Every day, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. serves the most vulnerable population by feeding, housing, empowering, and helping all in need.
Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, even during the COVID-19 Pandemic, of the plans of the human heart and that the Lord directs those steps. Now is the time you can leave your footprint by helping your neighbors through giving to the annual “Summertime and the Giving is Easy” Appeal.
Catholic Charities offers the people of Southwest Florida the means to move beyond poverty and strive to achieve self-sufficiency. The appeal is critical for the continuing operations of the three dozen different programs available in locations throughout the 10-county Diocese of Venice. These programs remained functioning during the Pandemic while the demand for fundamental help skyrocketed. Between the end of March 2020 and the end of May 2021 Catholic Charities has assisted some 300,000 individuals or more than 100,000 households with items such as food, tele-mental health, financial assistance and more recently assistance in accessing vaccines.
Throughout the year, the programs help support a child’s success by helping them grow into strong leaders and the community’s most vulnerable youth thrive. This is done through providing essential school supplies, bedding for a child, or supplies for new mother.
A main focus in all of the work of Catholic Charities is striving to help give peace of mind to those who seek help by creating a better tomorrow where children and adults can experience hope, recovery, and wellness. Mental health counseling offers the tools necessary to overcome challenges. This includes life skills classes for mothers, as well as mental health counseling for children and survivors of human trafficking.
At the forefront of the homeless issue, an extremely complex matter that impacts the entire community, programs are operated to provide stable, permanent housing which is the first step in helping individuals and families achieve better lives. To accomplish this, there are programs which focuses on providing transitional housing for homeless families and human trafficking survivors as well as a program that prevents moms with babies from becoming homeless.
Of course, a key component of the work of Catholic Charities is helping to combat hunger. In Florida, 1 in 5 children struggle with hunger. Together, we can fight food insecurity by providing food to children, families and seniors to end hunger in the community. This is accomplished by providing hot meals through a soup kitchen, bags of food for a family to get through a crisis (both short-term and long-term like the Pandemic), and weekend food for children when school meals are not available.
Philomena Pereira, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities, says all donations – great or small – will enable Catholic Charities to continue to help those most vulnerable in the Diocese.
“The annual ‘Summertime and the Giving is Easy’ appeal reminds us all that many people in our communities of Southwest Florida do not have the essentials,” Pereira said. “Please consider a donation. You can make a real difference!”
How to Help
To donate to the “Summertime and the Giving is Easy” appeal, please visit www.catholiccharitiesdov.org or mail a check to Catholic Charities, 1000 Pinebrook Road, Venice, FL 34285. You can make your contribution in honor or memory of a loved one.
$10,000 helps maintain 5 transitional houses for homeless individuals and families.
$6,500 provides a notebook computer for 20 children.
$6,400 provides life-skills classes for 22 moms for 1 year.
$5,000 provides over 2,000 hot meals at our soup kitchen for one month.
$3,900 will house a disadvantaged mom and her baby for 2 months.
$2,800 allows a child mental health counseling for an entire school year.
$1,700 provides a homeless mom with 12 sessions of counseling.
$1,600 purchases a pallet of black beans feeding 500 families.
$1,250 houses a human trafficking survivor and family for 1 month.
$1,000 gives a backpack full of school supplies for 10 children.
$750 provides 150 children weekend meals when school meals are not available.
$600 helps a survivor of human trafficking with 2 months of mental health counseling.
$500 provides a new twin mattress, frame, and bedding for a child.
$250 supplies diapers, wipes, and hygiene supplies for a mother and child for 1 month.
$100 feeds a family of 4 for 2 weeks from a food pantry.
$75 provides a laundry basket filled with cleaning and household products to a family transitioning to a new home.
Service Locations
Arcadia, Boca Grande, Bonita Springs, Bradenton, Clewiston, Fort Myers, Immokalee, Naples, North Port, Palmetto, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice, Wauchula
Programs & Services
Adult Education, Affordable Housing, After-School Programs, Anti-Human Trafficking Assistance & Housing, Case Management Services, Clothing Distribution, Counseling Services, Disaster Response & Recovery, Early Learning Centers, Career Development & Empowerment, English Classes, Farm Worker Housing, Financial Assistance, Food Assistance and Pantry, Supplemental Assistance Program (SNAP), HIV/AIDS Housing, HIV/AIDS Support Services, Home Buyer Education Class, Homeless Prevention, Housing Counseling & Foreclosure Prevention, Housing for Homeless Families, Immigration Services, Infant/Toddler Supplies, Rapid- Rehousing, Residential Program for Mothers & Children, Refugee Resettlement Services, Senior Housing, Senior Services, Soup Kitchen, Summer Youth Program, Transitional Housing, Youth Mentoring Program
