Detroit — Once again, the Adopt a Family program is providing an opportunity for people in the Archdiocese of Detroit to help struggling families at Christmastime.
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And lest anyone is tempted to respond, “Yeah, well times are tough all over,” just consider the situation of some of those families proposed for assistance this year.
Take family No. 81 on the list, for example: “We found them living in an RV with no electricity or water hook up and had been moving from different parking lots whenever they were told to move on,” reported a member of the St. Vincent de Paul conference at St. Mary Parish in Monroe who responded to the family’s plea for assistance.
The parents had lost their jobs, and then lost their house to foreclosure; they had sold their furniture to raise some money, and had been able to scrounge together half the money they needed to move into an apartment.
But needed to pay both a security deposit and the first month’s rent, so the Vincentians came up with the other half.
Chris Burkett, who chairs the SVdP conference at St. Mary Parish, said requests for food assistance have been pretty steady, but they are receiving more and more request for help with utility bills or rent.
“I just can’t imagine living in a place with no plumbing or electricity,” Burkett said.
While the economic downturn has squeezed almost everybody’s finances, some families are in especially bad shape as fall heads toward winter this year, as can be seen by reading the capsule summaries of each family’s plight sent in for this year’s Adopt A Family program.
Some of these capsules, identified by number, were published in the Nov. 4 and Nov. 18 issues of The Michigan Catholic. The complete list of more than 200 can be read on the Internet at www.aodonline.org. Those without access to the Internet may view a copy of the list at their parish office or receive a copy in the mail by calling Carolyn Ginotti at (313) 237-4696.
Ginotti, who coordinates the program in the archdiocesan Department of Parish Life and Services, said Nov. 10 that the number of requests for assistance received was up considerably over the same date last year, 215 versus 187. She added that requests had been received from parishes that had never participated in the past.
“The common struggle among a majority of the families this year is financial difficulties due to either loss of employment, inability to find employment, or from unexpected medical issues occurring within the family,” Ginotti remarked.
While all of the stories are very sad, she said one she found to be especially sad was that of a family in one of Detroit’s suburbs, No. 49 on the list of capsule summaries, that has experienced not only unemployment, but injury and grief.
Not only was the father unemployed for about a year, only just having been called back to work, but within the last six months, their younger son died unexpectedly and the mother has had to have several surgeries following an accident. Their home is in foreclosure and they are behind in their utilities.
Looking through the capsules, one finds many other touching stories, such as a single mother who only works temporary jobs and as a street vendor, with no water heater and whose furnace was actually stolen.
Or many families whose lives are complicated by unemployment or only marginal employment plus other difficulties such as foreclosure past-due utility bills, and children who are ill or have special needs.
Donations may be directed to meet the needs of a particular family, or may be sent for general distribution to all the needy families (even with earmarked donations, any money sent beyond the needs of a particular family will also be used to meet other families’ needs).
Although the number of families seeking assistance is up over last year, Ginotti said donations to the program are running behind what they were a year ago.
“Our success in helping the Adopt A Families at Christmas is dependent upon the amount that is donated; which is always a concern right up until a week before Christmas,” she said.
Donation for distribution to this year’s families should be received by Dec. 20 (later donations received through Dec. 31 will still be eligible for tax-deductible treatment for 2011, but the funds will be held for next year’s recipients).
In an effort to make it easier for people to donate this year, donations may be made via the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Adopt A Family web page, www.aodonline.org/adoptafamily.
But they can also be sent through the mail. Checks earmarked “Adopt A Family” should be made payable to “Archdiocese of Detroit,” and mailed to: Archdiocese of Detroit, Department of Parish Life and Services,305 Michigan Ave.– 10th Floor,Detroit48226.
