New Catholic Charities office doing a booming business

By KATHLEEN LAMANNA- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Diana Halstead doesn't let anyone leave the new Sidney office of Catholic Charities without something to show for it. "It might not be what they originally came here for, but they're not going to leave empty-handed," said the Delaware County case manager.

The Sidney office of Catholic Charities opened its doors on the first of July. Open on Tuesdays and Fridays and located in the town's civic center, the office refers patrons to agencies if Ms. Halstead is unable to help them directly.

Other than those referrals, the office has two main programs: dispute resolution and the "Caring Connections" emergency assistance program.

Caring Connections helps people with unexpected expenses "as simple as [needing] personal hygiene products," said Ms. Halstead. People can also get help with a car payment or rent that would go unpaid in an emergency.

The office also has a dispute resolution service, providing mediation that's often an alternative to going to court. Ms. Halstead said Catholic Charities has helped resolve child custody and divorce disputes, as well as employer/employee and tenant/landlord conflicts.

"It's free, and we work with your schedules," she noted.

Catholic Charities' services aren't new in Delaware County, but until now, the closest offices to Sidney were in Delhi or Oneonta, each more than half an hour away by car. Because Sidney is a low-income area without any public transportation, the people who could have benefitted from Catholic Charities' programs weren't always able to access them.

"Transportation is such a big problem here," Ms. Halstead said, noting that the civic center where the new office is located is right in the middle of town.

Paul McAvoy, marketing and communications director for diocesan Catholic Charities, noted that the agency's last new office was in Delhi.

"We try to make sure that we're available for all the communities in the Diocese," he said. "Delaware is a pretty rural county. We wanted to get more involved in Delaware County, and this was a way for us to expand our services there."

The office has been collecting donations of backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming academic year. About 70 families applied to receive them, supporting the fact that nearly 65 percent of children in the Sidney School District receive free or reduced-price school lunches.

"We had a great response from the community" and collected more than enough, said Lynn Glueckert, executive director of Catholic Charities in Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie Counties. "This week, we're doing the distributions to the families."

In the end, Mr. McAvoy reported, the office distributed 102 backpacks. Ms. Halstead recalled a little girl picking out a purple one: "She was really excited."

(Catholic Charities' Sidney office, located in the civic center at 21 Liberty Street, is open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays. Call 607-604-4071.) [[In-content Ad]]