CHARLOTTE — Instruments of peace. That is what Father Frank O’Rourke, pastor of St. Gabriel Church, says his parishioners are striving to be by creating the “Caring for Charlotte” community initiative.
The parish-wide effort – inspired by Pope Francis’s call for the Church to “go to the margins” – aims to help people escape the cycle of poverty by focusing on affordable housing, early literacy and education, and social capital initiatives. Members of the fourth-largest parish in the Diocese of Charlotte are involved in eight outreach efforts to tackle these three critical needs in Charlotte.
“We have come this far by faith,” Father O’Rourke said. “We are striving to be ‘instruments of peace’ within our community through our Caring for Charlotte initiative that addresses our neighbors in need.”
“Caring for Charlotte” is a way the parish can deepen its decades-long commitment to serving the marginalized, noted Karen Brown, parish ministry leadership and volunteer coordinator.
“We have many parishioners who have been involved in our outreach to the poor, hungry and homeless for decades,” Brown said, but this new systematic effort builds on partnerships that align with recommendations by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Opportunity Taskforce to improve economic mobility and opportunity for Charlotte’s poor.
“These recommendations follow more than a year of our Pope Francis Initiative Ministry, exploring opportunities, meeting with local experts (20 spoke to us on affordable housing), and forming new partnerships and outreach ministries,” she said.
Pictured: St. Gabriel Church volunteers participate in a recent Habitat for Humanity home build. The parish has donated $75,000 to Habitat for Humanity to fund construction of a Habitat home this fall. (Photos provided by St. Gabriel Church)
CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING PARTNERSHIP
Among the new initiatives is a partnership with Charlotte Family Housing. The parish has donated $175,000 to the non-profit organization to sponsor four families.
Charlotte Family Housing is a shelter-to-housing program for homeless families that empowers them to achieve long-term self-sufficiency through shelter, housing, supportive services and advocacy.
Homeless client families receive temporary shelter but also a connection to permanent housing, along with two years of partnering with a social worker to address barriers they may have to achieving stable housing.
“St. Gabriel will also recruit four HOPE teams of volunteers to mentor these families,” said Ana Lothspeich, St. Gabriel’s pastoral care director. The teams, each consisting of three to six people, will get training from CFH partnership and then provide encouragement, mentoring, friendship and support to a particular family for two years.
Lothspeich noted that the donation will also pay the salary of an added social worker to serve CFH families for two years.
“St. Gabriel is excited to provide CFH funding to pay for a social worker and to assist four additional families – families that CFH otherwise would not be able to assist,” said parish volunteer Paul Baulmann.
He reiterated that St. Gabriel’s partnership with CFH will provide additional working poor homeless families the housing stability and opportunities necessary to break the cycle of poverty.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Father Frank O’Rourke, pastor of St. Gabriel, attended a “Caring for Charlotte” event at the parish Oct. 2.Over the past 30 years, St. Gabriel Church has funded the building of three Habitat for Humanity homes and helped with building more than 100 other Habitat homes. Now, the parish is taking things a step further.
This fall, the parish has committed to a “Master Builder Partnership” – donating $75,000 to Habitat for Humanity to build a fourth home for a qualified family. The build is set to take place this fall over the course of 13 weeks.
“For the construction of the St. Gabriel Habitat Home, we anticipate engaging approximately 200 volunteers (15-25 per work day) for both construction and other volunteer opportunities, such as serving snacks, lunch, and mentoring the partner family,” Lothspeich said.
Parishioner Danny Kelly, co-owner of Kelly McArdle Construction, lends his expertise on the building projects.
“I enjoy everything about building houses and am lucky that I can blend my hobby, career and philanthropy all into a single activity that I am passionate about: neighbors helping neighbors and building communities,” Kelly said. “I like helping people that help themselves and take the Habitat motto to heart: ‘A hand up, not a hand out.’”
COCHRANE ACADEMY OUTREACH
St. Gabriel Parish has also begun a new partnership with Cochrane Collegiate Academy, a Title I school serving many low-income families with students in grades 6-12. The multifaceted partnership aims to strengthen the “social capital” – a network of valuable relationships and mentors – for low-income students.
Parish volunteers will provide support for teachers and staff through appreciation events, serve as career day speakers, collect classroom supplies and mentor individual students.
“We are so happy to be involved with Cochrane Academy,” said volunteer Judy Fahl. “We chose them because they had literally no volunteer partnerships for the school and their needs were great. We have just begun the partnership and are building it as we learn about their needs and our ability to support the school.”
They’ve already been busy, providing a luncheon for the school’s 80 teachers and staff, goodie bags for Valentine’s Day, and school supplies for students returning to school this fall.
Principal Rachel Goldberg noted that for years he has been waiting for the right “partnership fit” to come along for Cochrane. “A fit that is not just about giving us money or volunteers but is about a commitment to one another. From the moment the members of St. Gabriel’s walked in, we knew working together was meant to be,” she said.
Twenty-four people have signed up to volunteer in the various programs with Cochrane Academy. The number of students to be mentored will vary, as St. Gabriel volunteers will be working through Communities in Schools to be part of their efforts at the school.
Volunteer Barbara Carroll noted that their focus on students is four-fold. “One, just to be there helping hopefully lets them know they aren’t forgotten. Secondly, we have had about a dozen parishioners take Success Coach training with CIS and are prepared to mentor a middle schooler. We are offering support and leadership to school clubs, especially the art and garden clubs. Finally, we are working with CIS and high school students to develop a social capital program that the students believe will help them.”
CARING FOR CHARLOTTE
St. Gabriel Church volunteers brightened Valentine’s Day for the Cochrane Academy staff with surprise goodie bags.(Photo provided by St. Gabriel Church)On Oct. 2 speakers from the “Caring for Charlotte” partner agencies – Habitat for Humanity, Charlotte Family Housing, Communities in Schools and Cochrane Academy – spoke at a special event at St. Gabriel Church. More than 70 people attended the event.
“It was a very successful evening with insightful and compelling information,” Lothspeich said. “St. Gabriel’s approach to responding to this crisis was applauded by all these organizations who expressed their admiration for the comprehensive and thoughtful process taken to create a response that addresses all aspects (education, housing, mentoring, family support, literacy, etc.) needed to provide sustainable help to our community.”
“We are excited with the energy and positive feedback from our St. Gabriel community for ‘Caring for Charlotte’,” said Brown, who is leading the new parish initiative.
Brown emphasized that the initiatives which make up “Caring for Charlotte” are not new to St. Gabriel Parish. Existing outreach ministries like Room In the Inn, Homemakers of Mercy, Share Sunday and Men’s Homeless Shelter also help care for their neighbors in crisis.
“However, ‘Caring for Charlotte’ goes beyond our existing ministries to intentionally and deliberately address the needs identified” in the city’s task force report, Brown explained.
Lothspeich added, “By using an ‘opportunity lens,’ as recommended by the task force report for houses of faith, our parish set out to develop a response that would reflect our previous commitment to serving the needs of our community and expand our scope.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Get more information
Details about the “Caring for Charlotte” initiative are on the St. Gabriel Parish’s website at www.stgabrielchurch.org/caring. For volunteer opportunities, contact Karen Brown at 704-362-5047, ext. 214, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.