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January marks Poverty Awareness Month

CHARLOTTE — Breaking the cycle of poverty requires more than just solving one “crisis.” It takes addressing the whole person.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s Transitions Out of Poverty program does just that.

Since its creation in 2016, the comprehensive anti-poverty program has helped 135 households in Charlotte and Asheville connect with resources they need to break from the cyclical nature of poverty, said Sharon Davis, program assurance director for Catholic Charities.

TOP looks at addressing the 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. “Those are the five challenges,” said Davis, who started the program in the diocese. “If we remove the challenges in those areas, we can help them be successful.”

Through the intensive program, a social worker works with the person or family to connect them to the resources they need to achieve self-sufficiency. They remain in frequent contact to ensure progress, said Branden Lewis, Catholic Charities’ assistant regional director who supervises the program in Charlotte.

“It’s a work in progress,” Davis said. “Families and individuals enter the program at varying stages of poverty. We attack the area presenting the most challenge. The cycle is inter-related, however. We can address one area, and then there’s a crisis in another. We work to address barriers to all five areas of need to be able to reach a point of thriving.”

There’s no time limit for people to remain in the program, because each family situation is unique.

“We are partnering with them as they are on this journey,” Davis said. “A family in crisis will need to meet more frequently.”

Participating families and individuals are referred to the program from parishes, local shelters, community partner agencies and even some area participants in Catholic Charities’ food pantry.

“We have strong collaborating partners in the community,” Davis said. “This is work we can’t do by ourselves. This is a community effort.”

During Poverty Awareness Month in January, the faithful are challenged by Pope Francis to live in solidarity with the poor. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops seeks to raise awareness about poverty across our nation.

“It’s a partnership within the community to help these people get to the finish line – to get them to where they can be whoever or whatever God has called them to be,” Davis said.

In 2018, Catholic Charities started using a program that addresses the five areas of needs and charts their progress, Lewis noted. “It’s helpful for those involved to look back where they’ve started and see how they’re progressing through the program towards self-sufficiency.”

As with all of Catholic Charities’ work, what’s always important is to respect the dignity of every person they serve.

“That’s where our work begins and ends: that we see in each person the image and likeness of God. At the end of the day, that’s what’s most important to us: respect the life of the person and their right to live a happy life,” said Davis. “Case management services through this program offers the best opportunity for their lives to be transformed.”

More online
At www.povertyusa.org: Learn more about Poverty Awareness Month

Backpack ministries among local anti-poverty efforts

January is Poverty Awareness Month, a time set aside by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to highlight the problem of poverty and efforts to combat it.

Among those efforts are Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s Local Catholic Campaign for Human Development Grant Program, the Catholic Relief Services Mini-Grant Program, and the Far West Growing Opportunities Grant Program.

These grant programs fund projects across the diocese addressing poverty. Grants have funded projects addressing a wide range of social concerns, such as food insecurity, affordable housing, employment training gaps, illiteracy and homelessness. All grant applicants and projects are reviewed for their conformity to Catholic teaching.

People who struggle with poverty often struggle with food insecurity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 12.3 percent of U.S. households – 15.6 million families – were food insecure in 2016. North Carolina is the eighth most food insecure state in the nation, with 15.9 percent of households, according to the USDA’s 2015 Report on Food Insecurity.

With funds from the Catholic Charities’ grant programs, non-profits (including diocesan parishes) in the Charlotte diocese have addressed food insecurity at the grassroots level by promoting community gardening, stocking and expanding food pantries, offering meals to the homeless, supporting mobile food pantries and funding “backpack ministries.”

In 2018, Catholic Charities grant funded projects addressing food insecurity have included the Clay County Food Pantry (supported by Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission in Hayesville), providing shopping carts for Manna FoodBank’s “Mobile Market Project” in Graham County, and funding community backpack ministries supported by parishes in Ashe County (through St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jefferson), Cherokee County (through St. William Church in Murphy), and Gaston County (through Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont).

Addressing the effects of food insecurity among low-income children is the target of “backpack” ministries. Children suffer from food insecurity at higher rates than the general population, with many children living in households where meals are skipped to make ends meet. These ministries provide nutritious food to school-aged children on weekends during the school year, and some programs operate in the summer.

A parish’s assistance with backpack ministries is illustrated by Queen of the Apostles’ BackPack Weekend Food Program, which partners with two schools in Gaston County. Forty-five students receive weekend meals, packed by parish volunteers, during the school year. This number is multiplied greatly as other churches in Gaston County join in this ecumenical partnership addressing food insecurity.

Julie Russo, who coordinates the parish ministry, sees the benefits firsthand.

“The BackPack Weekend Program means so much to the children. We have had children ask for more food because they are so hungry,” Russo said.

Backpack ministries have been shown to improve concentration and academic performance levels in schools, promote growth and oral health, and diminish sleepiness in daytime hours.

Russo noted, “When a child eats over the weekend, they are able to sleep better and are prepared for school on Monday. The teachers comment how much this program really helps these children and they notice it in the students’ grades.”

— Joseph Purello, special to the Catholic News Herald. Joseph Purello directs the Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.