Parish social ministers help solve problems

Victoria Onderdonk-Milne's workday begins at 7:30 in the morning as she greets students and parents at St. Luke's School in Schenectady.

But Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne is not a teacher; she's the parish social minister for St. Luke's Church, and part of her job is working with the students in this urban school.

"I spend a half-hour in the morning greeting children and parents," she said. "You can do four hours of parish social ministry at the door in the morning."

Busy times

Throughout the school day, "Mrs. O.M.," as she is known to the kids, works with individual students and groups of pupils. She has a "newcomers" group for students just coming to the school, and a "Rainbows for All God's Children" group for children from separated, divorced or widowed families.

In her work, Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne sees a host of problems students at the school face, including domestic violence, homelessness, substance abuse, emotional problems and concrete needs like a need for food or clothing.

She hopes that by helping students deal with the challenges they face outside of the classroom, they'll be better able to learn.

When she is not working with school students, she is helping parishioners meet a variety of needs. She finds working with this range of ages to be especially fulfilling. "I love what I do," she said. "It's always changing. I work with infants to the elderly."

Cooperative system

Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne is one of a growing number of parish social ministers serving people in the Albany Diocese. Parish social ministry is a partnership between Catholic Charities and local parishes. The ministers educate parishioners on their responsibility to help those less fortunate and help needy parishioners get the services they deserve. To do that, parish social ministers rely on the vast number of services offered by Catholic Charities.

"None of us are ever alone in the jobs we do," said Jill Ryan, director of parish social ministry for Catholic Charities of Albany and Rensselaer counties. "You don't stand alone in needs."

She explained that the parish social ministers have the resources of Catholic Charities at their fingertips. If they are dealing with a student in need of counseling, for example, they can refer them to a Catholic Charities counselor. For many of the needs, a Catholic Charities agency or program exists that they can refer the person to.

Meeting needs

Sister Maureen Murphy, CSJ, parish social minister at St. Casimir's Regional School in Albany, begins her day in much the same way as Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne -- greeting students and parents in the morning. She then works with the school staff and Catholic Charities to meet the needs of the students.

"Attention is the biggest need," Sister Maureen said. "So many parents are single parents working so hard. The kids are at school until 5:30."

To fill that need, Sister Maureen has started a mentoring program which pairs adult volunteers with students.

Helping others

But the students at St. Casimir's are more than recipients of Catholic Charities' services; they are also part of the solution. On Mondays, eighth graders volunteer at a local soup kitchen to give them a taste of community service. During the holidays, other grades pitched in by baking pies and collecting clothes for the needy.

The lessons in social justice appear to be making a difference. Sister Maureen told how "the fifth-grade girls came in for lunch and gave their extra money to me to give to charity." She was pleased that the students were thinking of others who might be in need.

Student reaction

Students seem to respond to parish social ministers. Arron Thomas, a fourth grader at St. Luke's, worked with Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne earlier in the year when he was new to the school.

"I was scared at first," Arron said. After working with Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne, however, "I wasn't scared anymore. She's a good person to talk to when you're in need of help."

"Once in a while you can see a big change in a child," Sister Maureen said. "You've referred them for counseling and what was interfering with their studies has changed. It's small things."

Mrs. Onderdonk-Milne finds that when she gets phone calls from parents and parishioners, it's usually because they learned by word-of-mouth that she was available for help.

"It's the way you're received by parents, and watching changes in kids from year to year," she said. "You can tell you're getting through to them."

(01-29-98) [[In-content Ad]]