Catholic Charities Northern - Larimer County
MISSION STATEMENT:
As the charitable arm of the Archdiocese of Denver,
and inspired by God's love and compassion, Catholic Charities extends the healing ministry of Jesus Christ
to the poor and those in need.
Brief history of organization:
Catholic Charities has been meeting the needs of the poor in Larimer County for 35 years. We began by providing help through Emergency Assistance with help with rent, utilities and food boxes. We also started providing service to senior citizens with the goal of helping them stay in their homes rather than move to a nursing home. We still provide the same services.
When homelessness became a bigger problem we started to provide meals and overnight shelter in a variety of buildings and where able to open our current building the Mission 20 years ago. Besides the senior program and Emergency Assistance we provide 2 meals a day and over night shelter to up to 70 people a night. These people are single men, single women and families with children. We also provide lunch and breakfast on the weekend and holidays to those who are hungry.
How many total clients are served annually:
We served 4,133 households with 12,399 clients in Emergency Assistance, which is the program that receives the Empty Stockings funds. We also provided overnight emergency shelter to 697 people who stayed for 17,353 nights and 34,706 meals for shelter clients as well as 30,000 meals served to anyone hungry on the weekends.
What are the demographics of the population
that is being served:
Those served in Emergency Assistance were African American 123, Asian
American 8, Caucasian 2,974, Hispanic 908, Native American 95 and other 25.
This is by households, 89% of the people were still in their own homes and the
other 11% were homeless.
The shelter provided over night shelter to 480 single
men, 86 single women, 47 families with 54 children. These included African American 36, Asian American 1, Caucasian 591, Hispanic 48, American
Indian 20 and Other 1.
Current major initiatives:
Our building is 20 years old and we are currently raising money to replace and
repair the building. We need to replace windows, beds and flooring. Five years
ago we refurbished all of the bathrooms that the clients use. We are also writing
grants and government applications to meet the needs of the newly unemployed
and also for Rapid Re-housing of the homeless. The population of the shelter
has not exceeded the previous year, but we have seen a 1,000 new households
in Emergency Assistance.
What is the greatest challenge you foresee for your organization in the next year:
Raising money to meet the requests we have for assistance, especially in the Emergency Assistance program.
How are Empty Stocking funds expended to
benefit your clients:
The funds were used in the Emergency Assistance program to help clients with Utility bills, prescriptions, transportation-in the form of local bus passes, birth certificates and food boxes. While we have grants that pay for utility assistance they usually only allow use to pay one month, with the Empty Stocking funds we are able to pay more than one month and catch them up to a zero balance. In 2007 the funds were used to provide 2,880 food boxes that feed a family for 3 days. In addition in 2007 we used the funds to help 46 people with $3,000 in prescription assistance, 94 with local bus transportation and 23 with utility assistance, we paid and average of $300 so that the whole bills were paid. In 2008-09 we are still using some of the funds as we spread the funds out over a 6 month period so that we can help people over a longer period of time. We did not use any of the funds for food this year as we had other funds to cover that need. The rest of the funds so far have been used for prescriptions, utilities, bus passes and birth certificates so people can get a state ID. The numbers so far are 46 with ID’s, 112 with prescriptions, and 82 households-548 individuals with utility assistance. We still have money that we will spend in the next 3 months. I think the numbers will be similar.
What is the true, lasting impact of the Empty
Stocking Fund on your organization/clients:
The impact is especial important in the prescription assistance and the utility assistance. We do not need to provide funds for children to get prescription but many parents come in for the help so they can care for the children and continue working. We also help many people with prescriptions for mental illness or seniors with the co-pays, when they amount to more than they can afford. We have been able to increase the amount we pay from $65 to $90 with the help of the Empty Stockings fund. As mentioned above we are able to pay for more than one month of utility assistance so that the clients get their bills to a zero balance and have some hope of staying current with the extra funds we would not be able to do this. The 46 people we have helped obtain their birth certificates so they can get a state ID helps people get work, housing and assistance with basic needs, such as food stamps. The ID’s may sound like a small thing but without one many people would not be able to access these most basic needs.
"The (Empty Stocking) fund has enabled us to help so many clients that we would have turned away in the past. Being able to catch people up on their utility bills makes such a difference in their lives. I hope that we can continue to be a part of the effort for many years."