Diocese extends presence in Albany's South End

When Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Albany's South End closed in 2002, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard vowed to keep some kind of "Catholic presence" in the inner-city neighborhood.

The Mother Teresa Community, a joint effort by diocesan Catholic Charities and Rev. Peter Young's Altamont Program, hopes to be that presence.

The community, created by a task force formed by the Bishop, takes as its example Mother Teresa, who believed in helping the needy where they lived.

Goals

The Mother Teresa community hopes to:

* keep children off the streets through New Day Art, an after-school arts program;

* meet housing, addiction treatment and employment needs in the neighborhood through the Altamont Program; and

* provide social services like AIDS services, counseling and help for pregnant teens through Catholic Charities agencies.

Service

Catholic Charities' executive director, Sister Maureen Joyce, RSM, describes the Mother Teresa Community as "serving people in their backyard."

Father Young has spent the past couple of months walking through the neighborhood, sitting on porch steps and chatting with residents about their needs.

"There's a social need there that is evident -- not really a Catholic need, but different from any other community," he said of the South End. Though a weekly Mass is also part of the program's offerings, he added that the Mother Teresa Community "is a presence, not a parish."

The latter is evident: Not priests, but five clients of the Altamont Program are living in the former rectory of Our Lady Help of Christians. The clients are using job skills learned through the Altamont Program to shore up the church, which suffered foundation damage last winter.

Art and kids

The church building has become home to the New Day Art program, open every day after school until 6 p.m. Children in the program get a snack, a self-esteem boost and a safe alternative to the streets while they learn about drawing, sculpture and even theater.

"The South End doesn't have many programs for the children," noted New Day director Tracie Killar, who created the art program independently three years ago.

Now that it's under the umbrella of Catholic Charities, she said, "this opens so many doors for the children."

First steps

The sponsors of the Mother Teresa Community admit that the complex program is still in its infancy, trying to define what its mission as "a faith-based neighborhood outreach presence" means.

As they learn what the neighborhood's most crucial needs are, they're brainstorming about offering everything from mental health care to GED (high school equivalency diploma) programs.

Sister Maureen hopes that Father Young's presence in the neighborhood will put a kindly face on the Church for the mostly non-Catholic residents, encouraging them to get help from the Mother Teresa Community.

Father Young, for his part, noted that Catholic Charities is better-known in parishes, so he hopes that their connections will result in volunteers to help with Mother Teresa Community services.

Mrs. Killar is eager for volunteers, but not only for the art program: She foresees a future in which the Mother Teresa Community will add religious instruction for children to its list of offerings.

"I'm so excited!" she said. "The neighborhood will really benefit from the services."

(To learn more about the Altamont Program or to volunteer, call Rev. Peter Young at 463-8486. For information on the New Day Art program or Catholic Charities services, call Tracie Killar at 462-7914.)

(9/11/03) [[In-content Ad]]