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alumniPROFILE
TREAT HOUSE:
food for body and spirit
by Susan Flansburg
Visit Project Renewal’s
Treat House after school and you’ll see what
director Ann Schwickerath ’98 calls “organized
chaos.” A less discerning eye might miss the “organized”
piece of the scene, though: 30-some kids sit,
slouch and sprawl elbow-to-elbow as they chatter, do
homework, eat snacks, play video games and clown
around. It’s noisy, cluttered and smells like feet.
Organized? Only a pro could tell.
And after 19 years, Schwickerath is a pro. As the
accidental director of this after-school and summer
program for Davenport’s inner city kids—she
went from an intern to director overnight, when
the previous director unexpectedly stepped down
—Schwickerath has played Treat House mom since
1993. Accident or not, she says it’s the only job for
her now.
It would be a tough sell for many people. Situated
across from a one-time crack house (it was raided
less than five years ago), down the alley from a soup
kitchen on one corner and transitional housing on the
other, and two houses away from a facility for courtordered
rehab for delinquent teenage boys, working
at the Treat House might seem a little … Dangerous?
Schwickerath shrugs.
“You can run into trouble anywhere,” she said.
“This is a safe haven.”
Project Renewal was created in 1973 by Sister
Concetta Bendicente, PHJC, at Warren and West
Fifth streets in Davenport. Disturbed by the large
number of unsupervised children roaming the
neighborhood day and night, she wanted to give the
children structure, caring and a bite to eat. That bite
to eat spawned the nickname, the Treat House. But
it’s clear the place—and the resident mom—provide
sustenance on many levels.
“I remember every moment a child has sat on
my lap and said, ‘I wish you were my mom,’”
Schwickerath said. “They all come to us with
different emotions. Maybe they didn’t get enough
sleep. Maybe their house was raided last night.
Maybe they didn’t have dinner and are really hungry.
But when they get here, they know what to expect.
This is a home and we are a family.”
The family includes assistant director Carl
Calloway, several SAU student volunteers and volunteers
from churches, schools and other organizations
throughout the greater community. Three or four
paid interns also assist during the full-time summer
program, as did Schwickerath when she first came on
board. Newly graduated with a University of Iowa
social work degree and a burgeoning sense of social
justice, Schwickerath brought her brand of quiet
progress to Project Renewal.
As Project Renewal transitioned from a part-time
playtime program to Schwickerath’s family-style
home with structure and rules, she began to get the
urge to go back to school to pursue art education.
She chose St. Ambrose, she said, because she didn’t
want to leave Treat House. Her choice turned out to
be serendipitous.
“The social justice mission resonated for me,” she
said. “And the faculty and staff were so supportive.
Still are. They prepare students who make great
interns and volunteers here.”
Schwickerath cites a wonderful synergy between
the SAU students and Project Renewal’s inner city
kids.
“Our kids have maybe never known someone
who’s worked to achieve their potential and dreamed
big,” she said. “It’s hard to break the cycle of their
poverty without showing them what can be. They
won’t believe it can happen. St. Ambrose students
reinforce that it can, just by being here.”
Learn more about Project Renewal at sau.edu/scene
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