Helping Struggling Families Through Tough Times
Sister Mary Anne Owens, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Dallas
Catholic Charities of Dallas, founded in 1891, is a nonprofit organization of human services working together to strengthen families. Catholic Charities provides help and creates hope, regardless of faith through four divisions: Professional Counseling and Children Services, Refugee and Empowerment Services, Immigration and Legal Services, and Elderly and Family Assistance services.
Catholic Charities’ Elderly and Family Assistance Services division serves clients from young families struggling to keep a roof over their heads to the elderly who are trying to keep their dignity.
We have seen a 20 percent increase in the number of families coming to Catholic Charities in need of assistance, and the severity of needs has intensified as the recession persists.
Karina and Jose, a young couple with six children whose ages range from 2 to 10, have been caught in the current economic downturn. Jose, who speaks little English and has limited skills, is currently unemployed and has struggled to find a new job as Texas jobless figures rise. Karina, who recently went to school to become a medical assistant, is trying to keep her family afloat while working and tending to her husband and six young children at home. With Karina being the only parent providing an income, she is unable to give her six children the attention that they need from their mother.
But the family is looking ahead to its future with help from Catholic Charities. Jose is enrolled in English as a Second Language classes to help increase his job opportunities for the future.
Catholic Charities’ location in West Dallas (one of six outreach locations) has helped Karina and Jose with food, school supplies and money for rent or utilities. Catholic Charities, trying to give them additional help, is currently looking for a family to adopt them for the holiday season. Jose and Karina are extremely excited and grateful as they know it would be very difficult for them to afford a Christmas gift for each and every one of their kids. They realize that they cannot provide much, but the young family would love to host the adopting family in their home as a thank you for providing them with help and hope during these hard times.
Help can come in many different forms ranging from donating food or your time to the local food pantry to giving monetary donations that will provide school supplies, food, clothing, or living assistance to families in need. It is in these times that the community needs to reach out and give a helping hand to organizations and agencies whose prime objective is to provide help and create hope to those that cannot provide it for themselves.
In these times in our world, a hand up is extraordinarily valuable and hope is precious. Thanks for helping us give hope to others.
Learn more about the services Catholic Charities of Dallas provides here.
To identify available family resources in your community, dial 2-1-1 or go online to 211 Texas, the statewide referral network for health and human services. Learn more from the 2-1-1 page of KERA’s Economy Web site.
*Names have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
Community Resources, Families, General, Guest Commentaries, Housing, Jobs
2-1-1, Catholic Charities, Catholic Charities of Dallas, Community Resources, economic, economy, employment, español, Families, Housing, Jobs, KERA Economy Project, recession, Sister Mary Anne Owens, unemployment, workforce training
Please let me know how we can help this Family or other one if possible for Christmas. I have a large Family and its important that the grand children need to know that this is real life situations. Thank you
Mr. Sullivan, My husband and I have been trying to work, but are finding that our age seems to be against us. We apply for jobs, but never receive an answer. This week he went to JPS hospital for vertigo. there were so many people there. I thought they must surely need employees to help process the people. I tried to apply and found that their web site would not go to the application. This is also true of Tarrant county and Fort Worth City. What will we all do without work? It just seems to continue downward.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Catholic Charities of Dallas! We have plenty of everyday and special holiday season volunteer opportunities.
Please visit our website at http://www.CatholicCharitiesDallas.org
or email ltracy@central.CatholicCharitiesDallas.org
We appreciate all that you do for the community.
[...] Charities has participated in KERA’s blog discussing how we strive to help families struggling through these tough [...]