Catholic Charities USA Hosts Centennial Year Poverty Reduction Summit in Albany

Conference Engages Community, Recognizes Effective Programs

ALBANY, N.Y., March 8  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Catholic Charities USA, the 170-member national human services organization committed to cutting poverty in half by 2020—sponsored by the New York State Council of Catholic Charities Directors—convened one of 10 Centennial Summits today at the Desmond Hotel in Albany as part of the organization's 100 year history.  The event brought together civic leaders, elected officials and all interested parties to address the devastation of poverty in the country.

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Among the speakers during the day-long summit were Father Larry Snyder, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA; Candy Hill, senior vice president for social policy and government affairs at Catholic Charities USA; Kristin Proud, NYS deputy secretary for human services, technology and operations; and the economist Trudi Renwick, chief of the Poverty and Health Statistics Branch of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany spoke during an awards presentation honoring Dr. Denis Demers, administrator of Mental Health Outpatient Services, a Catholic Charities agency in the Rockville Centre Diocese, and Sister Maureen Joyce, RSM, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany.

"In a country like ours, even in these tough times, it is simply unacceptable that close to 40 million people live in poverty," said Rev. Snyder.  "Catholic Charities agencies and Catholic Charities USA seek a sustained national commitment that will ensure a reduction in poverty.  Together, we can lift each other up.  Only collectively can we begin to change the face of poverty."

The summit also included an awards presentation honoring three Catholic Charities programs that are effectively working to reduce poverty in their communities. The innovative programs were recognized for best practices in Catholic Charities USA's poverty issue areas: health, housing, hunger, economic security, education/job training.  Each agency received a $25,000 award to invest in further development of their program.

• Wheels for Work: Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany – In 2001, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany launched a community-based program, known as Wheels for Work, inviting individuals and families residing in the local communities of upstate NY to donate their used cars to Catholic Charities. In turn, these vehicles are mechanically serviced and given to individuals and families whose household incomes fall within 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.  While the lack of car ownership can attribute to individuals staying in lower-paying jobs and/or not securing better paying positions, Catholic Charities have found that other underlying factors may keep a number of families entrenched in poverty, namely lack of education, low skill sets, inadequate housing, medical and child care issues. These may serve as obstacles to increasing economic sufficiency. The Wheels for Work caseworkers provide case management to identify these interfering variables and work with the applicants to finding their way through these barriers.
• Christopher Place Employment Academy: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Baltimore – Christopher Place Employment Academy (CPEA) is an intensive 18-month residential program that provides education and training as well as emotional, spiritual, and addiction recovery support to formerly homeless men. The academy invites participants to engage in a process of change that moves them from homelessness to permanent stable living, trains them to obtain employment, and empowers them to live a life free of drugs and alcohol. CPEA provides formerly homeless men with a structured and stable environment. The facility eliminates the men's challenges to merely survive and allows them to focus on mastering necessary life-skills, enabling the men to achieve independent freedom. Those selected to participate in CPEA have voiced a strong commitment, both verbally and by actions, to a life-long dedication towards the process of change. These changes will include but are not limited to, recovery and sobriety, employment and self-reliance. Graduates of CPEA re-enter their communities as enlightened, self-sufficient, caring and spiritually whole men.
• Closing the Gap in Student Performance: Catholic Charities of Buffalo – Closing the Gap in Student Performance (CTG) is a school-based collaboration currently embedded in eight of the lowest performing, Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade, Buffalo Public Schools, serving over 4,000 students. CTG integrates health, human, and social services to enhance conditions for learning in partnership with leaders in the school and the district. CTG promotes resiliency, helps students to succeed academically and socially, and provides necessary family support, allowing teachers to teach and administrators to lead and plan. Service providers are measured on six key student outcomes tracked by the Catholic Charities Site Facilitator: improved academic performance; attendance and parental involvement and decreased occurrence of discipline referrals; informal and formal suspensions.
• Fortitude Housing: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington – The Fortitude Housing initiative strengthens the lives of over 100 formerly homeless residents of the District of Columbia placed in permanent supportive housing through intensive case management services. Fortitude Housing recognizes the fundamental importance of housing to provide an incentive, stability and strength for people to escape the cycle of chronic homelessness by providing help and creating hope and new beginnings for the chronically homeless. The impact Fortitude Housing has on reducing material poverty is unquestionable, but it also celebrates the good news proclaimed to the poor as they are no longer ashamed to live with hope.

The Albany summit is part of a nationwide series that will culminate in Washington, DC, on September, 26, 2010.  The summits provide a forum for thought-leaders, major influencers and citizens-at-large to come together and act on poverty.  

Catholic Charities USA's members—more than 1,700 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide—provide help and create hope for 8.5 million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds.  For almost 300 years, Catholic Charities agencies have worked to reduce poverty by providing a myriad of vital services in their communities, ranging from health care and job training to food and housing.  In 2010, Catholic Charities USA celebrates its centennial anniversary.  For more information, visit www.CatholicCharitiesUSA.org.

SOURCE Catholic Charities USA