A recipe for caring
Editor's note: We always appreciate casserole donations. At the moment, we ask that new groups hold off on making large-quantity casserole donations. Most people would have at least flinched when offered 400 pounds of uncooked chicken. Jeanette Middleton Sudano took it as a sign of the Holy Spirit. It was early April, and COVID-19 had [...]
Letters and laundry
In normal times, staff at My Sister’s Place Women’s Center think constantly about what women and children experiencing homelessness need to get by. But as COVID-19 spread, limiting what services the center could provide, those considerations took on new urgency. “The women who were left after the shelter-in-place orders were the women without shelter … [...]
When love is part of the treatment plan
When Carolyn Carozza moved into St. Elizabeth Rehabilitation and Nursing Center more than two years ago, it was her fourth stint in rehabilitation – this one brought on by a fall – and she wanted to go home. She missed her apartment and her own things, said her daughter Darby McKaine, even after they brought [...]
Strength in numbers: How partnerships have protected colleagues and clients
The phrase “it takes a village” rings poignantly true for many right now as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic. For Catholic Charities, that “village” includes a trio of local businesses that joined forces to provide critically important personal protective equipment (PPE) to the organization’s health care workers and others who directly interact with vulnerable [...]
Are immigrants in greater danger under new “public charge” rules?
Immigrants will face more hurdles to prove they will not become a “public charge” under a recent change to federal law – at the same time health concerns related to COVID-19 raise unprecedented challenges, according to Immigration Legal Services (ILS) at Catholic Charities’ Esperanza Center. “Survival is principal,” said Mikhael Borgonos, managing attorney of ILS. [...]
For kids recovering from trauma, COVID changes therapeutic play
Imagine finding new ways to entertain a few dozen kids between the ages of 5 and 13, every single day. Now imagine doing it during a global pandemic that has reduced their school hours, cut off most of their in-person contacts, and tested the very limits of their patience. That’s Trisha Ey’s job these days [...]
Potatoes and potential
What do you do with almost 20,000 pounds of potatoes? Eric Jackson of the Black Yield Institute receives potatoes for families in Cherry Hill If you're First Fruits Farm in Freeland, Maryland, you give them away, and the seniors, families and communities served by Catholic Charities reap the harvest. Last Thursday, April 24, [...]
With extraordinary spikes in unemployment, new help for families
In the last month, as the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically slowed the U.S. economy, more than 500 Maryland families asked Catholic Charities for help with expenses. In response, on April 22, Catholic Charities expanded its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, hotline to reach a wider community throughout the state, and added Spanish-language capability. “A lot [...]
Feeling loved from a (social) distance
Percy Poindexter Twice a week for the past two years, Percy Poindexter boarded a shuttle that took him to St. Ann Adult Day Services in southwest Baltimore, where the 72-year-old spent the day receiving catered meals, personalized medical services, and opportunities to join in on exercise, arts and crafts, and other group activities. [...]
Weinberg Housing and Resource residents to move to hotel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christine Collins, Director of Communications ccollins@cc-md.org 667-600-2008 PLEASE NOTE: Out of respect for the dignity of our residents, you are not invited to take photos or video. Thank you for understanding. Residents to move out of Weinberg Housing and Resource Center Move is for protection, cleaning (Baltimore – April 23, 2020) [...]