Archive for the ‘Agencies’ Category
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Looking for help reuniting with your family? Catholic Charities helps immigrants and refugees reunite with family members in two ways: through the legal immigration process, and through the refugee resettlement process. In both programs, highly skilled staff helps navigate the complicated rules and applications required by the U.S. government for family members to enter the United States.
Click here to find a Catholic Charities agency that can help.
Call Catholic Charities at the New York State New Americans Hotline: 212-419-3737 or 1-800-566-7636 (toll-free in NYS).
Looking for help with other needs? Call the Catholic Charities Help line at: 888-744-7900.
Tags: Catholic Charities, immigrants, legal immigration, New York State New Americans Hotline, refugee resettlement, refugees, U.S. government
Posted in Agencies, New York City, Staten Island, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Get answers—in your language—by calling Catholic Charities at the New York State New Americans Hotline: 212-419-3737 or 1-800-566-7636 (toll-free in NYS).
Catholic Charities operates the New York State New Americans Hotline, a statewide information and referral hotline that gives general information and referrals to appropriate service agencies in response to immigration and citizenship-related questions.
Hotline operators speak English, Spanish, French, Haitian-Creole, Italian, Polish, Arabic, Turkish, Albanian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi. The New Americans Hotline provides an expanded menu of language options, previously not available, via a language service line, as well.
The NYS New Americans Hotline does not provide legal advice. Questions on individual eligibility are referred to legal services agencies for immigration consultations.
Tags: immigration, legal advice, legal services, New York State New Americans Hotline, NYS Immigration Hotline, service agencies
Posted in Agencies, Uncategorized, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Monday, February 4th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Msgr. Kevin Sullivan served as keynote speaker at the mid-year graduation of 15 students who received full academic Regents diplomas on January 31, 2013 at Innovation Diploma Plus (IDP.) This small school devoted to second chances helps teenagers who dropped out of high school, then returned and struggled to receive full academic diplomas.
“I basically grew up here in this school,” said graduate Carlos Guilbe. “I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for the students and staff of IDP and Alianza LTW that motivated me to make it.”
The program’s classrooms, pairing small class size with technological innovations, sit on the top floor of the Louis K. Brandeis campus on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
“We’ve been working with these young people for the past two years to make sure they pass and finally graduate from high school and personally, professionally and academically get their lives on track,” says Eddie Silverio, Alianza’s director of youth programs. “To see them get their diplomas is a beautiful experience.”
Catholic Charities’ Alianza Division partners with youth, families and public and private institutions to revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods. Its mission is to help children, youth and families break the cycle of poverty and fulfill their potential as members of the global community.
“We are filled with excitement seeing how each one of our young adults has accomplished a great milestone, high school graduation,” said Alianza LTW Director Daiana Castillo.” “Congratualtions Class of 2013! You did it!”
More News from Alianza
Alianza has been able to multiply opportunities it provides the children it serves. Thanks to coordination with Catholic Charities CYO programs, Alianza’s Young Men Initiative program brought 11 teens to the Fordham vs. University of Rhode Island basketball game held last month on the Fordham campus.
The trip proved so popular that it is now slated to be the first of many trips to the university campus.
“Our students didn’t realize that there was a school that big and beautiful in the Bronx,” Mr. Silverio added. “Our trip gave them another incentive to work hard and keep their grades up so that they can go to a school like Fordham.”
Tags: academic Regents, Alianza, CYO programs, Eddie Silverio, graduation, high school, Innovation Diploma Plus, Kevin Sullivan, Louis K. Brandeis campus, students, Upper West Side, Young Men Initiative
Posted in Agencies, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, New York City, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
By Alice Kenny
More than 600 people gathered last week at the Catholic Charities Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Community Center to celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. This central Harlem landmark hosted celebrations sponsored by multiple groups that regularly meet there including, the Harambee Dance Company and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center New York Support Group.
“Harlem is the central point in the New York Archdiocese of Dr. Martin Luther King’s work personified; he walked the streets of Harlem,” said Kennedy Center Director Deacon Rodney Beckford.
The Deacon also served as the master of ceremonies at the at the Central Harlem Vicariate-sponsored interfaith service held last week at All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Harlem.
“The community was not only familiar with Dr. King as a national figure but as a personal figure; at this time every year all the institutions in Harlem rise to the occasion of remembering him and promoting the justice, peace and equality he espoused,” Deacon Beckford continued. “We at Catholic Charities Kennedy Center have always been at the forefront of that celebration.”
Tags: All Saints Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Charities Kennedy Center, Central Harlem, Harambee Dance Company, interfaith service, kennedy center, Kennedy Center Director Deacon Rodney Bedford, Martin Luther King Jr. Center New York Support Group, MLK, New York Archdiocese, Vicariate
Posted in Agencies, Events, Interfaith, New York City, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Wilmarie Dominguez’ son, Nicholas, 12, was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and hypertonia. He cannot speak, see or stand.
Yet, Ms. Dominguez says, “he has given me a lot of strength.”
But this strength was not enough to combat her landlord’s threats to evict them. She sought help from Catholic Charities.
Thanks to Catholic Charities’ successful intervention, she can continue caring for Nicholas in their home, pureeing his food so that he can swallow it, changing his diapers and pushing him in his wheelchair to his myriad of medical appointments.
In her world, “there’s no me,” she says. “There’s just him.”
Read their story published in The New York Times.
Tags: Catholic Charities, Catholic Charities HomeBase program, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, eviction, Family Eviction Prevention Supplement program, Financial Security, hypertonia, New York Times Neediest Cases, The New York Times
Posted in Agencies, New York City, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Monday, January 7th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Otis Hampton, who has cerebral palsy and was abandoned at birth, once walked 40 miles in Manhattan and swelled with pride when he reached his destination.
Not only does Mr. Hampton, 22, refuse to accept limitations, but he also strives to inspire others.
“I feel like when I take walks, or when I’m walking in general, there may be a kid I know with cerebral palsy who’s been wanting to take a step without falling that finally gets up out of his or her wheelchair and takes those steps for the first time,” he said.
Mr. Hampton lives at Create, a shelter for homeless young men affiliated with Catholic Charities.
Read his story published in The New York Times.
Tags: Catholic Charities affiliate, cerebral palsy, Create Inc., homeless, homelessness, neediest cases fund, Otis Hampton, Shelter, The New York Times, young men
Posted in Agencies, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Gunfire and police sirens punctuate the soundtrack of the streets outside Yoshita Childress’s home, an apartment that offers frequent views of middle-of-the-night brawls and arrests.
To keep her children, Syrene, 15, and Syrus, 14, safe, Ms. Childress insists that they stay busy with after-school activities, or remain largely confined to the apartment.
Catholic Big Sisters and Big Brothers, an affiliate of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, provides them with safe outlets while opening up to them a world of opportunities.
Read their story published in The New York Times.
Tags: affiliate of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, after-school activities, Catholic Big Sisters and Big Brothers, neediest cases fund, New York Times, New York Times Neediest Cases, Yoshita Childress
Posted in Agencies, New York City, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013
By Alice Kenny
It is very difficult for Maria Marquez, 33, to talk about her past. She can be specific about certain things, but not many. The danger just feels too real.
“I’m afraid,” Ms. Marquez said anxiously in her Elmhurst, Queens, apartment, an intensity in her eyes. “There have been kidnappings. People killed.”
A refugee from Venezuela, Ms. Marquez turned to Catholic Charities for help.
Read her story published on Sunday in The New York Times.
Tags: Christian Democratic Party, Elmhurst, Maria Marquez, Queens, refugee, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, Venezuela
Posted in Agencies, Policy and Advocacy, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
By Alice Kenny
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan brightened the Christmas season for children, senior citizens, women religious, board members and staff during his visit on December 19 to the RSHM Life Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY on December 19.
He stopped by the afterschool classrooms of students grades kindergarten through fifth grade, distributing gifts to nearly 100 children.
The RSHM Life Center, a Catholic Charities affiliate, was established in 1995 to respond to the needs of the immigrant population of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown in Westchester County. The Center offers educational programs and social services to enable and empower low-income immigrants to acquire the skills and access the resources they need to improve their life situations.
Learn more about the RSHM Life Center.
Share the Christmas spirit with your neighbors in need.
Tags: afterschool, board members, Catholic Charities affiliate, Christmas season, classrooms, immigrant population, kindergarten, religious, RSHM Life Center, senior citizens, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Westchester County
Posted in Agencies, Cardinal Dolan, Events, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Parishes, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Friday, December 14th, 2012
By Alice Kenny
On December 4th, 2012, Beacon of Hope House held their annual Christmas party at the Church of the Epiphany in Manhattan. Over 160 people attended for an evening of holiday celebration.
Catholic Charities staff and volunteers helped set up the party, serve food and drinks and organize a raffle for party attendees. The creative raffle baskets handed out to lucky winners included supplies for a movie night, a spa basket and a healthy eating kit.
In addition to Beacon residents, among the guests in attendance were Executive Director of Catholic Charities Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, who gave the blessing, and Catholic Charities Community Services Board Member John Baldante.
Guests spent the night dancing to Latin music and savoring delicious food. They also had their pictures taken with friends and received a picture frame along with it as a party favor. Denise Bauer, Director of Beacon of Hope House, noted how much the guests enjoyed the chance to be photographed with their friends and how much they appreciated the special keepsake.
Beacon of Hope House operates residences and an employment Clubhouse in the Bronx and on Staten Island for over 430 individuals with mental illnesses.
To volunteer for upcoming opportunities to spread holiday cheer and help those in need, sign up on our volunteer website.
Tags: Beacon Clubhouse, Beacon of Hope, beacon of hope house, Brooklyn Kingsborough Intensive Support Apartment Program, Cardinal Cooke Residence, Catholic Charities Community Services Board Member, Christmas, Christmas Party, Church of the Epiphany, Clubhouse, Denise Bauer, Director of Beacon of Hope House, East Bronx Supported Housing, Executive Director of Catholic Charities Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Highbridge Supported Housing, Holiday X-mas Party, John Baldante, Latin music, raffle, Staten Island Apartment Programs, Staten Island Supervised Programs
Posted in Agencies, New York City, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, Volunteering, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
