Archive for the ‘Hudson Valley’ Category
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Day laborers’ children battled to capture bishops, kings and pawns at chess competitions held with Franciscan Friars at a family day celebration on May 19th. For the first time ever, St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers opened its doors to Obreros Unidos and their families on Pentecost Sunday. City of Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano joined in the festivities.
The Catholic Charities-sponsored Family Day brought together more than 150 local day-laborer family members with seminarians, friars and Catholic Charities staff. It was part of Catholic Charities’ ongoing involvement with Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, a group of approximately 300 day laborers in the Yonkers area.
Through this program, Catholic Charities educates workers on employment rights and responsibilities to prevent exploitation and abuse. Catholic Charities also assists in the collection of unpaid wages, helps workers get access to healthcare services, provides emergency food, and offers English language and computer skills instruction.
The midday event began with Pentecost Sunday mass to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Next, at an indoor picnic pulled together in response to the pouring rain outdoors, participants feasted on tacos, churros and flan. Then they partied together as they faced off at chess matches, danced in Zumba exercise classes, painted faces and dabbled with arts and crafts.
Check out our Facebook page for more photos of the event.
Would you like to join Obreros Unidos de Yonkers?
Call (914) 375-6729/48 or visit the office at St. Peter’s Church basement, 91 Ludlow Street, Yonkers, NY 10705
Call the Catholic Charities Help Line — (888) 744-7900 — to find services you need.
Tags: arts and crafts, Catholic Charities Help Line, catholic charities staff, chess competitions, chess matches, day laborers, emergency food, employment rights, exercise classes, family day, family members, Franciscan Friars, friars, healthcare services, mass, Mayor Mike Spano, Obreros Unidos, Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, Pentecost Sunday, seminarians, St. Joseph’s Seminary, St. Peters Church, Yonkers
Posted in Events, Hudson Valley, Parishes, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees | No Comments »
Monday, May 20th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Determined to raise 8,000 – 10,000 pounds of vegetables for the hungry, dozens of volunteers planted pepper, lettuce, broccoli, tomato and eggplant seedlings at the Catholic Community Services of Rockland “Garden of Love” on May 18. Vegetables from the garden are distributed to families through food pantries throughout the county.
The garden, preparing for its fourth season, has been expanded with the help of volunteers and those who donated materials including tools, soil and fences. Renewing its commitment to the community, organizers have recently renamed the initiative “Produce the Produce.”
Check out photos of your neighborhood volunteers and more Garden of Love updates in The Journal News.
Are you hungry and need help?
- Contact us. At Catholic Charities, no one is ever turned away.
- If you live in Rockland County, please call 845 942-5791.
Help us help your neighbors in need.
Tags: Catholic Community Services of Rockland, community garden, families, food pantries, Garden of Love, hungry, Hungry New Yorkers, neighbors in need, Produce the Produce, Rockland County, seedlings, The Journal News, Volunteers
Posted in Hudson Valley, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
The New York State National Alliance on Mental Illness honored Astor Services for Children & Families’ Early Head Start Program, an affiliate of Catholic Charities NY, on May 7 for their work successfully addressing the issues of children’s mental health. This includes early identification, outreach, family education, providing mental health awareness in schools, and successfully intervening on behalf of afflicted children and their families. Astor Services received this award during a reception at the 2013 “What’s Great in Our State – A Celebration of Children’s Mental Health Awareness,” at the New York State Museum in Albany.
Astor’s Early Head Start Program serves over 200 infants, toddlers and their families in seven sites across Dutchess County. Astor has operated the Head Start Program in Dutchess County since 1978 and later assumed responsibility for the Early Head Start Program. Head Start and Early Head Start are federally-funded programs for low-income families.
The children in Astor’s Head Start and Early Head Start Programs receive mental health screening through collaboration with Astor’s Hudson Valley Behavioral Health & Prevention Programs. This program provides early identification and intervention of social emotional problems in children, ages 2 to 18, through the Child and Family Clinic Plus Program (Clinic Plus). This program is a state-wide initiative by the Office of Mental Health to furnish mental health services for children and families.
“On behalf of the children, families and staff, I am delighted to receive this recognition,´ said Mary Sontheimer, Assistant Executive Director, Astor Services for Children & Families, Early Childhood Programs. “These are the issues at the core of our Early Head Start Program: social emotional development, health relationships and positive attachments for children. All stakeholders in our program play a critical role in ensuring optimal mental health and positive self-esteem.”
Tags: Assistant Executive Director, Astor Services for Children & Families, Behavioral Health, Clinic Plus, dutchess county, Early Childhood Programs, Early Head Start Program, Head Start Program, hudson valley, Mary Sontheimer, mental health, mental illness, New York State Museum, New York State National Alliance, Prevention Programs
Posted in Events, Hudson Valley, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Thanks to the creativity and compassion of fourteen-year-old Victoria Robustello, elementary-school children felled in the Newtown massacre will be honored along with local heroes at the upcoming CYO Club of Champions dinner.
Now in its 77th year, the upcoming CYO Club of Champions dinner scheduled for this summer celebrates individuals who provide inspiration and leadership for youth.
Victoria agreed to display her painstaking painting that depicts each of the 20 slain children floating above a cloud at the event on June 26, 2013. She is also sending framed copies to the children’s families as well as the Sandy Hook Fire Department and school. A $250 donation, in turn, will be given anonymously to The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation, Inc. in recognition of Victoria’s painting.
A student at John Jay High School in Hopewell Junction in upstate Dutchess County, Victoria began sketching the painting on her drawing table in her bedroom shortly after the mass murder in December 2012. She pulled up web photos of the children, and then recaptured in painting their smiling faces and the clothing they wore.
“It just broke my heart,” her mother, Pam Robustello, said, “knowing that when it would be finished there would be 20 children on that portrait that are no longer with us.”
Although Victoria acknowledges the pain she felt reproducing the children one by one, she seems to have found comfort as well.
“There will never be any answers for something so senseless,” she wrote the parents when she sent them copies of her paintings. “But I want you to know that I pray for you daily.
“I hope you enjoy the portrait that I have made for you and that it will give you some peace in knowing that they are all angels now together, still playing still singing, still having fun.”
Tags: Catholic Youth Organization, CYO, CYO Club of Champions, dutchess county, Hopewell Junction, ictoria Robustello, Inc., John Jay High School, Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation, painting, Sandy Hook Fire Department
Posted in Hudson Valley, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises | No Comments »
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
The day laborer group, Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, joined a small army of volunteers to clean a neglected section of the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park Trail on Sunday.
Together, more than 200 volunteers picked up trash along a neglected section of the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park Trail that runs through the Lenoir Nature Preserve in Yonkers.
Catholic Charities has an ongoing involvement with Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, a group of approximately 300 day laborers in the Yonkers area. Through this program, Catholic Charities educates workers on employment rights and responsibilities to prevent exploitation and abuse. Catholic Charities also assists in the collection of unpaid wages, helps workers get access to healthcare services, provides emergency food, and offers English language and computer skills instruction.
Looking for more information about Obreros Unidos de Yonkers?
- Call (914) 375-6729/48 or visit the office at St. Peter’s Church basement, 91 Ludlow Street, Yonkers, NY 10705
- Call the Catholic Charities Help Line — (888) 744-7900 — for help finding services you need.
Tags: Lenoir Nature Preserve, Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park, St. Peters Church, Volunteers
Posted in Events, Hudson Valley, Volunteering, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Monday, April 22nd, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Tapping in on Earth Day, Catholic Community Services of Rockland (CCSR) announces its new program, “Produce the Produce,” to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to hungry children, individuals and families in Rockland County.
“Whether from our own garden, grocery store or farmers’ market, most of us have access we take for granted to fresh fruits and vegetables but those who are poor have neither,” says CCSR Executive Director Martha Robles.
“We are committed to changing that in Rockland with a bold, new and fresh initiative,” she adds, “and invite you to be a part of it.”
This proactive effort will put more freshly grown fruits and vegetables on the tables of people in need. CCSR plans to serve as a catalyst to engage other community and parish gardens to participate in “Produce the Produce.” It will also provide a central location where local farmers markets and common citizens can donate the fresh fruits and vegetables they grow.
The idea was “cultivated” from CCSR’s expanded community produce garden in Haverstraw. This garden, nicknamed the “Garden of Love,” has already produced more than 6,000 lbs. of fresh produce that has been distributed to participants enrolled in the CCSR Food Pantry. In addition to saving money, the Garden of Love helps feed our neighbors, while teaching members of the community how to grow their own food.
To ensure a plentiful bounty, Produce the Produce was formally announced during the 4th Annual Blessing of the Soil at CCSR, 78 Hudson Ave in Haverstraw, New York on April 20.
During this time of economic uncertainty, demand for the food pantries continues to grow. Fortunately, the CCSR garden’s bounty is growing as well. Seasonal cooking demonstrations that use fresh ingredients from the bounty harvested from the “Garden of Love” are also available.
At Catholic Community Services of Rockland, no one is ever turned away from receiving food. Please call 845 942-5791 during office hours to register.
Tags: Catholic Community Services of Rockland, community gardening, community produce, Executive Director Martha Robles, families, Food Pantry, Garden of Love, gardening, Haverstraw, hungry children, individuals, parish gardens, Produce the Produce, Rockland
Posted in Agencies, Events, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, Hudson Valley, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Parishes, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Monday, April 15th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Dutchess County CYO Art will hold an art contest at the St. Mary School – Wappingers Gymnasium on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, at 6 p.m. for students in grades 1 – 12. Contest winners will be eligible to compete in the Archdiocesan-wide – from Staten Island to the Catskill mountains- contest that will be held on May 17.
Got your artistic juices flowing?
- Drop off your artwork at St. Mary School, 11 Clinton Ave., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 on April 23 between 2 – 5 p.m. for judging.
- Bring with you a $2 art-competition fee. Checks should be made payable to CYO.
What about writers? Have we got a contest for you!
The Dutchess County CYO Essay Contest is open to youth in grades 6 – 8. First, second and third-place winners will be judged at the Archdiocesan level on May 17.
Ready to write?
- Submit your essay to Catholic Charities Community Services, Catholic Youth Organization, 1011 First Ave., New York, NY 10022, att: Monge Codio Jr., Director of Operations – CYO by May 7, 2013 at 5 p.m.
For more information on how to participate in either event, contact
Tags: Archdiocesan-wide, art, Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization, Contest, dutchess county, St. Mary School
Posted in Archdiocese News, Hudson Valley, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Friday, March 15th, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Project Irish Outreach:
Services provided: Information, referral and advocacy is offered on a variety of matters including social service entitlements, Medicaid and Medicare information/referral, maternity services, addiction prevention and treatment, crisis intervention and pastoral counseling.
Where: The Aisling Irish Center, 990 McLean Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10467.
When: Sr. Christine Hennessy, a social worker at the center, is available for confidential consultations from Monday to Friday from 9am – 5pm.
For more information: Contact: Sr. Christine Hennessy –Aisling Center, Yonkers
Phone: 914-237-5121
Fax: 914-237-5172
E-mail: sr.christine.hennessy@archny.org
Background:
- Project Irish Outreach is based in mid-town Manhattan at the Catholic Center.
- Confidential information, including information and referral on legal immigration matters, social services and entitlements, maternity services, and crisis intervention is provided.
- Legal immigration representation is available in Catholic Charities Department of Immigration Services.
- To prepare for any future legalization program, ask about ways that you can stay informed and be ready, should legalization be signed into law sometime in the future.
Confidential immigration information is also available from the New York State Immigration Hotline located at the Catholic Center. Call 1(800) 566-7636
Tags: addiction prevention and treatment, Catholic Center, Catholic Charities Department of Immigration Services, crisis interventio, crisis intervention, entitlements, legal immigration, maternity services, Medicaid, Medicare information, New York State Immigration Hotline, pastoral counseling, Project Irish Outreach, referral, social services, Social Worker, Sr. Christine Hennessy, The Aisling Irish Center
Posted in Hudson Valley, Policy and Advocacy, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 1st, 2013
By Alice Kenny
Nearly two years after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee swept through New York State, families still struggled with exposed walls and wires, no running water and no heat.
The Benson family from Lake George who were recently profiled on CBS 6 Albany News spoke of their frustration, aggravation and despair – and their gratitude that relief is finally here.
Catholic Charities New York, in recognition for its success helping victims within the Archdiocese of New York recover from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, now provides disaster recovery services beyond the Hudson Valley. The Catholic Charities Disaster Case Management Program is working directly with the New York State Office of Emergency Management and partner agencies to provide ongoing case management for nearly 3,000 families spread over 34 counties from Long Island to the Canadian border.
While many short-term goals following these massive storms have been met, Catholic Charities is now focusing on helping families with long-term case management to rebuild their homes and lives.
“We’re just thankful that someone is worried about us,” Mr. Benson said.
Whether it is Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, Catholic Charities is here to help.
Day in and day out, Catholic Charities provides a vast range of programs and services for those struggling with long-term needs or confronting sudden disaster. Our federation of agencies offers a variety of specialized assistance designed to meet individual needs, non-Catholics and Catholics alike.
Looking for help?
Tags: Archdiocese of New York, Canadian border, Case management, Catholic Charities Disaster Case Management Program, Catholic Charities Help Line, CBS 6 Albany News, disaster recovery services, disaster relief, Disaster Response, families, helping victims of natural disaster, hudson valley, Hurricane Irene, Lake George, Long Island, New York State, New York State Office of Emergency Management, partner agencies, Superstorm Sandy, The Benson family, Tropical Storm Lee
Posted in Hudson Valley, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Monday, January 28th, 2013
Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Catholic Charities New York Executive Director shakes hands with John Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO of UJA-Federation of New York
Responding to already-strained food pantry shelves further depleted by Hurricane Sandy, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan launched the second annual Feeding Our Neighbors campaign aimed at collecting more than one million meals for those in need. Cardinal Dolan began this year’s campaign on Sunday, January 27, 2013, during Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities NY concelebrated the mass.
This year, the campaign, which runs through February 3, 2013, represents an interfaith initiative with the UJA-Federation of New York. The Wall Street Journal reported that officials said this was one of the largest interfaith efforts of its kind.
“So often today…we see signs of religion as a cause of hate and division,” Cardinal Dolan told a packed Sunday Mass. “But in New York we are so proud that religion brings people together and that it takes care of God’s most forgotten people.”
Following Mass, John S. Ruskay, executive vice president and CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, and William E. Rapfogel, executive director and CEO of Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council), a UJA-Federation of New York beneficiary agency, joined Cardinal Dolan and Msgr. Sullivan in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to load food donations onto Catholic Charities’ Mobile Food Pantry and Met Council trucks for delivery to food pantries, soup kitchens and meal programs that serve New Yorkers in need.
After that, Msgr. Sullivan, Mr. Ruskay and Mr. Rapfogel kicked off UJA-Federation’s “Super Sunday” phone-a-thon to solicit additional donations.
During this time of great need, one in five New York State children grow up in poverty and more than one million New Yorkers do not have enough to eat.
This campaign grows out of an awareness and concern that embraces New Yorkers of all religions who must turn to food pantries, soup kitchens and senior center meal programs, to sustain themselves and their families.
Listen to Msgr. Sullivan’s interview with Mr. Ruskay about the Feeding Our Neighbors campaign aired Saturday, January 26 on JustLove, The Catholic Channel 129 Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
Help feed our neighbors:
Tags: campaign, feeding our neighbors, food donations, food pantries, Food Pantry, hunger in new york, Hunger Project, interfaith initiative, John S. Ruskay, meals, Met Council, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Mobile Food Pantry, phone-a-thon, senior center meal programs, soup kitchens, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Super Sunday, tele-a-thon, The Catholic Channel, The Wall Street Journal, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, UJA Federation of New York, William E. Rapfogel
Posted in Archdiocese News, Cardinal Dolan, Events, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, Hudson Valley, Interfaith, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, New York City, Parishes, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Staten Island, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
By Alice Kenny
