“I Was Hungry and You Fed Me”
Catholic Parish Outreach expands its charitable response
By Rich Reece / Pictures by Denmark Photo & Video
At 9:30 on a Monday morning in December, the parking lot outside the new Catholic Parish Outreach (CPO) Food Pantry on North Raleigh Boulevard is full, and a long line has already formed at the front door. The economy is faltering and the holidays are approaching, and the lines swell with men and women who never expected to be here.
Incarnation: Perhaps no other word resonates more deeply with Catholics, particularly during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. The belief that Jesus, who is God, became man and offered Himself for our salvation is a central tenet of our faith. And today we who are members of His Body are the means by which His mission continues to be accomplished in the world.
For the people lined up at CPO, the face of Christ today is a friendly volunteer who will help them feed their families. And more: The building also houses Centro para Familias Hispanas (The Hispanic Family Center). Rick Miller-Haraway is Director of the Raleigh Regional Office of Catholic Charities, which operates CPO and Centro. He speaks about the two sides of the operation, “the charitable side and the empowerment side.” On the charitable side, he explains, clients referred in writing by church, community or public service organizations in Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties can receive a week's worth of groceries every 30 days -- a typical family visits CPO 2.6 times a year. The pantry also offers children’s and maternity clothing and infant accessories – cribs, strollers, diapers – when they are available.
But men and women arriving at CPO often have needs beyond food and clothing. A short interview can reveal those needs, which is where the empowerment side comes in. The Centro para Familias Hispanas began in 1997 by providing disaster relief in the Hispanic community following the devastation of Hurricane Fran. It started with a half-time Director. Today, three full-time and three part-time staff provide a wide array of services to close to 12,000 people per year. The Center has experienced an increase in clients of 149% over the past two years.
The Center offers crisis counseling, individual and family counseling, information and referral services, immigration services and case management services. As a partner agency with Wake County SmartStart, the Center serves families with pre-school aged children by providing developmental screenings, referrals to services for children with developmental delays, parent education and a book exchange program for pre-schoolers. The Center also partners with Wake Tech to provide ESL classes, GED classes in Spanish and computer training. In partnership with the Mexican Consulate and Wake Tech, the Center offers literacy program that enables adults to eventually earn a high school diploma. A summer camp and an after-school tutoring program are also offered for Hispanic children. The Center also collaborates with SAFEchild to provide a child abuse prevention program in Spanish called Crianza con Carino.
“Without our presence,” said Center Director Consuelo Kwee, “many of these people would have nowhere to turn. They are so thankful that we are here to help them in this challenging time in their lives. They trust us.”
CPO has served the Triangle community for 31 years. And some of its volunteers have been there since the beginning. Walt Downey, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, has been a volunteer for half that history. He can remember when a busy day saw 50 clients served, whereas the new facility typically serves one hundred or more. In earlier days, Walt said, the crew was smaller, and “we all did everything,” instead of working a single station, as required by the larger operation. Through the help of other community services – the Food Shuttle, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), as well as parish food drives and over 950 volunteers -- CPO is now the largest food pantry in the area. The number of clients served has almost doubled in the last five years, with more than a third of that increase in the last year.
Who are those clients? The CPO website gives examples:
Elizabeth is in her late 70s, on dialysis, and has custody of her 5 grandkids. Their mother is in prison. She has plenty of room in her house, but needs help with food and clothes for the kids.
Felicia, a single mom, was in a car accident last spring. She suffered a stroke due to her injuries and lost her job because she could not work. Felicia is 2 months behind on her mortgage. She is waiting for disability approval, but in the meantime will probably lose her house and car. She came to CPO through Wake County after applying for food stamps. She had completely run out of food for herself and her daughter.
Jim, a single man in his 40s, was laid off from a technology job in RTP about 6 months ago and has not found work yet. His savings are gone, and he is about to lose his house. With no food, he approached his church, which sent him to CPO.
Margaret is a single working mom with four children. The family lives out of her car. She has a teenage son whom the shelters will not accept, unless he goes to a men's shelter. Margaret refuses to separate her family. She has a cooler and access to a microwave. CPO provided groceries to the family, and a referral to Wake Inter-Faith Hospitality Network.
The huge increase of people in these kinds of situations was the reason for CPO’s move in November to its current facility. The space available in the new facility allows for offices, classrooms and the storage of more food supplies. Its warehouse is graced by a 900-square-foot combination walk-in freezer cooler that was donated by Amerisource Bergen Corporation.
Terry Foley, the executive director of CPO, names the move to the new center, dedicated November 20th by the Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Raleigh, as the highlight of her four years as director. “It’s because we can serve more people now, both in the food pantry and the family center.” For years, Foley has wanted to do a Food Stamp Outreach Program. Now a Wake County human services worker will be on site twice a month to help identify and pre-qualify families eligible for Food Stamp assistance.
Foley has been impressed with the range of people seeking assistance from CPO, especially in the last year. “They really run the gamut of society,” she said. “It’s not just minorities or the chronically poor. One of our volunteers was surprised recently to see her neighbor receiving food. It was a little awkward - she had no idea the neighbor was in need.”
To be among the volunteers at CPO on a busy day in December is to be impressed with the efficiency of their operation. It starts with the greeter who welcomes clients at the door, to the interviewers who help to qualify them and learn about their needs beyond food. In the Food area, while one volunteer sorts through produce, another stocks shelves from which several more fill bags of groceries customized to individual families. In the warehouse, still other volunteers are unloading deliveries from the Food Shuttle or the Food Bank. When the orders are filled, volunteers wheel carts with the groceries to the clients’ cars. Depending on the attendance on a given day, a client can be in and out in 30-40 minutes.
In the midst of the volunteers, one can also sense the peace and low-key contentment that comes from the opportunity to do simple, tangible good work. From being, without a word said, Christ’s presence to the needy in the season of His Incarnation.