During his 2018 homily during World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis emphasized that, “As believers, we must stretch out our hands as Jesus does to us.” In California, Catholics have responded swiftly and efficiently to the pleas for help in the wake of COVID-19 shelter-place orders.
Established in early April, two weeks after the declaration of the shelter in place order, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and Catholic Charities created Love Your Neighbor*, a hotline to shop and deliver groceries to inbound and at-risk residents unable to shop. The Love Your Neighbor ministry hotline is (888) 237-7807. Calls are answered in English and Spanish from 9 am – 5 pm Monday through Friday. Calls received after hours go to the program’s voicemail. In San Francisco, call (888) 237-7807 or email lifeanddignity@sfarch.org.
The Love Your Neighbor ministry is in addition to ongoing efforts that have been in place for decades such as rent assistance and payment of utility and medical bills to enable residents to stay at home, regardless of their income. Not unexpected during this unprecedented time, there has been a tremendous increase in requests for assistance. The rental assistance program, which ordinarily processes approximately 200 applications a month, saw 400 applications in just two days. Ongoing services that have provided relief include the Food Pantry that operates every Thursday at the OMI Senior Center. In the past, this service has mostly been provided to seniors but is now open to anyone in need. The delivery project runs throughout the city with Catholic Youth Organization (C Y O) drivers delivering groceries.
In addition to grocery, rent, and utility assistance, Catholic Charities is partnering with the City of San Francisco on a 66-room hotel for families during the pandemic that opened the week of April 20. The Catholic Charities Hotel for Homeless Families will provide not only housing but case managers, counselors, medical practitioners who provide wellness checks, and other services, including three daily meals.
At the request of San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy, the local Catholic Charities agency, quickly launched an Emergency Food Distribution Network through 21 parishes in the two counties that comprise the diocese (San Diego and Imperial). Low-income individuals and the homebound receive a bag of non-perishable food, either through a drive-through distribution or doorstep delivery by volunteers, all following mandated health requirements and current COVID-19 protocols. The organization ramped up quickly with virtually no advertising. Annually, Catholic Charities serves 158,000 individuals but will now exceed 85,000 in less than two months, according to Appaswamy “Vino” Pajanor, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities of San Diego.
More than 50 volunteers from various parishes and Catholic schools helped pack “Welcome Backpacks” for 1500 homeless residents of San Diego who had to move into the San Diego Convention Center , Items in the backpacks came from local donors and consisted of a Coffee Bean Book [a children’s book], snacks, water, t-shirts embossed with “Someone Cares,” socks, hand sanitizer and a hygiene kit.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles established its hotline, Hearts to Serve, which has helped over 500 families in the first three weeks of shelter-in-place orders. Hearts to Serve is also in partnership with other organizations including Options United and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, whose staff and volunteers answer hotline calls. The Knights of Columbus, who are delivering groceries, have granted $100,000 to key organizations (St. Francis Center, Proyector Pastoral at Dolores Mission Catholic Church, St. Joseph Center, St. Madeline’s Catholic Church, Foothills Kitchen and the East San Gabriel Homeless Coalition). In addition to helping with food delivery, Hearts to Serve works with parishes to support their food pantries and other services such as assistance with bills and rent as well as to provide other resources in the community. $100,000 has been granted to 28 parishes and community partners such as Habitat for Humanity, MEND Poverty, Claris Health, The Center at Blessed Sacrament, and Harvest Home.
Another interesting outreach endeavor: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is working with local restaurants and catering businesses that wish to keep their employees busy during this time. It has provided funding to create grocery bags and hot meals that volunteers deliver to seniors. Key partners in this effort include Claris Health and Habitat for Humanity and their trucks that serve as mobile food pantries travel to some of the neediest parishes.
“Every day I am overwhelmed by the graciousness, dedication, compassion and passion of our colleagues on the front lines who are giving their all in a selfless way,” remarked Jilma Meneses, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities in San Francisco. “They are true servant leaders. My one request of community leaders and elected officials – stand by us and put people first. This is critical.”
When asked why and how all of this effort is happening, Panjanor remarked: “It is faith that makes us tick. Our Lord calls us to be Good Samaritans, putting faith in action by caring for our neighbors when it is hard to express love. Over these past four weeks, I saw hundreds of volunteers coming to help total strangers and putting themselves in harm’s way.”
Because sometimes, as the ad for Love Your Neighbor states, “Loving your neighbor can be as simple as picking up and delivering a bag of cheese puffs.”
*The Love Your Neighbor effort was born out of the assistance of Thomas Rudkins and Options United, who donated the hotline, as well as the advertising firm Venables, Bell and Partners, which rolled out the communications and social media campaign to spread the word about available assistance to anyone in need. Funding comes from a variety of sources including the Order of Malta and the Silicon Valley Foundation.