Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / 'Summit' to weigh responses to economic crisis
'Summit' to weigh responses to economic crisis
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published March 28, 2008
Detroit – Ninety-eight percent of local Catholic parishes responding to the Michigan in Crisis survey last fall reported an increase in people coming to them in need of assistance.
Many parishes are already doing something about the effects of the "rolling thunder" of job losses, foreclosures and loss of health insurance, and others are eager to learn what they might be able to do.
Existing programs and new ideas will be brought together for discussion at a Tuesday, April 15, "summit" meeting with the theme: Michigan in Crisis=Parish Communities in Crisis.
"We're calling it a 'summit' because we're hoping the major players in all the vicariates will be there," said Michael McCallion, director of the archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Resources and Research.
While open to anyone who registers in advance, McCallion said the expected presence of the vicars and vicariate pastoral council chairs from all 18 vicariates that make up the Archdiocese of Detroit, plus other vicariate council members and parish Christian Service directors will mean that action plans could be agreed at the summit.
Plans and suggestions from the summit will be worked into a final report, which he said should be finished by sometime in May.
On the agenda:
- Presentation of findings from last fall's Michigan in Crisis survey on the situation at both the parish and vicariate levels.
- Report on "best practices" already in use, plus proposed practices that have come out of vicariate-level discussions.
- Examination of possible responses at the parish, vicariate and archdiocesan levels.
- Information on available resources in social services, job counseling, psychologists and family counseling.
- Investigation of possible state or federal legislation to address the crisis.
The Michigan in Crisis survey was sent out to all 283 parishes in the archdiocese, and 67 percent of them responded to it, which McCallion characterized as a very strong response rate.
Economic crisis
Last fall's Michigan in Crisis survey showed the top requests for help being received by local parishes are for:
Food
Transportation
Housing assistance
Help with utility bills
|
McCallion said the survey showed the people in greatest need were single mothers with children, followed by families with children, then married couples, senior citizens and, finally, single persons.
He said parishes reported great success with their monthly food collections, which bring in not only canned and packaged food items, but also cash donations.
And the biggest surprise to come out of the survey was the degree to which many parishes are already networking with Church-related or secular organizations to obtain assistance for the people who come to them in need, he said, adding that the role of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is especially significant.
Joyce Hyttinen, director of the archdiocesan Office for Catholic Social Action, said the survey resulted from discussions last year by the archdiocesan Christian Service Advisory Committee, after reports from many Christian Service directors about increased requests for assistance.
The April 15 program is set to run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, 2701 Chicago Blvd. at Linwood in Detroit. The cost of registration is $10.
For more information, call Joyce Hyttinen at (313) 237-5905.
|
