Tackling Food Insecurity One Basket at a Time

Join us in offering 100 families a memorable Easter! Your donation to the Easter Basket Drive would provide for a local family facing food insecurity.

Easter commemorates the ascension of Jesus into Heaven and, as such, is a time spent with family to rejoice. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors in the five boroughs are experiencing poverty. In 2020, a staggering 2,823,510 households lived with food insecurity within New York (Food Insecurity [Page 7]). In the spirit of Easter, we invite you to help us provide celebratory meals so that families in need can rejoice in the holiday without fear of scarcity.

As a high school sophomore and a New Yorker, I am passionate about leading this project because I feel a duty to give back to the community that has given me so much. Providing nourishment for families not only relieves hunger; it helps children performs better in school, helps elderly adults stay healthier, and helps communities flourish. While volunteering at a local food pantry, I have seen firsthand the effects of food insecurity and the burden poverty creates for individuals. It is an honor to lead an initiative that proves so important and so urgent right now, with food insecurity having soared since 2020.

This project especially serves vulnerable mothers and children experiencing heightened need in the pandemic. Racial disparities are evident, with 1 in 5 Black, 1 in 6 Hispanic, and 1 in 12 White people experiencing food insecurity (Food Insecurity [Page 21]). In New York’s 15th Congressional District, which is essentially the West and South Bronx, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has proved a necessity in combating food insecurity and pandemic-induced inflation. 25% of the district faces food insecurity––making it the most food insecure district in the country (Food Insecurity [Page 21]).

The Easter Basket Drive hopes to provide help, create hope, and preserve dignity on a personal level. By donating, you have the opportunity to make an impact during the Easter season and foster an emotional connection with mothers and children in need. This past Thanksgiving, Catholic Guardian Services provided an unforgettable meal to low-income families within New York. This spring, we hope to continue this mission by reaching our goal of providing meals for 100 families. The recommended donation is $50 or more to help provide a dinner basket for a local family with young children.

To make a credit card gift or pledge online, please scan or send a check, payable to Catholic Guardian Services, to Catholic Guardian Services, 1011 First Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10022.

It brings me joy to work with Catholic Guardian Services on this wonderful project, and I hope it will bring you joy to provide an Easter meal for our neighbors in need! Thank you.

Works Cited Food Insecurity and Poverty in the US. Feeding America, Mar. 2021. Feeding America, www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2021- 03/Local%20Projections%20Brief_3.31.2021.pdf. Accessed 30 Jan. 2022.

Thankful All Year Round - The Rodembusch Family Thanksgiving Basket Project

We can be thankful all year round. Food insecurity is a daily threat to families within our community. Board member, Luciano Rodembusch and the Rodembusch Family prepared over 100 dinner baskets for families in our care this past Thanksgiving. Providing them with a health and nutritious meal for the holiday.

Catholic Guardian Services Residential Shelters For Unaccompanied Minors 

In May of 2014, under contract with the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Catholic Guardian Services opened its first residential shelter for unaccompanied minors: children who journey from their home countries in Central America without an adult companion to seek asylum and reunification with relatives living in the U.S. Since 2014, Catholic Guardian has opened three additional shelters, another is in process pending federal approval, and the Agency has been certified to offer transitional family care services, a versatile placement model which has grown into a significant component of the program.

Catholic Guardian Services receives boys and girls ages 0-17 years old, most of whom are "tender age" (0-5 years); pregnant girls and teens with children of their own, a group that may be increasing in numbers in future months according to recent federal reports; and groups of siblings who are placed and housed together whenever possible. One sibling group from El Salvador arrived in the U.S. after their sponsor ransomed them from a Mexican gang who had kidnapped the family. They had been bouncing around northern Mexican border towns, waiting out pandemic-related U.S. immigration prohibitions, and hiding from Salvadoran gang members who had been sending their mother death threats and sexually explicit taunts about their 17-year-old sister—who had been repeatedly raped by her high school principal in El Salvador—after the mother witnessed a kidnapping in their hometown. The children were placed in Catholic Guardian Services’ custody. Their mother remains in Mexico, hiding in an undisclosed location, waiting for the financial and legal means to be reunited with her children. Agency staff members report that the children exhibited "immense resilience in the face of such adversities" and found solace in the safety, stability, and resources of the shelter.

The first 24 hours of each child's sojourn in the Agency's care feature a tight sequence of intake processing and risk assessment. After a custody hand-off at the airport or a federal shuttle to a shelter, each child meets with a polylingual nurse and psychotherapist who conduct in-depth health and risk assessments to determine the child's vaccination status as well as screen for evidence of trauma, abuse, neglect, human trafficking, as well as physical and mental health challenges. Social workers and case managers elicit details about the child's home situation in their native country, their journey to the U.S., and the relative(s) or family friend(s) with whom they will be reunited. In addition, within their first week, each child meets with an attorney from the Catholic Charities Immigrant and Refugee Services division who offers legal orientation, Know Your Rights (KYR) presentations, documentation assistance, and individualized counseling.

Many of the children seeking refuge have witnessed a close family member murdered by gang members in their hometowns. Another common tale is coercion: nearly all of the older children in Catholic Guardian Services' care have to choose between their loyalty to a gang or drug operation and their or their family members' lives. The journey to the U.S. is traumatic in and of itself, especially for tender age children, and the common themes of toxic poverty, gang violence, exploitation from human smugglers, and constant confusion and despair ring true for a huge percentage of these children.

One 17-year-old boy came to the U.S. to seek a better quality of life and resume his education. His father encouraged him to make the journey after his mother had been murdered in their home country and the gang responsible began sending him pictures of her corpse and taunting him about her rape and murder. Catholic Guardian Services staff members reported that he exhibited "profound resiliency" and "a positive outlook on life." His caregivers felt that he exhibited a great attitude and affect to staff while also demonstrating leadership skills among his peers and setting a strong example of how they should comport themselves with positivity. He also learned crocheting skills from Agency staff and began making hats and scarves. The boy spoke about how it felt great to learn a new skill and described the crocheting process as therapeutic.

Since our founding in 1887, Catholic Guardian Services has pursued its sacred mission of protecting and serving infants, children, youth, and families and it is our honor to holistically provide for the complex needs of unaccompanied minor children through guardianship and advocacy.