in this issue - Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities
February 2010
Helping Hands
Serving The Community For Over 40 Years
In This Issue
in this issue
St. Patrick’s Day Gala Page
9th Annual St Patrick’s Day Gala
St. Patrick’s Day Gala
Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 6 PM
Antlers Hilton
4 South Cascade Avenue
1
Message from the President Page 2
Client Story Page
2
Guest Column Page
4
Program Information Page
6
News Briefs Page
7
Critical Needs Page
8
Contact Information Page
8
Cocktails, Silent & Big Board Auctions
Seated Dinner of Genuine Irish Fare
Live Auction featuring trips to: Vail, Breckenridge, Notre Dame and
Ireland, Southwest Airlines tickets, a Mercedes-Benz sedan, jewelry, an
oriental carpet, $2,500 in construction, and much more
(Go to www.ccharitiescs.org/stpatsauction for complete listing)
Dance to the sounds of One More Shot
Tickets are $95 Per Person - $40 tax deductible
719.866.6422 For Reservations
Presenting Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
David & Peggy Taylor
Marilyn Conn and Howard Price
enjoy the 2009 event.
Photo by Linda Navarro/The Gazette
Media Sponsor
The Diocese of
Colorado Springs
Invitation Sponsor
KPB Commercial Printing
Bronze Sponsors
ABC Bank
Colorado Springs Flea Market
Colorado Springs Utilities
Deer Creek Dental
Faircy Boys
Faithful Friends Animal Hospital
Gray Line of Colorado Springs
Hoff and Leigh, Inc.
Hoelting and Company, Inc.
JE Dunn Construction
O’Briens Carpet One
Penrose-St. Francis Health Services
Protec Inc.
Red Nolan Cadillac
Ryan Glass, Inc.
Security Service Federal Credit Union
Springs Rehabilitation
Michael J. Wolfe, CLU, ChFC, MSFS
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
(Garden of the Gods Chapter)
US Bank
Providing Help. Creating Hope.
Green Shamrock
Jan-Pro of Colorado Springs
Luisa Graff Jewelers
Osborne, Parsons, Rosacker LLP
Phil Long Dealerships
The Patterson Group
Wells Fargo Bank
A Message from our
President & CEO
President & CEO
Client Focus
message
FROM PARENTING TO PEDALING.
A Father’s
Pride
The vocation of a
parent is not always
easy; however, the
rewards can be pretty
incredible.
One of those
moments
arrived
for me last Lent.
My daughter returned from her Faith Formation class and
shared with me her project. The children in her class were
tasked with composing a picture of how they can get “closer
to Jesus” during Lent. Many of the six year olds drew images
of themselves praying or attending Mass. For my daughter,
it was a picture of her bringing food to the Marian House
Soup Kitchen, and toys for the children that are served by
the Marian House staff and volunteers.
“This is how I get close to Jesus, Daddy.”
Intellectually I already knew what she was expressing.
And yet, what an emotional and spiritual lesson a daughter
taught her father.
God has a special place in His heart for our poor. And
it is in our service and solidarity with our poor that we
experience Christ.
Getting My Road On!
I remember the day I said I wanted to do it. A very
good friend grabbed me by the head to determine whether
continued
“Most of the Burundians who are here (in the United States) have been refugees for a long
time. I was a refugee for 28 years, first in Rwanda, then Tanzania. I petitioned to come
to the United States in 2000 and was told I could come in 2006. I came to the United
States in September 2007.”
There are many newcomers to our community. Within the past year,
we have become acquainted with a group of individuals from Burundi, a
county in Africa located south of Rwanda. In 1972, an ethnic slaughter
took place against the Hutus, resulting in a mass exodus of Hutu refugees
to Rwanda and Tanzania. For over two decades, refugees could not return
home to Burundi. In 1999, Burundi invited refugees who fled the country
after 1994 to return. Anyone fleeing before that time could not return as
their property was no longer available to them. As a result, in 2000, those
refugees made a request to the United States for refugee status. In 2006,
they were approved, and since that time, many Burundians have come to
make the United States their new home.
There are several groups of Burundi Refugees in the Colorado Springs
community. One group, led by Bonithe Nitunga, began coming to St.
Joseph Parish for confession. The church community took them under
their wing, and began supporting them through their food pantry, ESL
classes, and vacation bible school for the children. Bonithe is their leader as
he is fluent in Swahili, French, Kurundi and English and is able to translate
for the group and drive them to work, church, and other places.
The transition was not easy. Things we take for granted presented great
challenges for them. Food, for example, was a major challenge as they had
no idea how to open the cans, use pancake mixes, or cook in small pots. It
was difficult to determine what they needed at supermarkets as the language
barrier prevented them from understanding the labels. Our food also has
an enormous amount of preservatives, something the Burundians were not
used to ingesting. It is difficult
to understand that the images
we see on television, the lines of
people with small bowls of corn
or rice, being eaten with their
fingers, is what this community
was accustomed to. There was
never enough food.
James Dixon, the director
of Marian House Community
Outreach Services, was asked
to help the community with
clothing, small appliances, food
and furniture. His wife Lila, has
taken the community under her
Helping
HelpingHands
Hands
continued on next page
message
client focus
Bonithe Nitunga in front of
his kitchen in Tanzinia.
Bonithe Nitunga, Burundi Refugee
wing. She conducts the ESL classes at St. Joseph’s for the group, and works
with them to better integrate into our society. Recently, she had a class at
her home for the Burundians to show them how to use a can opener, to
make pancakes by just adding water to a mix, and how to cook in small
pots on an electric stove - things we “just know” by growing up in our
community. However, for refugees who are used to living in hand made
adobe huts where a canvas tarp is used as the roof, and meals consist of corn
and beans cooked in big pots over an outside fire, the simple things in life
become major challenges.
The Burundians have problems getting full-time work. Many have
gotten jobs in the housekeeping industry, but the low paying work makes
it difficult to pay for food and rent, as well as saving for the necessary fees
required to become permanent citizens. In the case of Bonithe, he was
only able to get a job as a dishwasher, certainly not what a highly educated
man who was a teacher and principle expected when he came here. He is
not complaining - he is grateful to have a job and to be able to provide for
his family. However, he thought it would be much easier to build a new
life for his family, to get steady employment where he would be able to pay
for the necessities they needed, and to practice his profession.
Catholic Charities Family Immigration Services is helping the
community move towards citizenship, which refugees are eligible for in
five years. However, a major challenge is the money required to complete
the process. They must pay back the sponsoring agency for the cost of their
airline flights to the United States, the cost of any additional vaccinations
or biometric requirements, and for their application for citizenship. All-inall, not a huge investment, but vast when you arrive with nothing but the
clothes on your back, and not many prospects for steady employment.
Even with the challenges, Bonithe and the other Burundi Refugees are
happy they came. They are getting more hours of work, and beginning the
process to permanent citizenship. The adults and children are integrating
into our community through improved language skills learned in the ESL
classes, and they are becoming better acquainted with our culture.
On a sad note, one of the Burundi families suffered a great loss about
a year ago. While rushing his pregnant wife to Memorial Hospital,
Noheri Manirakiza crashed into a tree at the Olympic Training Center.
Unfortunately, his wife Beatrice and their unborn child were killed. In
typical Burundi spirit, the community rallied together to help him deal
with his loss and help the family survive. “We share everything,” said
Bonithe. “The donations of food, clothing, etc., are always shared with the
entire community to make sure each person has what they need.”
or not I had a hole in it.
And then I thought about a line from one of my
favorite local bands back in Chicago: “Crazy: It’s just a
different point of view.”
The “it” I am referring to is an endeavor launched
last spring by the good folks at Catholic Charities of
Kansas City-St. Joseph called “Cycling For Change.”
Inspired by Catholic Charities USA’s Campaign to
Reduce Poverty, Catholic Charities in Kansas City, and
a local priest, decided to assemble a group of bicyclists to
travel cross country (Cape Flattery, WA to Key West, FL)
this summer in an effort to raise public awareness about
poverty, and to raise monies for local Catholic Charities
agencies to use for poverty-reduction programs.
With the support of our Board of Directors, I shall
be riding the entire cross-country trip to raise monies
for the Marian House. This year we will serve a record
number of 210,000+ meals to our homeless, our seniors,
our veterans, and our working poor at the Marian House.
Our poverty reduction programs in the Hanifen Center
at Marian House have served nearly 10,000 individuals
this year with no sign of slowing down.
While I am Cycling For Change, the day-to-day operations
of Catholic Charities will be in the capable hands of
Monsignor Don Dunn. No stranger to Catholic Charities,
Msgr. Dunn brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and
compassion to lead the agency during the summer.
The “Ride” will last for 100 days – Memorial Day
to Labor Day -- in honor of Catholic Charities USA’s
Centennial. I am honored and excited to participate
in Cycling For Change. Our nation has a tremendous
diversity of thought: politically, philosophically, and
theologically. Regardless of our differences, the one thing
that we can all agree upon is that no one should suffer
the burden of poverty. I look forward to this incredible
adventure and shaping hearts and minds to be more caring
for our poor.
More details are forthcoming. To learn more about
Cycling For Change and to follow my progress this
summer, please check out www.cyclingforchange.org
and www.ccharitiescs.org/c4c. You can also follow us
on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.
Providing Help. Creating Hope.
Jason
Guest Column
guest column
Glimpses into our Journey:
The adoption process from the perspective of the birth and adoptive families
The Adoptive Parents
The Birth Parents
Life Connections
profile
Life Connections is a licensed, nonprofit child placement agency with more
than 40 years experience providing
pregnancy, cradle care and adoption
services. Catholic Charities is accredited
by the Council on Accreditation
(COA) which has set forth a program
of quality improvement designed to
identify agencies that have set high
performance standards for themselves.
This accreditation demonstrates our
commitment to providing services in
a best practice environment with a
continual focus on program excellence.
Our services, based upon the value and
dignity of human life, are offered to all
regardless of religious affiliation, and are
conducted in a non-judgmental, nondirective and confidential manner.
When I found out I was pregnant
I was scared and wasn’t sure what
to do. I was scared to be judged
because I didn’t know who the
father was. I didn’t have a job at
the time and all I wanted was what
was best for this Little One.
I felt from the beginning Little
One needed a two parent home. I
checked out several agencies and I
immediately felt a connection with
Catholic Charities. I didn’t know
a lot about adoption, so I didn’t
know what was in store for me and
my mom, who was a great support.
I walked in closed minded,
though during hours of counseling
they explained the difference
between open and closed adoption.
I chose to pick the adoptive parents
and meet with them. I will call them
Annie and Jeff. I wanted Annie and
Jeff to be a part of this process, as
much as they could. I asked them
to be in the birthing room with me.
They came to the hospital and were
by my side, with Catholic Charities
staff and my mom.
I ended up having to have a csection and hospital policy allows
only one person in the room. I
believe God’s hand was in this from
the beginning because He changed
Helping
HelpingHands
Hands
the hospital policy and my mom,
Annie and Jeff were all allowed in
there with me. I believe the Little
One came into this world to be a
blessing for another family.
During counseling we learned
bonding was very important with
the Little One. Annie and Jeff
stayed at the hospital after the Little
One arrived so the bonding could
begin.
Catholic Charities staff was there
as well to help with the process. In
my heart I knew I made the right
decision. Catholic Charities and
Annie and Jeff were there for me all
the way and are still with me today.
I still have a great relationship with
Annie and Jeff and Little One. I
thank God, my mom, Annie and
Jeff and Catholic Charities for all
the support I received. Thank you
Catholic Charities for helping me
make the most important decision
in my life. My Little One will now
grow up in a loving two parent
home, as well as knowing me. I
now explain my family to include
Annie, Jeff, and Little One.
Thank you Catholic Charities,
Annie, and Jeff
A few summers ago, our pastor
was doing a series of sermons where
he encouraged us to quietly reflect
and invite Jesus into a situation we
found ourselves in. I remember
closing my eyes, praying that Jesus
would walk into my sadness. As
I quietly waited, I saw myself
sitting at our kitchen table. I was
crying from the pain of repeated
miscarriages, fear, frustration, and
loss. Jesus came, knelt down
beside me and draped his arm
around me. I felt his presence and
his comfort.
Then, the scene changed. I saw
Him standing in our front entrance
carrying an infant. I remember
its little legs dangling from Jesus’
arms. As Jesus went to hand the
baby to me, I said, “This child is
not mine.” He responded, “None
of them are.”
I share this story because it was
one of those moments that God
reminded me that He is here and
at work. I needed that! Don’t we
all sometimes?
We have been on quite the
journey the past seven years in
regards to desiring children.
Looking back, we see a story of
brokenness, healing, renewed hope,
trust, beauty and redemption.
God plays a crucial role in it all.
We started checking into
adoption agencies and through
a series of events, we eventually
decided to pursue an open,
domestic adoption with Catholic
Charities.
After an extensive
process,
we
received
our
certification to adopt. It was a
lot of work but definitely worth
it! We turned in a scrapbook, our
first impression to a Birth Family,
and officially went into the pool of
waiting families. When we got a
call that we had been selected by
a Birth Mom, the feeling was akin
to a positive on a pregnancy stick!
We met her the following Monday
and felt both excitement and peace
to move forward.
As we prepared for the baby’s
arrival, we simultaneously started
building relationships with the
Birth Mom and Birth Grandma.
They gave us the gift of naming
our son and invited us to be at
his birth. We experienced such
beauty and grace during this time.
So many people were praying!
Our son’s birth turned into a
two and half day labor followed by
an emergency C-section. We were
in the operating room to see his
arrival and brought him home the
next day. When he was baptized
he was surrounded by us, his
Grandparents, Godparents, our
friends, community and his Birth
Mom. We love her dearly as we do
our son, who we know belongs to
the God we serve, love and now
co-parent with. He knows and
loves this child more than we can
imagine and we are so grateful for
this leg of the journey and this
season of life.
Our process recently culminated
with the Adoption Finalization of
our son. What a moment! We
are so grateful for Colleen, our
Catholic Charities’ counselor who
has walked alongside us through
this entire Adoption Process. We
have learned a lot and have been
in awe of the richness of this
experience. We are deeply blessed
with our son and our relationship
with his Birth Mom. Thank you
for being our teacher, counselor,
advocate and friend. We are so
grateful for you!
Providing Help. Creating Hope.
Catholic Charities Programs
catholic charities
Family Immigration
Services
The spirit of Christmas brought smiles
to the childcare room of the ESL program
of Family Immigration Services at Our Lady
of Guadalupe Church. Several generous
donations allowed us to fill the stockings
of our kids with new books, toys, and fruit!
Jeannine Kidman, our community nurse,
solicited donations and promoted the
healthy option along with crayons and a fun
coloring page promoting healthy eating. As
we do every year, the children received new
books for Christmas that they take home as
their very own to love and share with their
families. Books in the home is an important
ingredient to encouraging literacy. FIS
provides childcare to immigrant students
who take ESL classes given by our trained
volunteer teaching staff.
Classes are held twice a week September
to May at Our Lady of Guadalupe in a day
and evening program, and at St. Patrick’s
Church during the day. The St. Pat’s program
is currently our fastest growing with almost
30 students from all over the world including,
Central and South America, Europe, and
Southeast Asia.
Corey Almond, the director of another
FIS program, the community based Pikes
Peak Immigrant and Refugee Collaborative,
has made our “immigrant stories” project
available on the PPIRC website: www.
pikespeakirc.org. Seven short video clips
were produced earlier last year and introduce
the new faces in our community and tell the
stories of immigrants from diverse countries
like Panama, the Congo, England, Iraq,
and Japan. The mission of the PPIRC is
to strengthen interaction and integration
between immigrants and refugees and the
receiving community.
A couple of years ago, we featured
Colorado College student volunteers in our
newsletter who provided support to FIS.
We’ve recently heard from Yeasol who says,
“After my time at Catholic Charities, I am
really getting to appreciate the work being
done at non-profit organizations,” and she is
now applying for a year-long fellowship at a
non-profit following her graduation. Yeasol,
the daughter of Korean immigrants, had
this to say about her experience:
“At Catholic Charities, I worked mostly
at St. Mary’s Church and occasionally came
to help out at the office. I really appreciated
the sense of belonging created by the church,
on two levels. First, I always felt welcomed
when I came to work on Tuesdays and
Thursday nights. Jana and the other ladies
at the facility made working after a long
day at school, enjoyable. Secondly, I was
grateful for the community being created by
the church. The experience of immigrants
and learning a second language is one
that I am quite familiar with and know
the importance of belonging. Therefore,
I was very appreciative of events such as
the Christmas party that helped bring
different people into one common setting
of celebration. Going to Catholic Charities
on Tuesdays and Thursdays was fun for me,
especially getting acquainted with the kids.
But even more so, knowing that people
wanting to learn English and wanting to
better assimilate into the community could
be given an opportunity. It was a meaningful
experience for me that helped me reflect on
my identity as a bilingual speaker and my
prospects in the future.”
Marian House
The Marian House is in a whirl of
activity. Life Support Services has moved
into the first floor of the building, so now all
the poverty reduction services of Catholic
Charities are located in the Marian House
complex: Soup Kitchen, Community
Outeach Services, Client Services and Life
Support Services.
Please Note: with the move, Life
Support Services donation hours have
changed. Donations of in-kind materials,
such as food, clothing, etc., can be dropped
Helping
HelpingHands
Hands
off between the hours of 8am - 2pm at
the dock located on the west end of the
complex, Monday - Saturday.
Partner agencies who address the eight
core areas.... are moving into the building
so clients can now receive services in
these areas in one location, reducing time
traveling to their home offices, allowing
more time to move towards greater selfsufficiency.
From January 30 - April 10, households
earning less than $50,000 can receive
Free Expert Assistance on submitting
their taxes. Come to the Marian House
Hanifen Center between 9am - 3:30
pm on Saturdays. No appointments are
necessary. Clients must arrive with their
W2 forms and current identification.
Life Connections
Life Connections offers classes to
expectant parents assisting them with
nurturing themselves and their babies
and helping prepare for labor and
delivery. Prenatal Nurturing classes help
expectant parents learn ways to nurture
and to bond with their baby. Parenting
attitudes, non-hitting ways of discipline
and infant massage are also covered.
Beyond the obvious benefits of nurturing
love, research shows that loving and
nurturing parenting is linked to better
child behavior at all ages. Nurturing
parents build strong bonds with their
children, providing them with a sense
of security that helps them grow into
confident and loving people.
The Childbirth class is offered by an
RN to expectant parents in their third
trimester.
Apprehension associated
with the birthing process is relieved with
information on relaxation techniques for
labor and tips for delivery. This 3 hour
session also looks at the biological and
emotional aspects of child birth. For the
spring schedule of classes, call 866-6535.
News Briefs
news briefs
Cycling For Change: Reducing Poverty One Mile at a Time
From Memorial Day to Labor Day
2010, the Cycling for Change (C4C)
team will ride more than 5,000 miles
across the nation through rural towns and
metropolitan cities to bring awareness to
the issue of poverty in our communities.
All along the route, the riders will
promote the Catholic Charities USA
Campaign to Reduce Poverty by calling for
communities, individuals, governments
and social service providers to make a
collaborative effort to address the root
causes of poverty. To learn more about the
Campaign to Reduce Poverty visit www.
catholiccharitiesusa.org.
The team will be comprised of twelve
riders, including our own CEO Jason
Christensen, who will accompany Fr. Matt
Ruhl on the 5,000 mile pilgrimage. There
will also be opportunities for cyclists who
aren’t up for the challenge of 5,000 miles
to join for predetermined shorter segments
throughout the country.
Here in Colorado Springs, we are
organizing an 80 mile “Independence
From Poverty” ride, which will take place
over two days, beginning at the Marian
House Soup Kitchen and moving north to
Castle Rock, then back the next day with
the national Cycling for Change team.
There will also be a family ride on day two
for families who want to participate as well
as a celebration: Blues, Brews, Bikes and
Bar-be-que (details to follow).
Jason will be vlogging (video blogs)
daily, so visit our web site for updates at
www.ccharitiescs.org. We will also have
updates on Jason’s progress, the sites and
people he encounters along the way, and
the most up-to-date information on our
local ride. You will also be able to get his
progress on our social networking sites,
which you can link to from the home page
of our web site.
For more information about joining the
pilgrimage, becoming a sponsor of either the
national team or our local “Independence
from Poverty” ride, or other ways you can
become involved, go to www.ccharitiescs.
org/c4c.
What a great way to spend the summer:
exercise, ministry, sunshine, and helping
our poor. Join the fun: Get Involved!
Life Connections’ New Staff
Stacy Sahlstrom is the new
Administrative
Assistant
for
Life
Connections. Stacy comes to us from
PricewaterhouseCoopers where she was a
Human Resources Manager for ten years.
Her experience also includes working as
an Employment Counselor for a nonprofit agency, The Centre for Women in
Tampa, assisting women in finding gainful
employment and/or attending school.
Stacy enjoys yoga, working out, and hiking
in the beautiful Colorado mountains. She
has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from
the University of South Florida.
Cyndy Jones joined Life Connections
as a licensed professional counselor in
December. She is trained in the nondirective and family systems approach to
therapy which Life Connections utilizes,
and has experience working with families,
couples and individuals. Her Master’s
Degree in Counseling and Human Services
is from the University of Colorado. Cyndy
is exited to work for an organization that
helps the less fortunate and those who are
seeking guidance.
Erika Nash has just signed on as
a Counseling Intern and is pursuing
a Master’s degree from University of
Northern Colorado with a double major
in Clinical Counseling and School
Counseling. Erika completed a school
counseling internship in both a middle
and a high school, and worked three years
as a high school level Special Education
Paraprofessional. This included working
with students with emotional disabilities
and in a residential treatment setting
with adolescent boys. Erika received her
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the
University of Colorado at Boulder.
We are excited to be adding these
experienced professionals to the Life
Connections program, while expanding
our counseling services.
The Catholic Charities Fiscal Year
08/09 Annual Report is available on
line at www.ccharitiescs.org.
If you would like one mailed to you,
please contact us at 719-866-6440.
Providing Help. Creating Hope.
of Colorado Springs
Non Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Colo Spgs. CO
Permit #267
Providing Help.
Creating
228 North Cascade
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
T: 719-636-2345
F: 719-636-1216
www.ccharitiescs.org
Publisher
Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs, Inc.
President & CEO - Jason Christensen
Editorial Staff
Editor - Rev. Michael O’Donnell, Ph.D.
Associate Editor; Design & Layout - Rochelle Schlortt
Circulation - Betsy Finley
Helping Hands
Catholic Charities
is published four times a year.
No article in this publication may be reprinted in
whole or in part without permission of the editor.
2009 Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs
Mission Statement
To enhance the value and dignity of human life,
the mission of Catholic Charities of Colorado
Springs is to provide services to people in need,
to advocate for justice in social structures, and to
call the entire church and other people of good
will to do the same.
Critical Needs
critical ne eds
Marian House
• Soup Kitchen: #10 cans of fruit and vegetables, spices
• Life Support Services: large diapers, baby food, formula
• Community Outreach: furniture, canned food
• Client Services: warm clothing, coats, hats, gloves
P
overty
never
takes a holiday.
Somewhere in your
community, there is a
child who is hungry,
a breadwinner out of
a job, or an elderly
person in need of a
helping hand. Please
give generously today
to Catholic Charities
to help those in need.
Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs
is a Pikes Peak United Way member agency and is
accredited by the Council On Accreditation.
Please visit our web site at www.ccharitiescs.org
which includes links to our social networking
sites: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and our blogs:
Living Differently, Parched Ground, Strangers
Welcomed, A Common Good, Kids Are First,
Charity In Truth, and Going The Distance.
To Donate
Call 719-866-6440 or visit us on line at
www.ccharitiescs.org
Providing Help. Creating Hope.