Catholics Charities offers help to tenants

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

Catholic Charities staff plan to continue to help tenants keep from being evicted for inability to pay rent, even as the federal eviction moratorium was extended to Oct. 3.
The state of Massachusetts is offering relief up until April 2022 for residents who have filled out applications. So renters should seek help now, as the process takes time.
To give staff time to help clients with this paperwork, Catholic Charities could use volunteers to take over other tasks.
This is the overall picture that Maydee Morales, director of emergency assistance for Catholic Charities Worcester County, gave The Catholic Free Press on Wednesday.
On Aug. 3 CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed an order that extended the July 31 residential eviction moratorium, which was put in place to help to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, in counties experiencing substantial and high levels of transmission.
Ms. Morales said most counties in Mass-achusetts, including Worcester County, are included in that extension.
In a separate action, in June Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law that extended pandemic eviction protections until April 1, 2022.
Ms. Morales said this is not an extension of the Oct. 3 moratorium for Massachusetts residents. Rather, it enables courts to issue a continuance on eviction proceedings in cases where tenants have rental assistance applications in process.
So to avoid eviction “people need to follow a process and they should be coming to our offices for help” to fill out applications and apply for funding now, she said.
This is one of many ways Catholic Charities addresses needs, with help from Partners in Charity funding.
The number of individuals and families that Catholic Charities serves has increased since the outbreak of the coronavirus, and “it’s continued,” Ms. Morales said; it didn’t decrease as expected when people were able to return to work. Asked why, she replied, “I think there’s a lot of food insecurity,” and people need help to pay their rent and utility bills.
“Most people live paycheck to paycheck,” she said. They got behind on bills when they lost their jobs during the pandemic, and they’re still behind.
Catholic Charities tries to help.
The agency receives funding from different sources, including Partners in Charity; last year it received $300,000 from the diocesan appeal, Ms. Morales said.
Partners money supports Catholic Charities’ Emergency Stabilization and Homelessness Prevention Program, which serves all of Worcester County from offices in Worcester, Leominster, Milford and Southbridge, explained Madalyn Sirois, grant writer, social media and fundraising coordinator. Emergency services include case management, rental and utility assistance, food pantries with food and hygiene items, food assistance referrals, clothing closets and the diaper program.    
The four area offices offer case management through programs that provide for basic needs and financial assistance, Miss Sirois said. Staff members help individuals and families address risk factors that have resulted in food, housing, and socioeconomic insecurity and help clients stabilize their immediate circumstances, address urgent safety concerns, learn to budget, plan for further education or a more stable job, and work towards self-sufficiency.
Ms. Morales said the number of people case managers see in a day has sometimes doubled – in Worcester rising from 10 to 20, in Leominster from 6 to 12.
“It’s not even self-sufficiency now; it’s stability,” she said. Self-sufficiency might mean struggling clients could pay their rent. But now people are behind on their rent, so Catholic Charities tries to help them become stable, to keep them from being evicted.
The area offices provide help with rent, mortgage and utility bills for qualifying clients by sending payments directly to landlords and companies, Miss Sirois said.
Ms. Morales said Catholic Charities will pay only one month’s rent a year for a client, so staff help them apply for other funding, which can take six to eight weeks.
Volunteers could help by running the food pantries and clothing closets and doing data entry so the staff could spend more time serving clients with eviction prevention, she said.
“If somebody wants to come manage the volunteers, that works!” said Ms. Morales, who is also coordinator of volunteers.
Catholic Charities would also like to hear from landlords willing to rent to its clients who can afford the rent.
By providing basic needs such as food, Catholic Charities frees clients to use their paychecks for other expenses, Ms. Morales pointed out.
“The need for food was so great in our Milford area that we opened a food pantry” during the pandemic, she said. The Worcester and Leominster offices each also have one.
At the pantries, Catholic Charities provides fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, as well as non-perishable food and hygiene items, and donations are welcome.
Miss Sirois said Catholic Charities is also seeking donations of new school supplies.
Before the pandemic, people could choose what they could use, but now food is pre-packed, Ms. Morales said. Miss Sirois said staff pack the hygiene items clients need.
 Catholic Charities also refers clients to pantries closer to them and helps those who qualify to get food through the U.S. government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, Ms. Morales said. Case workers at all Catholic Charities offices re-certify clients and reach out to eligible folks and help them enroll. Staff can also do referrals for the U.S. government’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
But neither SNAP nor WIC cover diapers, Ms. Morales said. She said the National Diaper Bank in New Haven, Connecticut, reported that one in three families in the United States cannot afford diapers. This leads to many infants wearing one diaper all day, which often results in infections and rashes and can cause psychological issues for parents and caregivers who then struggle to bond with their children.
So Catholic Charities’ diaper program provides diapers and wipes, which most clients get when coming for food, she said. Donations of diapers – or money for Catholic Charities to buy them at a discounted price – are welcome.
She said each Catholic Charities office also has a clothing closet where anyone can choose new and used clothing, shoes and accessories for adults and children – one person at a time or at an open clothing rack. Clothing donations are also welcomed.
Asked about what Catholic Charities is trying to accomplish as a Catholic agency, Ms. Morales, a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Oxford, said: “I think God has put us in this world to do certain work. I think all of our volunteers and staff have stepped up to fulfill that purpose with passion and love and caring for others. And it shows – people feel cared for and they get their needs met.”
Catholic Charities workers have families, including children who had to learn remotely at home or loved ones who died from the virus, but “we still all showed up” to help others, she said.


Editor’s note: For more information contact Ms. Morales at 508-860-2206 or volunteers@ccworc.org or visit the website www.ccworc.org/volunteer-opportunities/