I think it just plain cracked" - as she describes it. She was treated at St. Joseph Hospital and ready for release after a few days, but of course was unable to walk. Her doctor asked her if she preferred to recoup in a nursing home. "Not if I can help it," Elvina replied. "I want to go home." And so she did go home - to her apartment at Wrightwood and Sheffield where she has lived for the past 25 years. Anyone who knows Elvina Moen knows she would make that decision, and that she then would marshal her determination and great good humor, along with in-home services and help from her church and close friends, to regain her strength and mobility. It's also no surprise that, last summer, after she was encouraged by friends to consider joining Lincoln Park Village, Elvina arrived at the Village office on Clark Street, on her walker, to talk directly to the executive director and determine for herself what our organization could do for her. And she didn't join that day. She went home and thought it over. "I figured it was going to be a good thing to be a member, but I didn't know how good," she says with a smile. In many ways, Lincoln Park Village simply is enabling Elvina to build on her own unwavering determination and desire to stay where she is, active and involved in the community she loves. Among other services, Village volunteers have taken her to get her hair cut; repainted her living room - she calls the color "Elvina blue"; and helped her buy a ceiling fan and made sure it was properly installed. Elvina walks to the grocery, but now she calls the Village in bad weather and a volunteer drives her there. With great gusto, Elvina also has embraced the educational and social life of the Village, joining other members on art tours, at concerts and forums, at holiday gatherings hosted in members' homes. And she is a loyal volunteer whenever office work, in particular the all-important mailings, needs doing. "I count my blessings," she explains. "I live in a great part of town, I have a church that watches out for me, I know so many people I enjoy being with. And I'm meeting so many more good folks through the Village." Chicago became Elvina's "town" early on. Born and raised on a farm in Iowa, she initially moved here as a young woman to take a job as nanny for a family living on Lincoln Park West. Once she decided to make Chicago her permanent home, she also decided to make a difference in her community. The plaques on the wall attest to her success: recognition for her longtime work in the Night Ministry; induction into the City's Senior Citizen Hall of Fame; a medal of honor from the Cook County Sheriff. Her community activity over the past 3 ½ decades in Lincoln Park has been notable. Elvina's longstanding passion? Local politics - knowing whose running, working campaigns, and voting, always voting. Just ask her. --Jane Curry