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Charities in diocese seeing ‘tremendous’ need for services |
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Written by MICHAEL DRIEHORST, Special to the Chronicle
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Friday, 06 March 2009 09:47 |
For most, if not all of the Toledo Diocese’s outreach centers and other charitable organizations, "business" has been good.
Unfortunately, that is bad.
As news of layoffs becomes a daily occurrence, family budgets are squeezed and many people struggle to meet their day-to-day needs, charitable organizations are seeing a broader demographic in the clients they serve.
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Volunteers Jan Murphy, left, and Joyce Shelley help sort and stock the
food pantry at Helping Hands of St. Louis outreach center in Toledo.
(Chronicle photo by Michael Driehorst) |
"We’ve seen an increase in the number of people we’d call the working poor," says Suzie Stapleton of the Assumption Outreach Center, 219 Page St., Toledo.
"Before, we served mostly the homeless, elderly and those with a mental condition. But, now, we’re also seeing people who are working, but can’t make it through the month."
Sherri Gaudet, outreach coordinator for the DeSales Outreach Center, 501 Cherry St., Toledo, says the people she is seeing are getting younger.
"We’re starting to see a lot more young people. Typically, the clients we’d help were in their 40s, but now we’re seeing people in their 20s," she says.
Deacon Bob Pacholski, who with his wife, Ginny, operates Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality Kitchen, 6149 Hill Ave., Toledo, also has seen a shift in the people it serves.
"We’d usually see people age 60 and over, but now are seeing people more in the 20-40 age group and families. Before, we saw grandparents. Now, it’s common to see families with two or three kids," Deacon Pacholski says.
Some of the centers are also seeing a shift in geography of their clients.
Larry Degnan is a volunteer at the DeSales Outreach Center. "We’re getting a lot of phone calls from everywhere, including out of our regular ZIP codes, ZIP codes from not where you would expect, like Swanton, Maumee and Sylvania," he says.
‘Numbers through the roof’
Outreach centers and related organizations across the diocese are seeing dramatic increases in demand for their services.
Ms. Stapleton of the Assumption Outreach Center says she started seeing a dramatic increase last summer.
"We went from serving about 1,600 households per month to now we’re serving about 2,400 households per month," she says.
The Assumption Outreach Center predominantly serves the 43610 ZIP code, and parts of 43608, 43620 and 43611 ZIP codes. Based on the latest population census and the households the center serves, Ms. Stapleton estimates about 10 percent of the total population of its area is in need.
Tom Dibling operates the Claver House for St. Martin de Porres Parish, 1416 Nebraska Ave., Toledo.
"We reached historically record numbers last fall," he says. "We’re up more than 20 percent. The need is tremendous, but so many people work really hard to fill those needs."
Paul Cook, director of the Helping Hands of St. Louis, 443 Sixth St., Toledo, tells a similar story.
"Our numbers are through the roof," he says, adding that, since July, the grocery program has seen a 15 percent increase in demand.
Range of services available
The Toledo area is fortunate to have so many organizations spread out across the community. While most offer food assistance of some kind, as well as health care and/or hygiene, clothing, identification cards and other services, some do vary.
At Catholic Charities, Brian Rome is program director for Family Emergency Services. The program offers financial and counseling aid for those who have been or are facing eviction and foreclosure. Financially, the Family Emergency Services program offers up to $500 in aid for Lucas County families only, a restriction due primarily because of its funding sources.
However, its counseling program for housing and household needs is open to anyone, and is conducted at the Catholic Center, 1933 Spielbusch Ave., Toledo.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society operates seven thrift stores throughout the diocese — in Fremont, Toledo, Tiffin, Lima, North Baltimore, Findlay and Fostoria. While the stores provide primarily clothes, the group will do nearly whatever needs to be done when called upon for help.
"Help with rent, utilities — whatever the need is, we’ll try to take care of it and meet all needs," says Stephen Santo, president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the Toledo Diocese.
Meeting needs
To meet the increased demands, some organizations are adding new services.
Willi Meyer, manager of the Toledo thrift store, 1001 Washington St., says plans are in place to add a pharmacy within the year, and the store’s layout was recently changed to make it easier to find clothes and other items.
Mr. Santo adds that, by the end of the year, the society plans to add a soup kitchen in Toledo.
Mr. Dibling says at the Claver House, the parish is looking to move the kitchen into a larger facility, as it currently serves an average of 100 people a day in a space that should hold about 60 people at standing-room only capacity.
However, many of the centers are simply focused on getting more resources to maintain their current services.
"The food donations are great, but there could always be better," Helping Hands of St. Louis’ Mr. Cook says.
Food also is a priority at the DeSales Center. Ms. Gaudet says most of the monetary donations it receives go to stock the food pantry.
St. Vincent de Paul’s Mr. Santo adds, "Donations are way down compared to what they used to be. It’s affecting all charities and organizations that help the poor."
To help ensure they can care for their clients’ needs, most of the outreach centers and other organizations share food and other resources when they can, and refer clients to groups for services they can’t provide or are closer to clients’ homes.
Volunteers important
As it is with nearly all charities, most of the work is done by volunteers.
"If not for the volunteers, we could not be able to carry out our services," Hospitality Kitchen’s Deacon Pacholski says. "We’re doing the work of God. It’s the dedication of the volunteers who show up every week that make this thing work, and it’s not just for our place, but for every group in the diocese."
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 May 2009 09:10 |
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