"To love and serve our neighbors as ourselves."
Humanitarian Award Winners Announced
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 Msgr. William M. Griffin Humanitarian Award and the Matthew 25 Youth Humanitarian Award. Winners will be honored during Catholic Charities’ Annual Recognition Dinner on May 31.
The Msgr. William M. Griffin Humanitarian Award is given to individuals demonstrating a significant, long-term commitment (professional or volunteer) to serving the poor, marginalized, and most vulnerable within our diocesan community. This year's winners include: Donald Belsey (Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Altoona), Mary Lou Waugerman (St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, Bedford), and Millie Bodenschatz (Holy Name Parish, Ebensburg).
The Matthew 25 Youth Humanitarian Award is given to elementary and high school students for demonstrating exceptional service to their communities, specifically to the poor and needy. This year's winners include: Marissa Smilnak (11th grade, Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School), Danielle Miller (12th grade, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School), Ryan Allen Statler (12th grade, Windber Area High School), Emmalee Mizera (3rd grade, Jackson Elementary School), Kathleen Price (12th grade, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School), and Samuel Penna (6th grade, Divine Mercy Catholic Academy--East Campus).
You Can Help a Neighbor Avoid Losing It All
People who seek help from Catholic Charities are the people you meet every day. Childcare workers. Restaurant servers. Check-out clerks.
They are the working poor.
Moms and dads working days and nights to support their families. Widowers adjusting to life on a single income, getting back into the workforce or even working for their first time. Parishioners you see every Saturday or Sunday at church heading right to their shift after Mass.
Hundreds of Local Lives Changed Since 2015
Community Celebrates Two Year Anniversary of Martha & Mary House
More than 60 people attended an open house at the Martha & Mary House on March 7 in celebration of the homeless shelter’s second anniversary in Cambria County. The event was showcased on local media, including this segment that aired on WJAC-TV.
Since opening in March 2015, the Martha & Mary House has helped 181 families and 210 individuals who were facing homelessness. The impact goes far deeper than these statistics, according to Director Danielle Bowers.
Honor the Three Pillars of Lent
"Give alms...Pray to your Father...Fast without a gloomy face." (Matthew 6:18)
You can honor the three pillars of Lent (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving) through your support of Catholic Charities.
- Pray. Pray for the needy in our community: children and the old, the sick and the suffering, families and individuals, next-door neighbors and people you've never met.
- Fast. Pope Francis said, "Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the style of the Good Samaritan, who bent down to his brother in need and took care of him."
- Give alms. Your gift to Catholic Charities will go directly to an individual or family in your county who desperately needs help.
Offering Hope When Hope Has Been Lost
Martha and Mary House Celebrates Second Anniversary
Two hundred and ten lives have been changed since The Martha and Mary House opened its doors in Johnstown in March 2015.
That’s because The Martha and Mary House is more than a homeless shelter. It’s a program that teaches the necessary skills needed to reach self-sufficiency and safe, sustainable housing.
"We offer hope when hope has been lost," said Director and Lead Case Manager Danielle Bowers.
