New program aims to lift families out of poverty
CHARLOTTE — Upholding the dignity of every person is at the core of what Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte does every day, and that mission is being reflected even more strongly this year with additional services the agency has incorporated into its food pantry program.
Catholic Charities has shifted from focusing solely on the immediate food crisis to attending to the whole person by providing a wide range of help when they come in – what’s called “wrap-around” services. The initiative is called Transition Out of Poverty, or TOP, and it’s now in place at all three of Catholic Charities’ locations: Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
Sharon Davis, Program Assurance Director for Catholic Charities, notes that Catholic Charities staff were seeing people repeatedly coming back to their food pantries for help. Clearly, she said, they needed to get to the root causes of their plight and provide more effective help so they could become self-sufficient.
Spurring their efforts is the area’s persistent poverty rate: in 16 counties of the diocese, the poverty rate is higher than the national average of 14.6 percent, and in some counties, the poverty rate for children is as high as 40 percent.
Over the past two years, Catholic Charities’ food pantries have given out 1.1 million pounds of food to 28,515 people. But Catholic Charities leaders have recognized the urgent need to do more to reduce poverty in the diocese.
TOP assesses a family’s needs in five areas: access to food, access to affordable health care, safe and affordable housing, opportunities for adults who need education, and employment.
Participating TOP families receive a month’s worth of food, but going a step further, Catholic Charities pairs each family with highly-trained volunteers case – someone who will be there to offer support, guidance and education. Both the family and the volunteer also benefit from the guidance of Catholic Charities’ professional staff.
“This work means that the community of faith will walk side by side for the right of all to have food, education, housing, health care and employment and to make a living wage to provide for their families,” Davis notes.
TOP enables Catholic Charities to accompany, assist and strengthen each family they serve, fulfilling its mission to “strengthen families, build communities and reduce poverty.”
“TOP offers individuals and families the opportunity to receive a customized path out of poverty,” Davis says.
“Catholic Charities values the totality of the human person as an integral component of service delivery. We help families to focus on these areas by making sure they have access to healthy, nutritious food from our pantry. As one of the most basic human needs, food security – having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food – is a critical component of wrap-around services,” she says.
Without first having adequate food and shelter, people in need cannot escape from poverty even with Catholic Charities’ best efforts. “It is compassionate and humane to address the food security of those who come to Catholic Charities,” Davis says.
Volunteer Deb Kapopoulos says, “As one of the volunteer receptionists, I really see the value in the Transition Out of Poverty program. Our new TOP program allows us to serve our participants more personally than the previous, walk-in food pantry.
“The appointment-based structure gives the participant the flexibility to schedule appointments based on their needs. And it enables us to organize our daily schedule in a way that gives each client time to discuss other issues that they are struggling with. I really like the one-on-one client interaction,” she says.
TOP volunteer Rick Lober retired from a 28-year career in law enforcement and now serves as a mentor for the program.
“I went to the initial orientation presentation in my parish and thought this might be a good transition in my desire to serve and put my faith into action,” Lober says. “I was intrigued by the program’s evolution from primarily a food pantry to a more personal approach, to learn about the incredible persons who need essential food needs and yet seek to become more self-sufficient and improve the lives of their family and themselves.”
“The key is helping them to take the initiative to define those goals and ways to achieve one or more of them. Often, it is done in ‘baby steps’ that we track and encourage. I love their appreciation that someone takes an active interest in her or him,” he says.
Participating TOP families open their hearts and souls to the volunteers because they see them as non-judgmental, caring people who truly care about them as a person – not a number, he adds.
“People wish they didn’t need help, but they greatly appreciate someone helping them and assisting them to find ways out of their situation – whether small or large,” he says.
“By choosing to live our faith and not just practice our faith, the women and men involved with TOP have been given a special opportunity to follow the Gospel’s path of helping the poor, needy, sick, children, destitute and others,” he says.
“Working to end poverty isn’t just something that will help those affected,” adds Davis. “This affects the greater good. Catholic Charities is doing more. The professional staff, and the compassion and dedication of volunteers, all work together to be the hands and feet of the Lord to help people be who they are called to be.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Want to help?
Catholic Charities needs many volunteers to run the Transition Out of Poverty program as well as donations to meet the increased need for food. Volunteer roles include those wishing to work directly with program participants as a coach or guide (intensive training provided), receptionists, intake and assessment volunteers, food packers and shoppers. If you’re interested in lending a hand, go online to www.ccdoc.org to get details.
CHARLOTTE — Father Matthew Codd was officially installed as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church Sept. 15, succeeding Father Patrick Winslow, who is now the vicar general and chancellor for the Diocese of Charlotte.
Bishop Peter Jugis installed Father Codd during Mass Sept. 15. The official letter of appointment was read aloud to the congregation at the start of the Mass, and Father Codd then made a profession of faith and oath of fidelity to the Church.
During his homily, Bishop Jugis drew parallels between the pastor’s responsibilities and the day’s Gospel reading from Luke, chapter 15 (“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine and go after that the lost one until he finds it?…I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who have no need of repentance”).
A pastor has three primary roles: teaching, sanctifying and governing, the bishop noted. A pastor must be mindful of all three aspects in his ministry but remain focused on his most important work: offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is “the very center of the life of the parish. It is the most important event that takes place in the parish.”
“It is here Jesus is continuing to save us, the giving of His life is still being offered to us for the salvation of the world. What He accomplished once and for all through Calvary is made perpetually present through the ages, through the Real Presence of the Sacrifice at Mass,” he said. “Everything else we do in the parish flows from the light and the love we celebrate here at this altar.”
He encouraged parishioners to cooperate and assist their new pastor in continuing St. Thomas Aquinas Parish’s mission to serve Christ and be a beacon of the Gospel in the community, and he urged them to pray daily for Father Codd’s ministry, “that he may be an effective shepherd for you.”
Present at the installation Mass were Father Codd’s parents, Trent and Celine Codd, who came in from Asheville for the special day.
Concelebrating the Mass with the bishop and Father Codd were Father Matthew Bean, parochial vicar; and Father Paul McNulty, in residence.
Deacon James Witulski, who assisted at the Mass along with Deacon Joe Diaz, noted, “St. Thomas Aquinas was fortunate to also have had Father Patrick Winslow, who did amazing work as our pastor prior to recently becoming the chancellor and vicar general of our diocese. We are now blessed to have Father Matthew Codd as our new pastor, as he is a holy and reverent priest. We look forward to Father Codd’s time with us as he begins his new journey as our pastor.”
“We are so blessed to have Father Codd,” added parishioner Monica Bailey, who helped coordinate a reception for the new pastor after the Mass.
Since his ordination in 2012, Father Codd served at St. Mark Church in Huntersville and St. Aloysius Church in Hickory before becoming pastor at St. Elizabeth Church in Boone.
“Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and helpful,” Father Codd said of his transition to his new parish. “I was not expecting to leave St. Elizabeth at all – in fact, it was a complete surprise to me. Now that I am here, what I mainly wish to do at St. Thomas is to bring the love of Christ here in whatever way I can.”
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent