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.