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Florida Catholic April 2021
YOUR MIAMI COMMUNITY
COVID-19 RELIEF
84,000 pounds of food distribution and essential items throughout Miami Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties. Meals provided: 343,000.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Family Counseling: Serves individu- als, couples, families, and children fac- ing various challenges. Served: 131. St. Luke's Addiction Recovery Center. Served: 213.
ELDERLY SERVICES
Adult Day Centers: professional car- ing services to the elderly in Broward County. Served: 182. Congregate Meals: Lunches offered at senior centers in Miami-Dade County. As per COVID-19 pandemic, meals were delivered to each senior's front door. Served: 1,235. Total meals and snacks served: 202,987.
HOMELESS PREVENTION AND HOUSING
Disaster Recovery Services to victims of natural disasters, locally and abroad. Served: 394. Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing: Provides rental, mortgage, and utility assistance for homeless families and individuals. Rapid Re-Housing: Served 101. New Life Family Center: 16-unit homeless shelter. Served: 60. St. Bede and St. Theresa Apartments: supportive housing for disabled adults and previously homeless families and individuals. Served: 14.
REFUGEE SERVICES
Served: 139 Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program. Served: 29. Unaccompanied Minors Program at Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children's Village, formerly known as Boystown; serves minors ranging in ages from 0-17 years. Served: 255.
YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES
Child Development Centers: services to children ages 0-5 across Miami- Dade County. Served: 1,902. Meals and snacks served: 484,471. Strengthening Families Program: Engages parents by providing sup- port and resources to improve family communication. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the program has successfully transitioned to provid- ing services virtually. Served: 602.
Source: Annual Report 2019-2020 Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.
BY THE NUMBERS
"It is something we have done over the 90 years, whether it was receiving unaccompanied Cuban children from Pedro Pan in the six- ties to receiving unaccompanied minors from Central America to- day," said Routsis-Arroyo. He arrived in the archdiocese to take the helm of Catholic Chari- ties in 2018, after the retirement of the previous CEO, Deacon Richard Turcotte. Routsis-Arroyo brought his long experience working for other Catholic Charities agencies: He directed the Diocese of Venice's agency for 20 years, and worked five years in Connecticut. During the past 90 years, Catho- lic Charities has been part of the history of the archdiocese, "and South Florida would not be what it is today without the influence of Catholic Charities over the years," Archbishop Wenski said. "Catholic Charities has been a fruitful tree," the archbishop add- ed, mentioning how the agency re- sponded to the Cuban refugee crisis in the 1960s "months before the fed- eral government caught up." That response turned into Op- eration Pedro Pan, through which around 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors arrived in Miami and were cared for by the Church until they were reunited with their families. Catholic Health Services, one of the leading Catholic health care providers in South Florida, was originally part of Catholic Chari- ties. Another offshoot is Catholic Legal Services, which provides free or low-cost legal representation to South Florida immigrants. Catholic Charities currently offers eight social service pro- grams that provide childcare for low-income families, day care for seniors, counseling, nutritional programs for seniors, help with rental payments, and support for substance abusers and the home- less. In fiscal year 2019-20, the agency had 375 employees and a $32 million budget, and served 5,264 people through its various programs.
THE COVID PANDEMIC
Having confronted major crisis during its 90 years, from the arrival of Cuban refugees in the 1960s to devastating hurricanes in the '90s and 2000s, and more recently the arrival of unaccompanied minors from Central America, Catholic Charities also was prepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic. It never closed its doors to the community. Most of its programs and ser- vices care directly for clients. Its homeless shelters, St. Luke's Center for those dealing with alcohol and substance abuse, and the shelter for unaccompanied minors remained open 24 hours a day seven days a week. "Those facilities, while you take all of the precautions neces- sary, they have to remain open," Routsis-Arroyo said. The agency also modified its services to be able to continue the work. Counseling and men- tal health services moved online to a Telehealth platform. Deliver- ing meals to seniors in its daycare centers and nutritional programs became even more direct. "Now we deliver to elders' homes close to 1,000 meals a day," Routsis-Arroyo said. The day centers and congregate meal sites for seniors 65 and over had to close because it was un- safe to gather them in groups. But Catholic Charities' food distribu- tion program expanded. Meal dis- tribution sites were established at local parishes and through con- nections with other social service organizations, allowing Catho- lic Charities to reach even more needy families throughout the pandemic. "We really did a lot more food distribution over this past year than we have ever really done before," said Routsis-Arroyo, adding that "funding has come to us, I think, because of the good reputation that we have. The counties and the cities
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and the state, and the federal level, they were looking to us to be able to help those in need."
CHILD CARE
Catholic Charities' work has al- ways focused on supporting fami- lies, but most of those served by the agency today are children - around 42%. Aside from the public school system, Catholic Charities is the largest provider of Head Start programs for children ages 0-5 in Miami-Dade, including providing childcare, meals and snacks and preparation for pre-school. From the time of Pedro Pan through today, Catholic Charities has maintained one of the only shelters in Florida that can accom- modate children, ages 0 to 17, who have crossed the border into the U.S. as unaccompanied minors. The agency is licensed by the Flor- ida Department of Children and Families. International aid "is also part of what we do," said Routsis-Arroyo. "We will be continuing to help our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas for the next two to three years," he added, to offset the damages done by Hurricane Dorian in 2018. Catholic Charities also sent food to Guatemala, Honduras and Nica- ragua after the disasters caused by two hurricanes last year. Looking at the future, Routsis- Arroyo said Catholic Charities is planning to expand the New Life homeless shelter as well as its in- volvement in building affordable housing, to alleviate that crisis in South Florida. "Catholic Charities has touched the lives of many people in a posi- tive way for 90 years, and I have no doubt its presence will be felt in the lives of those in need for 90 more years," he said. "I think the core, as far as helping the most vulnerable, is something that we stayed true to no matter what." Freelancer Cristina Cabrera Jarro contributed to this report.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski recognizes Teresita Gutierrez for 40 years of service as a teacher at Sagrada Familia Child Development Center in Miami, as Peter Routsis-Arroyo, CEO of Catholic Charities, looks on. The employee recognitions coincided with the agency's 90th anniversary celebration, held March 26, 2021 at St. Joachim Church in Miami. (ROBERTO AGUIRRE FC)
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