Charities: Potential seen in Bush plan

"We've been providing services for years, so it's not too terribly new," said Joseph Buttigieg, associate executive director of diocesan Catholic Charities.

President Bush established the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the White House, with offices in the departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Housing and Urban Development. He hopes to eliminate barriers to faith-based organizations' efforts to solve society's ills.

Positives

He applauded the faith-based initiative, calling it "well-designed for community initiatives like ours that work with local churches."

SICM sponsors food pantries and cooperatives, a summer lunch program for children, the Damien Center for those affected by AIDS and HIV, a jobs program, and community advocacy.

Connection

"We [provided services] long before government funding was available," he added. He also noted that the Church attempts to provide for the poor with or without government aid, while secular agencies that don't get funding often eliminate services.

David Hamilton, associate director for Catholic Charities for the New York State Catholic Conference, noted that "it's part of our beliefs and our value structure" for the Catholic Church to provide for the needy. (The Catholic Conference is the public policy arm of the state's bishops.)

Cooperative

He cautioned, however, that agencies like Catholic Charities don't want to be seen as replacements for the government in helping people who patronize food pantries, those who deal with unexpected pregnancies and those who need financial assistance with everything from groceries to utilities.

The Church alone cannot end poverty, he said, adding that "poverty is a function of how society distributes wealth and income."

Working together

Again, said Mr. Buttigieg, "we do that now: We have external auditors who come in and review our services extensively. We have no problem with that. We're very careful about how we spend. If they say they want this money to go to house homeless people, that's where we put the money."

Mr. Hamilton spoke of a "reciprocal relationship" between the government that funds services to the needy and the agencies that accept it.

"If we take money, we need to be accountable," he explained. "There is a sense of stewardship, of wise and appropriate use of money."

Boundaries

However, he added, "Catholic agencies don't ask people to profess their belief in the Catholic faith before we provide services."

Rev. Grigsby said that President Bush's initiative is simply a case of the federal government catching up with what's already being done locally.

"We welcome it," he told The Evangelist. "We see it as a real paradigm shift. We're glad to have this initiative."

(02-15-01) [[In-content Ad]]