LIVING THE GOSPEL THE HISTORY AND ROLE OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO MARCH 2017
ARCHDIOCESAN ANNUAL APPEALS Some may believe that the history of holding an annual appeal dates back to 1976, and the founding of ShareLife, but there have been structured appeals going back as far as the early 1900 s, and the provision of social services as far back as the 1850 s.
THE HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO Sacred Heart Orphanage (1851) and Houses of Providence (now Providence Healthcare, 1857) were founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph St. Vincent de Paul had been assisting individuals through parishes since the1850 s, and in 1894 founded the Children s Aid Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Today, this it the Catholic Children s Aid Society.
THE HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO Sisters of the Good Shepherd had a refuge for young women lawbreakers. Christian Brothers ran St. John s Training School for young men in trouble with the law In 1908, the St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses Association was formed at the request of Archbishop McEvay. This started with four nurses working from their homes. This is known today as St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
THE HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO In 1913, The Carmelite Sisters opened an orphanage All of this preceded the co-ordination of the work of Catholic organizations.
THE FOUNDING OF CATHOLIC CHARITIES In 1913, Archbishop McNeil outlined to Father Patrick Bench his perception of the gaps and overlaps in assistance being provided to the poor and needy of the Archdiocese. The Archbishop wanted to see co-ordination of the work of Catholic agencies, and felt there was a need to have a central body to plan for future needs and work with the Chancery.
THE FOUNDING OF CATHOLIC CHARITIES In September, 1913, Archbishop McNeil announced the founding of Catholic Charities and appointed Father Bench as the first Superintendent. Father Bench was instrumental in getting new social services started in the Archdiocese:
CATHOLIC CHARITIES Father Bench started his work by volunteering to serve as a probation officer for Catholic men charged before the courts. He also hired a court worker for women, who worked with the Good Shepherd Female Refuge as an alternative to prison. In 1914, Father Bench set up an employment bureau for women, which lasted until 1920. Father also set up a simple legal aid program through Catholic Charities, obtaining legal assistance to those who could not afford the costs.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES In 1914, working with Archbishop McNeil, the Sisters of Misericordia were invited to open a home for unmarried women and their infants. St. Mary s Infants Home was formed, which today is known as Rosalie Hall. In 1918, Catholic Charities initiated a Catholic Big Brother Movement in Toronto. The Holy Name Society started a Big Brother network in parishes, and accepted responsibility for all Catholic boys put on probation by the courts. In 1919, the Catholic Big Sisters Association was formed.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES When asked how he would obtain funds to assist others, Father Bench indicated that he would beg for donations in his weekly Catholic Charities column in the Catholic Register, and the response always bore out the promise of Christ Ask and ye shall receive.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES While carrying out the work, the agencies always worked toward the preservation of the Catholic faith.
FEDERATION FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE In 1919, all agencies carrying out welfare work in the City of Toronto got together and formed the Federation for Community Service. As a result of joining this organization, Catholic agencies saw an increase to their funding. Father Bench was elected as the first President of the Board of Management of the Federation.
NEW LEADERSHIP In 1921, Father Bench was named Pastor of St. Gregory Parish in Oshawa, and Brother Barnabas, a Christian Brother, became the next Superintendent of Catholic Charities.
CATHOLIC WELFARE BUREAU In 1922, Archbishop McNeil carried out a Social Welfare Survey (needs assessment,) of the Archdiocese of Toronto. This report led to the creation of the Catholic Welfare Bureau, which would be a co-ordinating and administrative agency doing direct service which had been offered by Catholic Charities.
CATHOLIC WELFARE BUREAU The intention of the formation of this bureau seemed to be to co-ordinate the services being provided by various entities, and to ensure consistency between agencies providing similar services. In 1922, Father Joseph Haley was appointed as the Director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau and the Superintendent of Catholic Charities.
LOSS OF FUNDING In 1927, The Federation for Community Service announced that no Catholic agency or institution would receive funds from the annual appeal. This decision was based on the issue that 11% of the total amount collected in the campaign came from Catholics, but 25% of the funds allocated went to Catholic agencies. This decision did not take into account that Catholics comprised 15% of the population in Toronto, and generally belonged to the lower socio-economic level of society many were immigrants with large families and little money.
LOSS OF FUNDING There was also the insinuation that large contributions to the appeal would be withheld if Catholic institutions continued to receive these funds. The Toronto Star supported the Catholic position, while the Toronto Telegram supported the Federation s decision
THE FIRST ARCHDIOCESAN APPEAL As a result of this decision Archbishop McNeil founded the Federation of Catholic Charities, and launched a campaign in October of that year. A goal of $100,000 was set through parishes and offices. This was met in 4 days. In 3 weeks $178,000 was raised. When people questioned why parishes outside of Toronto were asked to contribute to the work of agencies located within Toronto, Archbishop McNeil wrote a pastoral letter outlined the number of people being served by these agencies who came from outside of Toronto, and stressed the need to contribute to the campaign.
NEW AGENCIES In 1931, The Redemptorists of St. Patrick s founded Catholic Settlement House, and added a Nursery in 1934 (Catholic Settlement House Day Nursery.) In 1929, the Knights of Columbus in Toronto founded the Columbus Boys camp in conjunction with the Basilian Fathers, and today this is known as Camp Ozanam.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP During the Depression, the campaign would often not meet its goal, and there were other ways to help. Shamrock Tag Days took place on March 17 th of each year, where volunteers took to the streets to raise funds for Catholic Charities. A Rosary Guild was set up, and each of the 825 members were required to supply two new articles of children s clothing once a year
UNITED WAY WWII brought the Catholic and Jewish population into closer relationships with Toronto citizens, and the new solidarity led to the formation of the United Community Fund, which replaced 18 individual campaigns. The United Community Fund eventually became the United Way in 1956.
NEW AGENCIES Good Shepherd Refuge was formed in the early 1960 s. The Catholic Immigration Bureau, which became Catholic Cross Cultural Services, was formed in 1954. Sancta Maria House, a residence for girls with special needs, joined Catholic Charities in 1966.
SHARELIFE In May of 1975, the United Way of Toronto approved the admission of Planned Parenthood as a member agency. In June of that year, a meeting was held at the Chancery, outlining the position of the Council of Charities and hoping that a solution could be arrived at. Planned Parenthood was asked to withdraw their application, on the understanding that they would be given serious consideration the following year.
SHARELIFE In February of 1976, the United Way made a decision to admit the Planned Parenthood Association of Toronto as a member agency. This organization s policy included counselling abortion as a valid choice for a pregnant woman. To Msgr. Mulvihill, and Father Paul Lennon, and our Catholic agencies, the purpose of our existence was to nurture and protect clients, and by being in an organization that supported Planned Parenthood we would be associating with those who would eliminate one of these clients.
SHARELIFE Less than a month later, Archbishop Pocock convened a meeting of the Council of Catholic Charities, and on March 19, the Archbishop formally announced the decision of the Council of Catholic Charities to withdraw from the United Way of Greater Toronto.
SHARELIFE In his statement, Archbishop Pocock said I am prepared to take the responsibility of sustaining the services of Catholic Charities to the Community. The Councils of Catholic Charities and it s member agencies receiving funding: Catholic Settlement House Day Nursery, Providence Villa, Columbus Boys Camp, St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses Association, Catholic Family Services of Toronto, Sancta Maria House and Rosalie Hall all resigned from the United Community Fund.
SHARELIFE This decision was supported by, among others, the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women s League, St. Vincent de Paul, and the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
SHARELIFE In 1976, the parish campaign goal was $1.875 million and $2.119 million was achieved from our parish communities. Volunteer parishioners went door to door, seeking support for the ShareLife agencies.
SHARELIFE TODAY Over time, we have added various components of our annual appeal, a schools campaign, an employee campaign, and a corporate campaign. In 1992, the direct mail program was started, where parishioners were sent a letter seeking support for ShareLife from the Archbishop of Toronto. Today, almost 180 parishes are on this program, and over $12 million was raised from these parishes in 2016.
SHARELIFE TODAY Parishes have often conducted dances, walk-athons, bake sales, and other special events to support the local parish ShareLife effort. In 1996, the ShareLife office started an annual walk, which ran for 10 years.
SHARELIFE TODAY Over time, the number of agencies supported by ShareLife has grown from 8 to 42, including grant recipients. 29 of the agencies are overseen by Catholic Charities, who provide agency monitoring, professional development, and are responsible for the allocations to these entities.
SHARELIFE TODAY Services are now provided to families in crisis, people with special needs, the elderly, children and youth, immigrants and refugees, and also to support development work through Development and Peace, Canadian Food for Children, and the Pastoral Mission Fund. In addition, ShareLife is a significant funder of St. Augustine's Seminary and provides financial support to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and Serrsa House/Office of Vocations.
SHARELIFE ALLOCATIONS In October of each year, the Allocations Committee of the Advisory Board reviews the results of the previous campaign and sets allocations for the next calendar year. The ShareLife Advisory Board and Trustees approves the allocations at their October meeting, to start the next January. These funds must be raised in the campaign that takes place during the following year. The ShareLife campaign starts in March, and as such ShareLife often borrows funds to bridge the gap between the start of allocations and the parish campaign.
SHARELIFE ALLOCATIONS In 2017, the allocations to all agencies and grant in aid recipients total $13.68 million. The parish campaign goal is $13.1 million. Other campaigns include schools, employee funds, and a corporate campaign.
OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES While ShareLife is providing funds to over forty different entities, there are many other important services that are taking place across our Archdiocese that are supported or driven by the Catholic community. In the past, Catholic Charities has given community grants to organizations such as the Lazarus House, L Arche, St. Stephen s House, Project Rachel, and Pathways among others.
OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES Barrett House, run by the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, was Toronto s first residential care facility for people living with HIV/AIDS. The goal is to offer a supporting, caring and secure environment a family.
OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES The Sisters of St. Joseph founded Toronto s Food Bank and the Furniture Bank. Covenant House came to Toronto at the request of Cardinal Carter.
OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES At the invitation of Cardinal Carter, Madonna House was invited to open a field house in Toronto in 1982. The Capuchins of Central Canada established St. Francis Table in 1987 as a low cost food outreach in Parkdale. Many parishes across the Archdiocese conduct food banks, soup kitchens, out of the cold programs, drop in centres, seniors groups, and other programs to help those in need in their local communities.
NEW FOR 2017 ShareLife is investing $485,700 new dollars into our agencies in 2017. The following are some of the key areas for new investments:
NEW FOR 2017 Support the retention and enhancement of agency staff to meet the increased demand for services; Maintain walk-in counseling clinic services to families, giving clients access to same day service without an appointment, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for additional counseling sessions;
NEW FOR 2017 Enhance life-skills and mentorship to youth in transitional housing. These supportive measures help youth make a positive transition from foster care to independent living with training, mentorship and after care services; Offer expanded assistance and support to isolated and marginalized seniors in the City of Toronto;
NEW FOR 2017 Provide shared services or back-office integration among agencies, which improves administrative efficiencies, organizational effectiveness and organizational capacity. Currently, agencies are sharing resources in financial management and human resources services, while information technology options are being explored. St. Elizabeth Service Trust serves as a service provider for this project;
NEW FOR 2017 Help agencies to build capacity to evaluate and report on the effectiveness and impact of programs and services, which assists in demonstrating the importance of ShareLife funding;
NEW FOR 2017 Support the continuation of a pilot project to support outreach to seniors in Peel Region and Simcoe County. Working with the local Catholic Family Service agencies and six parishes, this initiative aims to connect trained volunteers with isolated and lonely seniors. Seniors will be provided support in their daily lives. Volunteers will cultivate and nurture relationship with the seniors by conducting home visits, making phone calls, and connecting seniors with resources available in their community;
NEW FOR 2017 Support the continuation of a pilot project to test the applicability of a grief reconciliation approach for young mothers who have suffered trauma and other mental health issues. The project aims to provide an opportunity for the young mothers to explore grief and to recognize the impact on their functioning thereby creating readiness to engage in therapy to support healthy physical, psychological, spiritual and social well-being;
NEW FOR 2017 Provide funds to the John Paul the Great Centre at St. Augustine of Canterbury parish. The centre helps to build and transform the spiritual lives of those who use it, and provides regular after-school programs, activities for seniors and a drug addiction and prevention support group.
CONCLUSIONS The Catholic community has a long history of providing social services to the greater community. When asked, the Catholic community will collectively rise to the challenge of financially supporting the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese.