Posts Tagged ‘emergency food’

Battling for Bishops and Pawns, Day Laborers Face Off with Friars at Family Day Celebration

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.

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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 »

Mothers Day Makeover

Friday, May 10th, 2013

By Alice Kenny

Accustomed to hard work, scant funds and dreams only of their children’s futures, 15 wives and relatives of day laborers instead received free haircuts, makeovers and all-round pampering on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 in the St. Peter’s Parish gym in Yonkers, in preparation for Mothers Day.

The women belong to a mothers group associated with Obreros Unidos De Yonkers, a group of approximately 300 day laborers in the Yonkers area.

The women received haircuts free of charge provided by two hairstylist/salon owners who are also parishioners of St. Peter’s Parish.  They also received a make-up lesson and application by a Mary Kay representative.  And two of the recipient moms, far more accustomed to giving than receiving, opted to donate their cut hair to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss.

The Mothers Day celebration 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 in order 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.

Wishing you a wonderful Mothers Day!

 

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Posted in Events, New York City, Parishes, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees | No Comments »

Fidelis Care Provides Grant to Help Serve Needy New Yorkers

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

From Left to Right: George Rodriguez, Fidelis Care NY Director of Marketing; Mark Sclafani, Vice President, Marketing; Pamela Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer; Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, Catholic Charities Executive Director; Beatriz Diaz Taveras, Executive Director CCCS

By Alice Kenny

Fidelis Care, a partner with Catholic Charities Community Services (CCCS) for nearly a decade, donated $509,000 to Catholic Charities on May 3, 2013 to further the two agencies’ aligned mission to serve the poor and needy of New York.

This partnership has proved particularly important in light of the punishing impact the lasting effects the economic recession and deep cuts in social service programs have had on families in need.

  • One in every six New Yorkers – 1.4 million of our neighbors – now relies on daily emergency food.
  • More than half are employed yet still cannot manage to make ends meet with their earnings.  Close to 9,700 families with 15,000 children sleep in homeless shelters.

These numbers indicate what Catholic Charities already knows.  Poverty is not merely the lack of adequate financial resources.  Instead, it entails a profound deprivation, a denial of full participation in the economic, social and political life of society and an inability to influence decisions that affect one’s own life.  It means being powerless in a way that assaults not only one’s pocketbook but also one’s fundamental human dignity.

Fidelis Care is the New York State Catholic Health Plan, providing health coverage to children and adults in 58 counties statewide. The mission of Fidelis Care is to ensure that every resident, regardless of income, age, religion, gender, or ethnic background, has access to quality health care and is provided with dignity and respect. Through partnerships with providers, schools, and community agencies like Catholic Charities New York, Fidelis Care works to foster healthier futures for members and their families.

Now as more and more individuals and families seek help, the Fidelis Care grant assists Catholic Charities Community Services as we continue to respond as we always have, with professional case management services across the ten counties of the Archdiocese of New York that alleviate crises and set families and individuals on a path toward stability.

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Posted in Agencies, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, New York City, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Staten Island, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »

MBX Systems Sponsors Donation Drive for Hurricane Sandy Survivors

Monday, December 10th, 2012

Parishes and communities within the Archdiocese of New York and beyond continue to show generosity toward their neighbors who are still rebuilding after Sandy. Donations from far and wide have helped with Catholic Charities’ disaster relief efforts, from funding emergency food and water for families and individuals on Staten Island and in Lower Manhattan to providing volunteers with supplies to clean out houses on Staten Island.

MBX Systems, a Libertyville, Illinois-based technology manufacturer, has set up a donation drive to benefit both Catholic Charities Community Services, Staten Island and Gerristen Beach Cares, Brooklyn.

They will be collecting items survivors need the most:

  • Muck-out and safety supplies, including industrial-contractor grade refuse bags, N95 face masks, fire extinguishers and smoke/CO2 detectors with batteries
  • Cleaning supplies like shovels, rakes, brooms, work gloves and disposable gloves
  • Toiletries and pharmaceuticals, including Tylenol and Advil
  • Baby supplies such as diapers, wipes and baby food and formula
  • Clothing, including hats, gloves and socks
  • Miscellaneous items, including can openers, batteries and disposable cameras with flash

In the Libertyville area, donations are being accepted at MBX headquarters Monday to Friday through December 12th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. A truck full of the supplies will then deliver the goods to Staten Island and Brooklyn on December 13th.

Whether you are in the New York area or across the country, you can contribute to the Sandy Relief Fund online or text SANDY to 85944 to make a one-time $10 donation. For those in the local area, you can also donate your time by volunteering to clean up houses or help with sheet rock and debris removal on Staten Island.


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Posted in Agencies, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, 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 »

#GivingTuesday: A New Holiday to Start the Giving Season

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

After the rush of shopping and deals post-Thanksgiving, a more meaningful celebration has taken shape to kick off the giving season. On Tuesday, November 27th, charities, families, businesses and individuals are all coming together to join in acts of giving.

As a partner of the #GivingTuesday initiative, Catholic Charities New York is raising funds and food for this year’s Feeding Our Neighbors campaign.

Thousands have been helped by emergency food after Sandy. At the same time, hundreds of thousands don’t have enough to eat every day. Help us raise 1 million meals for needy New Yorkers by contributing to Feeding Our Neighbors. Do your part to make the spirit of #GivingTuesday last throughout the year.

How to participate:

  • Spread the word about #GivingTuesday on Facebook and Twitter
  • Make a quick $10 donation to Feeding Our Neighbors by texting “CCHOPE” to 85944

 

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Posted in Events, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, New York City, Staten Island, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »

Catholic Charities Mobilizes Response to Hurricane Sandy

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012

Multi-prong approach pulls together staff and volunteers to serve those hardest hit.

As soon as Hurricane Sandy hit the New York area, Catholic Charities volunteers and case workers took action.  Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director of Catholic Charities New York, offered the agency’s help at an emergency shelter for hurricane victims at John Jay College and spoke with survivors on Staten Island.  Msgr. Sullivan participated with Governor Andrew Cuomo in distributing emergency food at the New York City Armory on Saturday.

Catholic Charities mobilized staff this past weekend and coordinated with 136 volunteers to reach out to people whose homes were flooded and livelihoods ruined in Staten Island’s Midland Beach.  It  served meals on Sunday for hungry New Yorkers  at Cardinal Spellman Center in Lower Manhattan.  Case managers hand-delivered disaster relief information including safety tips and shelter lists and provided support to individuals, parishes and communities, non Catholics and Catholics alike, throughout Staten Island, Lower Manhattan and Westchester County and communities without electricity.  This included Holy Rosary Parish in the South Beach section of Staten Island, an area particularly hard hit by the hurricane.

The Catholic Charities agencies in conjunction with the entire Archdiocese of New York is working closely with FEMA and other first responders to maximize resources available to those hit hard by the storm. The Mission of the Immaculate Virgin (MIV) Center is open as a disaster relief center effective Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

“Catholic Charities has been in the forefront of helping the disaster victims,” said Executive Director of Catholic Charities Monsignor Kevin Sullivan.  “Our workers, trained in disaster response, are prepared to meet the human needs such disasters cause.”

 

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Posted in Agencies, Events, Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, New York City, Parishes, Policy and Advocacy, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Staten Island, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Supporting the Physically and Emotionally Challenged, Volunteering, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »