Story - July 31, 2020 - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA said the Trump administration should withdraw its proposed rule to replace the Obama administration’s 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation because the new rule “undermines efforts to promote fair housing and human dignity.” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced July 23 his agency…

Story - July 31, 2020 - Some dioceses in the state of Texas had services affected and some are still trying to determine damage from the July 25 landfall of Hurricane Hanna. The hurricane hit southern Texas — a region already battered by the coronavirus — particularly hard, causing widespread damage, though no casualties were reported, at least in the U.S.…

Story - July 30, 2020 - As governments and world leaders struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, they must also work harder to protect victims of human trafficking, said the Vatican-based international network of Catholic charities. Insufficient attention “was paid on the collateral damage of the ongoing pandemic, especially on migrants and informal workers, who are now more exposed to trafficking…

Story - July 24, 2020 - Catholic Charities (Santa Fe) had a grand opening ceremony on Feb. 27, 2020, for Generations @ West Mesa, an affordable living community in Albuquerque serving grandparents caring for grandchildren. Catholic Charities worked with the real estate developer Gorman & Co. to develop and build Generations @ West Mesa. “This was a population that really needed…

Story - July 22, 2020 - A few weeks before Christmas, Shari Pasanowic got a holiday surprise: She learned she had an older sister who had been given up for adoption as a baby. Shari was curious but hesitant to hunt for her newfound sibling. “I got nervous, like what if she doesn’t know she’s adopted, or she didn’t know we…

Story - July 23, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has created an economy where more people are unable to provide food for their families, and the workers at Catholic Charities in Washington are making it their mission to feed as many people as they can. Copyright ©2020 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not…

Story - July 17, 2020 - The director of food pantries for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson said the number of people coming for food “is just staggering.” “Throughout the last three months, we have helped more people than any time before in our 80-year history,” Carlos Roldan said in a statement July 13. Catholic Charities, based in Clifton,…

Story - July 16, 2020 - Brittany is a single mom who grew up in poverty and always wanted more for her family. She worked two part time jobs, and she remembers the feeling of standing in the homeless shelter line with her own mom. Brittany decided she wanted a better life for her and her child – so she was…

Story - July 15, 2020 - Across the country, Catholic dioceses, parishes and other church-run entities say the federal emergency “bridge loans” they applied for and received have helped keep much-needed ministries functioning during this coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn that has resulted. By some estimates, thousands of individual churches, schools, food pantries and other social service programs would have…

Story - July 7, 2020 - In an opinion piece in The Washington Post daily newspaper, Sister Norma Pimentel, known for her work with migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border near Brownsville, Texas, made a public plea July 6 to keep an eye on the plight of asylum-seekers during the coronavirus pandemic. She also called for an end to the Migrant Protection…

Story - July 6, 2020 - Tharmini Umakaran came to the United States in 2018. She left her homeland of Sri Lanka at the age of five, fleeing civil war. Thirteen years later, as the nation celebrates World Refugee Day, June 20, Umakaran is thankful to those who helped her and her parents along the way. This year’s theme, “Every Action…

Story - July 2, 2020 - A Blog Post from Greg Kepferle, CEO Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County “Here they come!” The excited shouts spread through the group of volunteers with cellphone cameras held high. The slow majestic procession of gleaming cars glided by, metal inches from the ground, musical beats pulsing the air. There was something different about these…