Catholic Charities USA Names Three National Family Strengthening Award Winners

Catholic Charities Programs in Tennessee, New Jersey, and Washington State will receive $25,000 Award

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Catholic Charities USA, the 100-year-old social service network committed to reducing poverty in America, announces three winners of the 2010 Catholic Charities USA/Annie E. Casey Foundation Family Strengthening Award.  Programs from Nashville, TN, Trenton, NJ, and Skagit County, WA, were selected for their holistic approach to providing services that support healthy family relationships, work to improve a family's overall financial situation, and enhance the community where the families live.

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"On behalf of the entire Catholic Charities network, I am honored to announce the 2010 Family Strengthening Award winners," said Rev. Larry Snyder, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA. "By connecting families to the support and opportunities that they need to be economically stable, these programs are helping people build better lives and, as a result, strengthening communities across the country. We need more programs like these to reach our goal to reduce poverty in America by 50 percent by 2010."

"The Catholic Charities network has a strong history in support of children and families," continued Fr. Snyder. "As we celebrate our Centennial this year, we look back on 100 years of remarkable programs like these that have helped families by providing nutritious meals, financial counseling, affordable health care, shelter, training, education, and most of all, hope."

The three winning programs will each receive a $25,000 award and will be formally honored at Catholic Charities USA's Centennial Gathering, September 25-28, 2010, in Washington, DC. Each program will also host a site visit with participants from the Catholic Charities network.

• Refugee Youth Program, Catholic Charities, Nashville, TN:  The program provides after-school, summer, casework, school preparation and family enrichment services to children and their families and strives to make self-sufficiency and empowerment a goal of the entire family, not just the individual child.  
• El Centro de Recursos Para Familias, Catholic Charities, Trenton, NJ:  This multi-service family resource center strengthens vulnerable Latino families by providing support services and connecting them in a culturally appropriate way with people and institutions from the greater community to address their varying needs.  
• Skagit Family Farmworker Housing, Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington, Catholic Community Services of Western, WA: The goal of the Skagit Family Farmworker Housing is to strengthen low income, Latino farmworker families as they move towards economic self-sufficiency.  The program started with the purchase of 10 units over ten years ago and to date the agency owns and operates 105 units of farmworker housing in the County.  

The annual awards program is made possible by the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation was founded in 1948 to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.

To learn more about the 2010 award winners and the finalists, visit http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/caseyaward/

Catholic Charities USA's members provide help and create hope for more than 9 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.

SOURCE Catholic Charities USA