Posts Tagged ‘New York Times Neediest Cases’
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
Nearly seven decades later, Charles Daubek Jr., 94, still remembers the “wonderful feeling” of first seeing the house – their first – that his parents saved, scrimped and borrowed to buy while he served as a private first class during World War II.
An only child and never married, Mr. Daubek has lived in that home in Hastings on Hudson since returning from the war in 1946. The fraying roof and rusting mailbox tell one story: at his age, he has neither the money nor the physical stamina to make repairs. But within the walls live a lifetime of memories – his memories – of special times with friends and with his parents, all of whom were buried years ago.
“It’s a terrible thing when you got to skimp and you don’t know if you can make it or not,” he said.
Read his profile in The New York Times. Learn about critical support he receives from Catholic Charities and its affiliate, Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, to help him to continue living independently.
Tags: caring for the elderly, Charles Daubek Jr., Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, Hastings on Hudson, New York Times Neediest Cases, repairs, The New York Times, veteran
Posted in Hudson Valley, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
For more than a decade, Marjorie Suarez worked as a sergeant at New York University Department of Public Safety. She supervised a staff of 80 officers and earned enough to provide a comfortable life for herself and her young son, Eugene.
But a freak accident that began with a fall and sprained ankle morphed into a chronic condition, complex regional pain syndrome, CRPS, left her wheelchair bound, unemployed and in constant pain.
The New York Times profiled her and the help she received during last year’s Neediest Cases campaign. This year, it caught back up with her in this online video along with two other women helped by the campaign.
“This entire situation made me humble and opened my heart,” Ms. Suarez said. “I see now that even a small gesture like saying “good morning” to someone – “how are you doing; how can I help you” — can change a day and turn a life around.”
Tags: complex regional pain syndrome, CRP, Marjorie Suarez, Neediest Cases, Neediest Cases campaign, New York Times Neediest Cases, New York University Department of Public Safety, The New York Times, wheelchair bound
Posted in New York City, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
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 »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
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 »
Monday, November 26th, 2012
Beaulah Smith sat on a hospital bed beside Isaac, her husband of 40 years, as a team of doctors explained the grim state of his health.
Terminal colon cancer. Inoperable.
Mr. Smith died three weeks later, on Feb. 2, 2012.
While grieving, Ms. Smith simultaneously fought her own life-and-death battle with ovarian cancer. The two contests broke her heart and depleted her savings.
Click here to read her story published this past Sunday in The New York Times and learn about support and intervention that Catholic Charities provided.
Tags: Beaulah Smith, Catholic Charities, Neediest Cases, New York Times Neediest Cases, The New York Times, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund
Posted in New York City, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
The New York Times Neediest Cases Campaign kicked off its 101st year of profiling the people Catholic Charities serves.
Lataja James, 18, for example, planned to attend an all-expense-paid volunteer program in Nicaragua the summer before her senior year of high school. But when she went to her doctor for the required vaccinations, a simple blood test revealed that she was pregnant.
The following day, Lataja’s mother bought her a suitcase. But it was not for the trip Lataja had planned.
“‘I don’t know where you’re going,’” Lataja recalls her mother saying, “‘but you’re going to get out of my house.’”
Click here to read about the home and help Lataja found at Catholic Charities affiliate Elinor Martin Residence for Mother and Child in New Rochelle, NY and the future she and her baby son, Dillyn, have begun to build.
Tags: Catholic Charities, Catholic Charities affiliate, Elinor Martin Residence for Mother and Child, helping youth mothers, housing, mothers in need, Neediest Cases, New Rochelle, New York Times Neediest Cases, young mother
Posted in Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless, New York City, Policy and Advocacy, Protecting and Nurturing Children and Youth, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Thursday, August 16th, 2012
By Alice Kenny
When Patrice Mbekeli first came to Catholic Charities he had just escaped torture in his native Cameroon, was penniless and slept on subway cars. After the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement staff teamed up with the New York Times Neediest Cases campaign to publicize his plight, Patrice was offered work, a home and a ticket to his family’s future.
Last month, Patrice wrote Catholic Charities to let us know that he is on track to receive his PhD. as a pharmacist. “I am the pure product of your love and commitment,” he wrote. “Only the power of love can completely turn around a life as it happened to mine.”
Read more about how, with your help, Catholic Charities teams up with the New York Times Neediest Cases Campaign and helps turn lives around.
Tags: Cameroon, Catholic Chairities, New York Times Neediest Cases, Patrice Mbekelo, refugee resettlement
Posted in New York City, Strengthening Families and Resolving Crises, Uncategorized, Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees, What We Do at Catholic Charities | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012
“No one wants to become a refugee. No one should have to endure this humiliating and arduous ordeal. Yet, millions do. Even one refugee forced to flee, one refugee forced to return to danger is one too many.” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on World Refugee Day, when it was first officially marked on June 20, 2001.
- World Refugee Day, held each year on June 20, was first marked in 2001, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The annual event is recognized in more than 100 countries, involving government officials, aid workers, celebrities, civilians and the forcibly displaced. Learn more at the UN Refugee Agency.
- The theme of World Refugee Day 2012 is “Refugees have no choice. You do.” It is part of the United Nations “Dilemmas” campaign, which highlights the difficult decisions refugees must make for survival.
- There are currently 264,574 refugees and 6,285 asylum seekers in the United States, according to UNHCR. Globally, there are 10.5 million “refugees of concern” at the beginning of 2011.
- Angelina Jolie, appointed Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, has helped promote World Refugee Day
- In New York, UNHCR will be commemorating World Refugee Day during an evening event at the UN Secretariat Building in Manhattan. The event will launch a photo and text exhibit on the UNHCR publication, “The State of the World’s Refugees.”Learn about World Refugee Day events taking place worldwide.
- In Washington, D.C., Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, as well as UNHCR supporter and former refugee, will be involved in several events featuring international artists. Hosseini will introduce a live performance of “No Place Called Home,” written and performed by Kim Schultz. The play tells the story of an American woman who accidentally falls in love with an Iraqi man while interviewing refugees.
- Looking for more World Refugee Day events throughout the country? Explore the full list of official World Refugee Day 2012 events in the United States.
- Looking for World Refugee Day events elsewhere in New York State? There are events taking place today in Utica, Syracuse, and Albany.
Top content on refugee services at Catholic Charities:
- JustLove on SiriusXM: On a special World Refugee Day broadcast, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan speaks with guests who work and volunteer in the field of refugee resettlement and employment.
- A New, Safer Life. “Manaf Hashim did not know who was threatening to kill him in the note left on the front door of his Baghdad home or in a message left on his cellphone two days later. He suspected he was being targeted because his fiancée, Farah, was Sunni, and he was Shia. He knew only that it was best to heed such warnings…”
- Burmese Couple Build Life in the Bronx. “Bae Reh and his wife, Moo Pro, were raised on a five-mile-long patch of land they were not permitted to leave, except to gather leaves to fortify the bamboo huts in which they slept. They are refugees from Myanmar whose parents fled to a camp in Thailand to escape a government that drafted citizens at random and forced them to commit atrocities against their own ethnic tribes.“
- On the Road with the Neediest Cases: On the Anniversary of Haiti’s Earthquake. “Jovins told me he feels lucky despite losing half his leg. The massive earthquake that struck Haiti just over a year ago tore a beam from his home, pinned him down and crushed his leg...”
- Saving a Refuge, With Help from Our Volunteers. Volunteers help restore St. Rita’s Center for Immigrant and Refugee Services.
- Learn more about what Catholic Charities does to help refugees and immigrants in New York.
Tags: New York Times Neediest Cases, refugee services, UNHCR, United Nations, volunteering, world refugee day
Posted in Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees | 1 Comment »
