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Poverty levels continue to rise in many parts of the Albany Diocese. More families are seeking food to supplement federal aid and toy donations for children for Christmas. The number of senior citizens requesting help is also rising.

Catholic Charities USA reports that more than 88 percent of its agencies nationwide had to turn people away or maintain a waiting list for at least one service last quarter. Requests by families were up to 66 percent; by the working poor, 80 percent; by the middle class, 59 percent.

Demand at the food pantry and soup kitchen at Blessed Sacrament parish in Albany has increased, but no one has been turned away.

"It has been challenge," reported Rev. John Bradley, pastor, "but we've been able to do it."

Blessed Sacrament's annual toy drive saw a 70-percent increase in need this year. Individual donors and parishioners at All Saints Catholic parish in Albany provided the additional items.

"Poverty is not going down," Father Bradley said. "Need is not decreasing anywhere."

Students at Blessed Sacrament School have collected socks, hats and mittens for local homeless people; the parish youth group will sing Christmas carols to raise money for Ronald McDonald House.

In Altamont, St. Lucy/St. Bernadette parish is collecting warm jackets, gloves, hats and scarves for foreign graduate students attending Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany Law School and Albany Medical College.

Rev. Paul Smith, sacramental minister to the parish and chaplain to the Albany graduate schools, said that many of the students come from African and Asian countries and are unaccustomed to cold weather.

"Some of them came knowing it was cold here, but not really understanding how cold it can get," he explained.

St. John the Evangelist School in Schenectady has adopted a Schoharie family displaced from their home by Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. While the first floor and basement of their house is rewired and rebuilt, the couple and their toddler are living in a one-room apartment.

The students raised $365 with a dress-down day and presented the family with a Thanksgiving basket. Fifth-graders made a holiday banner.

"It brought a tear to their eye when they saw it," said Marie Keenan, principal.

The students will have another dress-down day to provide both a meal for Christmas and gift cards to home improvement stores so the family can buy building supplies.

Hard on everyone
Mrs. Keenan said everyone is struggling in the current economy, including the students' families, but "they realize people have it much worse than they do."

In Rensselaer, more seniors are requesting help as food prices skyrocket and their incomes remain fixed at around $800 to $900 a month, said Colleen Pidgeon, coordinator of CoNSERNS-U, a Rensselaer County Catholic Charities program.

For example, an additional 50 seniors asked for CoNSERNS-U Thanksgiving baskets this year compared to last year, and dozens of new seniors have signed up for other holiday baskets and services.

Only a few elect to use the food pantry, but "I think they need help with food, or they wouldn't have come down" to CoNSERNS-U, Mrs. Pidgeon said. "They are very food insecure at this time. It's really sad to see a new senior come down."

She has been involved with CoNSERNS-U for 12 years; previously, she delivered meals to senior apartment buildings. This year shows the highest need among the age group, she said.

"They really were forced to seek help and go through this uncomfortable process for the first time in their life," Mrs. Pidgeon said.

More seniors - and more young families - in Herkimer County have been asking for help navigating the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps). Ruth Hall, coordinator of the Nutrition and Outreach Education Program (NOEP) at Catholic Charities of Herkimer County, usually receives about 30 calls a month; she received 138 requests in July after mailing information to residents.

Ms. Hall said that seniors struggle with medical expenses on top of fixed incomes and that they may receive less federal aid to heat their homes this winter.

Families may face similar problems, along with job losses. It can be hard to choose between food, fuel, health care and housing, she said: "A lot of people go without insurance. A lot of people go without their medicine because they can't afford it anymore."

NOEP determines clients' food stamp eligibility, helps them gather needed documents and makes home visits to help them fill out applications.

Humbling to ask
"For some people, it's intimidating," Ms. Hall said. "Social services don't always have the reputation for being the nicest place to be."

Catholic Charities of Schenectady County also runs a NOEP program; Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties added one last summer.

Ms. Hall wants to educate the public about the benefits of food stamps and debunk the myth that it's a form of welfare.

"Food stamps benefit the community because you're bringing tax dollars back into communities, so it's helping the economy," she said.

In tough times like these, her biggest role doesn't involve food stamps: "You do the best you can to offer them as many other resources as are available. Oftentimes, what they need is an ear - someone to listen to them and empathize."[[In-content Ad]]

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