The Times They Are a Changin'

Feeding the Hungry and Sheltering the Homeless

The Vietnam War and drastic cultural changes marked the turbulent 60s. Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council fostered the Church’s involvement in world affairs. Catholic Charities agencies forged links between people and neighborhoods. More than fifty new agencies developed during the next three decades. By the late 1960s, small Catholic Charities programs begun in the late 19th century and newly emerging programs formed the fabric that supported the War on Poverty.

During this time, New York’s tight and costly housing market exacerbated the need for affordable housing. Homelessness and hunger became troubling concerns. Religious communities and dedicated laity faced these issues head on with several solutions. Covenant House opened its doors on Manhattan’s Lower Eastside in 1969 to support the sudden influx of homeless and runaway youth. One year later, Create in Harlem began to fight drugs, unemployment and rising housing costs. Parishes worked to stabilize their communities by developing affordable housing such as Grand Street and Haven Plaza on the Lower East Side and West Farms in the Bronx. Encore Community Service at St. Malachy’s Church in the Theatre District reached out to the growing population of frail, hungry and homeless elderly, offering housing and community-based programs. Good Counsel and Rosalie Hall provided safe and supportive residences for women facing unplanned pregnancies.

The number of homeless and hungry continued to rise in the 1980’s and Catholic Charities continued to respond and advocate on their behalf. Emergency shelters opened. Advocacy efforts fought the loss of affordable housing stock including SRO’s. POTS and other affiliated agencies offered hot meals and help with dignity and compassion. Dedicated women and men, religious and laity, established temporary, transitional and permanent residences with support services. Among the most significant was Catholic Charities’ development of the 723 apartments of the Highbridge Project just north of Yankee Stadium. Another was, Education Outreach, a small innovative program that paired homeless persons with mentors and promoted self-empowerment through counseling and training. Food pantries expanded throughout the 4800-square miles Archdiocese of New York. In the Hudson Valley a Special Needs Food Pantry began catering to those with particular dietary needs such as diabetics. The Free Store at the Everett Hodge Community Center in Kingston offered donated clothing, furniture, household goods and food.

Yet challenges continued. AIDS, crack cocaine and the sudden deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and disabled in the 1980s sparked tragic repercussions among New York ’s most vulnerable. An epidemic of neglected, abused and homeless children and fragile adults developed. Catholic Charities childcare agencies, many founded in the 19th century, evolved to offer foster care, adoption and preventative services; they provided more than 40 percent of all group homes and residences in New York City. Nazareth Housing, Incarnation Children’s Center, St. Francis Residences, and Beacon of Hope House were established to serve the most vulnerable populations, including babies with HIV/AIDS who were abandoned in hospitals.

With compassion and dignity, Catholic Charities agencies offered safe and secure supported housing and community residences to significantly challenged, developmentally disabled and mentally ill adults, many of whom were previously abandoned to large institutions. For the chemically dependent, New Hope Manor, located in Barryville, NY became one of several Catholic Charities programs offering a fresh start at its residential treatment center. Community- based drug and alcohol treatment programs were established that later would develop into Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange County.

By the year 2000, Catholic Charities helped thousands of struggling individuals and families living on the margins toward the goal of independence. In the South Bronx, Mercy Center offered English as a Second Language and after-school programs, enabling the otherwise disenfranchised to craft a stable and secure future. Abraham House created a community of hope for the wives and children of the incarcerated. Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice, located in the Bronx, began to provide young people the skills needed to revitalize their own communities and clean up the polluted Bronx River. In Rockland County, parishes joined to form Catholic Community Services of Rockland and responded to the needs of poor and struggling families, particularly those threatened with housing loss.