Last week the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office hosted a presentation give by Catholic Services of Acadiana's staff about Homelessness in our area. We are grateful for the community's interest and engagement in our presentation. For those of you who were unable to attend, the slides from our presentation are available here.
Read MoreOpus Christi Magnum, Latin for “The Great Work of Christ”, is the primary annual fundraiser for Catholic Services of Acadiana and is a distinctly separate campaign from the annual Bishop’s Services Appeal. OCM consist of several small events each year and not only serves as a fundraiser but also an opportunity for us to share our work and educate the community about poverty, hunger, and homelessness in our area.
Read MoreSt. Joseph Diner, known for feeding the hungry in Acadiana since 1983, hosted its annual fundraising event on Thursday, May 7, 2015. The community was encouraged to eat out to end hunger at participating area restaurants. This is a unique opportunity for restaurants to fill up their tables and for our supporters in the community to help feed the hungry. With just over half the restaurants reporting donations, we have already raised $7, 500! Special thanks to our annual sponsor Renaissance Market and Brasserie and the following participating restaurants:
Read MoreLAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Lafayette's imposing federal courthouse looms over the sparsely trafficked Parc Putnam, where a handful of people each day and night make beds out of benches.
A few blocks away at Parc Sans Souci, where weekenders sip mimosas outside a popular brunch spot, vagrants crawl from sleeping bags on the same public stage that hosted a Downtown Alive! act the night before. Lafayette's homeless have become as much a fixture downtown as business professionals, bohemians, late-night barhoppers and inmate workers. But as the number of people sleeping in the streets has grown in recent months, city officials are actively discussing how to deal with them.
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Catholic Services of Acadiana has partnered with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs at St. Michael Center for Veterans, to end veteran homelessness in this region. Since 2010 the nation has seen a 33% reduction in veteran homeless through the use of aggressive outreach, transitional housing, VASH housing, homeless prevention, and rapid rehousing.
Read MorePope Francis speaks frequently about his concern for the marginalized and encourages us to give more of our attention to their needs. In November 2014, the media once again was buzzing about his newest idea - adding showers to the restrooms in St. Peter’s Square, a suggestion from a homeless man who said that finding food was not as difficult as finding a place to get clean. Many people have rallied around his initiative and called for similar ideas to be implemented in their communities. Catholic Services of Acadiana responded to a similar need in Acadiana three years ago.
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