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An APPEALing interview with Al Barber,
President/CEO, Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities is Fairfield County’s largest private family service agency. It provides a wide range of services including food, housing , mental health, adoption, immigration, and family support programs to people of all faiths in Fairfield County. Catholic Charities President/CEO Al Barber shares some thoughts on the challenges faced by many individuals feeling the ongoing impact of the recession.

Are more people coming forward for service?
In the last couple of years in particular, our client base at Catholic Charities has grown as financial issues become more broad-based and touch many families. In Fairfield County, more people have lost their jobs, their homes, their health insurance. So we’re seeing many new faces from every sector of the community. We have longer waiting lists for many services.

Job loss can be particularly devastating.
Yes, and wide spread. The number of people who have lost jobs is represented in every income bracket, and the impact can be especially difficult in high income earners. Finding a new job at close to what they were making is very difficult for people who have been out of work for a year or more. Many are looking for jobs with significantly reduced compensation. That can be very hard on a person and family and that’s where the need for counseling kicks in.

Catholic Charities has many funding sources. Where does the Bishop’s Appeal fit in?
When I speak in parishes, I always explain that the Bishop’s Appeal is the foundation for the work we do. Without the appeal we wouldn’t have the critical mass to provide our programs. The reason we get so many state and federal grants is that we have the support of the Appeal behind us. The community has confidence in our ability to deliver. The money from the Appeal is hugely important in leveraging additional dollars.

I should add that Bishop Lori’s support for Catholic Charities in our Diocese exceeds the percentage of support in many other Dioceses. He feels a great responsibility for Catholic Charities and its mission of “faith in action.”

One recent national report found that almost 40 million Americans are now “food insecure” and may rely on food pantries or other programs. What’s going on in Fairfield County?
The demand for food services continues to rise. Last year we served over 1.1 million meals in our various programs. Sometimes, when I go to the soup kitchens and see the lines wrap around the building, I think of the great Depression. Recently I cooked a meal out at New Covenant House and invited my staff to help me. We made sausage, pepper and onions and served more than 220 people. We were double lined around the outside. Sometime it seems like we just don’t have enough seats. I can tell you we’re serving people wearing LL Bean. Many have fallen on hard times.

The affordable housing efforts on the Merton Center campus are well underway. What’s next?
Housing is always going to be there as a critical need in the area. We’ve done a great job in getting units for the homeless on line in Bridgeport and Stratford, but it’s not an easy package to assemble and we would still like to see some housing in other parts of the Diocese.

Have we felt the full impact of the state budget crisis yet?
The State is already putting the squeeze on many small agencies that provide services. The budget crisis is a fiscal nightmare. I think we’ll be okay for the next twelve months but I worry about the tax year after the next one. The State is faced with such a big deficit that it could mean dramatic cuts. That’s why it’s important to build a base of private foundation giving for our work in addition to the Appeal monies.

What makes you feel good about the work, even in these difficult times?
The great news is that we have a lot of very generous people out there. When I speak from pulpit, people come up afterward and say they didn’t have any idea of how difficult times are for many people in Fairfield County. So, as they are in the process of trying to figure out how bad they have it, the Annual Appeal can be cathartic for them, because they often discover they don’t have it so bad—and that makes them more generous.

Support Catholic Charities by making your pledge to the 2010 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal.

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