September 19, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Diane Nilan, 630/267-5424
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| Diane Nilan (L) and Karen Maloney inside Tillie, the good Karma motorhome being exchanged. |
[Naperville, IL] “Dialing for docs” 20
years ago connected Diane Nilan, former shelter director at
Hesed House in
Aurora with Dr. Karen Maloney, a physician from the St. Charles area. Nilan was
recruiting volunteer medical personnel for Rainbow Clinic at the former
incinerator turned shelter. On Monday, Nilan will hand over the keys to her
motorhome to Maloney, solving a problem for both women.
The two met again at a volunteer mission in Tanzania in 2013. “It
was great to catch up and learn that our paths never veered too far away,” said
Nilan, founder/president of a one-woman national nonprofit, HEAR US Inc., giving voice and visibility to
homeless children and youth.
Nine years ago, she sold her townhome and
most of her stuff to
purchase a 27’motorhome to enable her to chronicle homelessness among millions
of children, youth and families nationwide. Nilan put on 183,000 miles as she
filmed several award-winning documentaries and conducted countless
presentations to raise awareness of kids and parents with nowhere to go.
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| Nilan and Tillie in Nevada |
The time came to sell “Tillie the Turtle,” her
9-year-old motorhome, and only home, but Nilan could find no buyers. Maloney,
starting a program to provide medical care to uninsured residents and homeless
persons in the western suburbs, needed a motorhome, but her nonprofit Carein' Connections lacked the funds to
buy one. Nilan happened to mention she was trying to sell Tillie. Serendipity?
Perhaps.
On Monday, Nilan will hand over Tillie’s keys to her
doc-friend, knowing that the legacy of this roadworthy motorhome will continue.
Maloney will adapt the inside space to provide medical care and other services
to those who lack resources for basic human needs, especially medical care.
Wednesday, after an early morning prayer breakfast presentation
in Joliet, Nilan will point her rental van to Austin, TX where her new set of
wheels await. She’s downsizing, making it possible for
her to pursue stories of homeless children and youth in far off places in a
more economically and ecofriendly fashion.
Her first Tillie2 trip will be with her “Babes of Wrath”
pal Pat LaMarche on a trip to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. The intrepid
travelers have dubbed their trip “Homeless on the Range,” designed
to call attention to homelessness, even on a Native American reservation.
Maloney and her colleagues need to quickly shape and stock Tillie
into the medical miracle van that will serve hundreds of uninsured, desperate
adults and kids.
These two nonprofits, and their unique founders, will carry on
their essential missions, knowing that their paths will inevitably cross, and
that lots of people will be better for it.
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