A new book titled “The Light of Conscience: How a Simple Act Can Change Your Life” includes a segment on South Bend’s Center for the Homeless and its former executive director, Drew Buscareno, now assistant vice president for University relations at Notre Dame.p. Authored by Bill Shore, “The Light of Conscience” serves as an inspirational meditation on the power of conscience ? how a simple act or a moment of purpose can change a life, the community and even the world. It goes on sale Tuesday (Feb. 17).
After visiting South Bend, Shore praised Buscareno and the center in a book segment titled “A Good Conscience His Only Sure Reward.”
“I went because I could imagine what it’s cost Drew to devote the best years of his life to an organization that will never be able to pay him what he’s worth ?. what it’s cost Drew to work at the vortex of so much anguish that the small victories of helping someone take a step forward are dwarfed by the number of those on the waiting list.
“The center’s services are so state-of-the-art that it has become a national ‘market leader’ in how a community deals with homelessness. That’s why every recent secretary of housing and numerous policy makers and nonprofit leaders have visited or asked the center’s staff to visit them.”
Appointed to his position at Notre Dame in December, Buscareno previously served the homeless center for 11 years as a volunteer coordinator, head of development and community relations and, from 1999 to 2003, as executive director.
“Under his watch, the center has maintained balanced financial operations in a difficult economic environment,” said Rev. Richard V. Warner, C.S.C., chair of the center’s board of directors and director of the University’s Campus Ministry. “At the same time, he oversaw the construction of a new Community Partnership Center and renovation of the original building.”
Buscareno was graduated from Notre Dame in 1991. He worked in an AIDS center in Oakland, Calif., before returning to South Bend, and earned a Master of Science in Administration degree from the University 1996.
December marked the center’s 15th anniversary. In addition to helping found the center, Notre Dame donates some $150,000 each year and provides leftovers from its dining halls for daily meals. Notre Dame students make up the center’s largest volunteer base.
Shore, also the author of “The Cathedral Within,” is the founder and executive director of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty and hunger.
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