CCLI’s Emergency Relief Fund Helps Many Seeking Assistance at Parishes

When facing tough times, many people reach out to Parish Social Ministry coordinators and volunteers serving at 110 parishes across the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Catholic Charities of Long Island can often help to resolve the immediate problem and plan a smooth path forward.  

In January, CCLI received a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation that provides more Emergency Relief Fund assistance for those seeking help from an unexpected bill, a job loss or an illness.

ERF applications are arriving regularly. Applications assisting 230 individuals in 112 households were approved for $215,000 in disbursements through the end of October. 

“Normally at this time of year we’d be out of money. Happily, we have it and we want to make sure it gets to where it needs to go,” said Gena McSorley, the director of Parish Outreach Support Services at Catholic Charities of Long Island.

Two Parish Social Ministry coordinators who have each successfully assisted applicants were happy to speak about ERF’s effectiveness. Sister MarieJosée Seide, D.W., of St. Martin of Tours parish in Amityville, and Barbara Powell, of St. Martha’s parish in Uniondale, are delighted by the availability of the funding and the response of Catholic Charities personnel. 

“When they talked about the grant this year, I was so excited. I expressed it at a meeting when the gentleman from the Cabrini Foundation was there,” said Ms. Powell, who also assists clients at St. Brigid’s parish in Westbury. 

“When I heard we had the funding and it could be for rent, I knew there would be money to help people at this time of the year.”

One of her successful applications was on behalf of a woman who was behind on rent and out of work when she initially sent her away with instructions on what she had to do. When the woman returned, months later, she had found a new job, thanks to a renewed legal residency permit, and erased her back rent. Her ERF application covering a month’s rent was approved. 

The woman had regularly received food from St. Martha’s pantry, and lived a very simple lifestyle at home. “She budgeted, she did it on her own,” Ms. Powell said. “She didn’t just sit back and let things go. She was behind, so she had to work and save. She was an example to me.”  

The PSM office at St. Martin of Tours was busy in September, with calls for further assistance were coming steadily, Sister MarieJosée said. She’s grateful for the assistance provided by Ms. McSorley, director of Parish Outreach Support Services, and Mary Iapalucci, the Suffolk developer. 

The expanded ERF is a major boost, but not every application is approved. Applications assess the client’s financial standing and whether assistance with a month’s rent or payment of an unexpected bill will put them back on track. 

“If I pay September, then how will you pay October?” Sister MarieJosée asks clients seeking assistance. “We can’t pay every month for you. What is your plan for the future?”  

The Cabrini Grant has also enabled the hiring of additional developers in Parish Outreach Support Services as well as an ERF Specialist to support areas, such as Long Island’s East End, that “have been more difficult to cover,” Ms. McSorley explained. With the additional grant funding, she wants to make sure word reaches other PSM offices that haven’t applied. A virtual training on the application process took place in August and in October.

At Deanery meetings, PSM coordinators readily share information and resources with one another, with goods quickly moving from “one car trunk to another,” as needed. “We work as a big family, the PSM family,” Sister MarieJosée said.