Social ministries would receive needed boost from capital campaign

They provide clothing to warm the homeless through winter nights, a chance at life for mothers and their unborn babies, counseling for people without hope, and classes empowering people seeking jobs.

Catholic social ministries are frequently nothing less than a physical and spiritual lifeline to people in need.

In its $50 million capital campaign, “Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future,” the Diocese of Sacramento has designated $5 million to provide vital support for a broad spectrum of social services.

Sacramento Food Bank Services, a social service organization dedicated to assisting people in need by moving them from poverty to self-sufficiency, will receive $2 million in campaign funds.

Founded 25 years ago by Father Dan Madigan, SFBS today serves more than 1,000 people daily.

SFBS will use campaign funds to construct a new $1.1 million facility to be located near the corner of Plaza Avenue and

Rio Linda Boulevard in north Sacramento.

The 9,945-square foot building will house a mother-baby program, community learning center, child care services, rooms for mentoring classes and seminars, and a free store. All are highly successful programs currently offered at the organization’s Oak Park neighborhood site.

Peter Berghuis, executive director of SFBS, said the timing couldn’t be better.

“We have financing in place, funds designated for the project, and the capital campaign is matching those funds to allow this to happen,” he said.

While people find their way in large numbers to SFBS for direct help when they are hungry or need clothing or housing, Father Madigan said these basic services are like the lobby in a hotel.

“We kind of say, there is more to our operation than this. There is a whole educational side,” he said.

Marisa Lara manages the Oak Park mother-baby program, which provides diapers, baby formula, clothing and other baby needs up to 24 months.

“We help about 300 families three days a week who come from a variety of places,” she said. “There are families that drive from Rancho Cordova just to get a pack of diapers.”

Father Madigan said that thanks to community support of the program, SFBS has never had to finance the $100,000 per year it costs to purchase diapers. “We started the program believing it would work, and we’ve never bought diapers. They’re all donated,” he said.

The planned community learning center will tutor and train students from diverse backgrounds. David Van Gee, program manager for the Oak Park learning center, said there is no shortage of success stories.

“People gain confidence, add something new to their skills, and are given one on one attention that allows them to learn in their own style, at their own pace,” he said. “We are the hand up helping people help themselves.”

Construction of the new facility is expected to begin within six weeks and be completed by the spring of 2003.

A second building project to benefit from the campaign will be a food distribution center in the north Sacramento area of Del Paso Heights. The $2 million project, projected to begin in three to four years, will replace a food distribution center that is slated by the city of Sacramento for relocation.

The capital campaign will also create a $2 million social services endowment fund. The endowment will allow diocesan sponsored or owned social programs and services to apply for funds on an annual basis.

Among the programs and their sponsoring agencies to benefit from the endowment are Catholic Social Service of Sacramento, Catholic Social Service of Solano County, Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, Mother Teresa Maternity Home of El Dorado County, Sacramento Food Bank Services, and St. Patrick Home for Children.

Father Michael Kiernan, vicar for social services for the diocese, said the need for financial support for these agencies has never been greater.

“Anything we can do to make up for the loss of government funding to meet an increased demand is to the good,” he said. “The campaign is caring for different aspects of the life of the church, and the commitment to the poor is strong.”

Catholic counseling programs throughout the diocese, which provide vital affordable counseling for the working poor and middle class families, could use a boost from the social services endowment, according to Elizabeth White, executive director of Catholic Social Service of Sacramento.

From July 2001 to January 2002, the New Pathways Counseling program of CSS-Sacramento received 194 new clients involving 1,121 counseling sessions, White said. “No matter what the need is, the fact we can do counseling from a Catholic perspective is really important,” White added.

She said New Pathways, which employs English and Spanish-speaking counselors, receives calls from people battling extreme depression, struggling with parenting issues, the loss of a loved one, or personal crises.

“The biggest need is among the working poor—people not on public assistance or covered by medical insurance,” White said. “One of our greatest challenges is how to pay for it.”

In Placerville, the Mother Teresa Maternity Home of El Dorado County targets a segment of the population often forgotten, or worse, ignored. Founded in 1998, the home provides a temporary residence in a safe environment for pregnant women in need.

Nearly 50 women, ranging in age from 18 to 42, have come to the home seeking assistance. Many are homeless, arriving at the maternity home with little more than the clothes on their backs, often having suffered sexual abuse.

All receive medical treatment, counseling, and live in a caring environment while awaiting the birth of their babies. The Mother Teresa Guild, a support organization for the home, plans “celebration of life” parties for newborns and their moms.

“Our best hope for these women is to give them care so they’ll remember there is a better way of life than the one they came from,” said Lucille Mosbacher, president of the home’s board of directors.

Programs of Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, a multi-service agency serving Butte, Shasta, Glenn, Siskiyou and Tehama counties, could also benefit from the endowment. The agency has developed several housing programs serving the homeless, low-income families, developmentally disabled adults, the frail elderly, and adults with chronic mental illness.

Mark Calkins, housing director for NVCSS, said that for more than 50 percent of the agency’s special needs’ population, independent living is a totally new experience. One example is a man in his 50s living at Whispering Oaks, a new 10-unit apartment complex in Redding, serving adults with severe mental illness.

“His apartment had just a bed and a lawn chair, but he was beaming from ear to ear,” Calkins said. “Living outside a group home has given him such a sense of accomplishment.”

The “Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future” campaign will also allocate $1 million this year to the Diocesan Stewardship Appeal in place of a separate DSA collection. The DSA will be reorganized and resume in 2003.

The DSA funds the work of the diocese beyond the parishes themselves. Contributions to the DSA are earmarked for Catholic Charities of Sacramento and the Catholic Social Service agencies, which receive approximately 70 percent of the funds raised through the appeal.

The DSA also funds scholarships to students attending Catholic schools, medical care for infirm priests and education of men in priestly formation, parish development and various other community outreach projects.

Mimi Scherber, director of stewardship and development for the diocese, said that capital campaign support of the DSA will be directed to individuals, institutions and families who have ongoing needs.

“We want to take care of kids who can’t get to Catholic schools without us. We want to take care of education of men in formation, of priests who have served our diocese well, and of parish development that’s visionary,” she said. “We’re being good stewards.”

Scherber said it is worth noting that more than 70 percent of DSA funds go to the poor. “We’re taking care of the disadvantaged, those whom Jesus told us to take care of,” she said.

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

[Catholic Herald - Cover Page]