A 2020 Open Letter To You
To our dedicated staff, volunteers, donors, friends, partners and neighbors, thank you for standing with us and our clients during this year that we will never forget (we can't say it enough!)
In this unprecedented year, Catholic Charities of Acadiana is doing unprecedented work. With the goal of preventing homelessness before it begins, we have, thus far this year, distributed over $495,000 dollars in rental and utility assistance, saving hundreds of families and individuals from becoming homeless. This is compared to $95,000 that was distributed in the entirety of last year.
While taking on homelessness prevention, we are still providing a fully staffed shelter for 40 people in a motel where our clients can keep themselves safe with individual bedrooms and bathrooms.
Our supportive housing programs continue to provide subsidized housing and case management for 60 people with disabilities who formerly experienced chronic homelessness.
While providing all of these essential services, Catholic Charities of Acadiana is also embarking on a complete overhaul of our shelter system. We are moving from a congregate model of sheltering where people slept every night within a few feet from each other and shared bathroom facilities, to a safer model featuring individual living spaces and bathing facilities. With this new model of sheltering, we will be able to move into the future with more client-centered shelter facilities that truly respect the dignity of each human being.
Catholic Charities of Acadiana continues to respond to the needs of the hungry in Acadiana during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, St. Joseph Diner and FoodNet Food Bank has provided tens of thousands of meals and over 8,800 supplemental food boxes to over 600 individuals experiencing hunger on a weekly basis.
And if the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t enough, Catholic Charities of Acadiana Disaster Response and Rebuilding Together Acadiana continue to respond to the needs of hundreds who have suffered at the hands of two major hurricanes, each making landfall roughly 13 miles apart from the other. To date, we have worked on over 500 homes damaged by one or both of these hurricanes. And we are nowhere near being done.
Even in a year like this, marked with suffering, anxiety and uncertainty, we will never cease in our effort to care for the sacred gift of all human life, especially the most vulnerable. In the same light, we will never stop thanking God for you, our staff, volunteers, donors, friends, supporters and cheerleaders. Thank you for your support of what we are doing on behalf of those who suffer in our community.
2021, let’s do this.
-Catholic Charities of Acadiana