 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
|||
| Local charities show off model programs People who need help in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood in Chicago can talk with a social worker, get referrals for job training or transitional housing, select food at a Women, Infants and Children food center or find senior housing at St. Sabina Elders Village—all within about three blocks of St. Sabina Parish. Delegates to the Catholic Charities USA annual meeting visited the facilities Aug. 2 on one of two local tours arranged by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago to highlight local programs. Catholic Charities delegates who work in the emergency services area were invited to a tour in St. Sabina’s neighborhood, with stops at the Elders Village, the WIC Center and Sousa Transitional Shelter. Those who work in housing were invited to see Bernardin Manor, a new senior housing facility in Calumet City, and the Oak Park Development Corporation, a non-profit community development corporation that builds and rehabs family housing. Leaders said the tour of programs in St. Sabina’s neighborhood displayed the effectiveness of working with local parishes and clustering different kinds of services to make them more convenient for people with multiple needs. “When people come to our place, they have problems, they have struggled and they should know they will be welcomed and they will be helped as much as we possibly can,” said Father Michael Boland, administrator of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities agency. St. Sabina pastor Father Michael Pfleger said that keeping services in his South Side community makes them more accessible to those who need them. “More and more, nationally, we are withdrawing from urban areas,” Pfleger said, as more social service agencies centralize locations in downtown areas. “When we do so, we’re really losing our identity. … We’ve learned from the hospitals that you’ve really got to bring the services to the people. They won’t come to you. We as a Catholic Church have a tremendous opportunity to do these satellite partnerships.” Such partnerships aren’t always about money, said Christene Dykes-Sorrells, director of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities Emergency Services Program and Chairwoman of Catholic Charities USA’s Emergency Services Section. In Cook and Lake Counties, the emergency services program gets about 80,000 requests for help each year. When Catholic Charities first started working with St. Sabina Parish, the church provided four small rooms in the old convent. From there, working together, the agency and the parish created a network of resources, she said. Each program can also find ways to partner with the others, said Dennis McSwain, Catholic Charities division manager for community development and outreach, which includes the 18 Chicago WIC centers administered by Catholic Charities. The centers serve 74,000 clients each month. The centers are run as a public health program in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Human Services, with a primary goal of reducing infant mortality by helping pregnant and nursing mothers and young children get adequate nutrition. But beyond providing food and nutrition education, they also help train people from their neighborhoods for jobs, mostly in supermarkets, provide volunteer opportunities for local senior citizens and refer people for other services, McSwain said during a tour of the center on West 79th Street. Sarah Conley, who works for Catholic Charities in Watkin’s Glen, N.Y., was impressed by the magnitude of the programs she saw in Chicago. “I wanted to see the breadth of the services,” she said. “Everything we do is very small-scale by comparison, but needs to be this comprehensive.” —Michelle Martin Front Page | Digest | Cardinal | Interview |
|||