Supplements

current ISSUE

diocesan agencies receive grants from catholic extension

Catholic Extension announced it will award $50,000 to support the Daystar Community Center and the Holy Angels Shelter in the Diocese of Belleville to continue to serve southern Illinois’ growing needy and homeless populations. In light of rising costs of goods and services, declining contributions from other sources and state budget cuts, Catholic Extension awarded grants of $25,000 each to the two organizations to purchase food and supplies and cover operational expenses.

Founded by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in 1979, Daystar serves the people from the six southernmost counties of Illinois, and bordering counties in Kentucky and Missouri. The number of people seeking help is currently the greatest in Daystar’s history. The Kitchen Table, Daystar’s soup kitchen, received upwards of 200 visitors each day, and its mobile food pantry delivers food to hundreds of Cairo’s elderly and homebound annually. Daystar also provides shelter, clothing and financial assistance, as well as crisis intervention and advocacy services.

Since 1984, Holy Angels Shelter, a ministry of Catholic Urban Programs and the only 24-hour transitional Christian shelter in East St. Louis, has provided emergency food, clothes and shelter to single women and children, as well as intact families. Holy Angels’ supportive services include domestic violence intervention, substance abuse counseling, healthcare, childcare and financial planning assistance designed to stabilize clients’ lives and help them successfully re-renter society.

Judy Phillips of the Diocese of Belleville’s Office of Development commented “We are home to the poorest of the poor in Illinois. So many of our programs to aid the needy would disappear were it not for help from Catholic Extension; we are so grateful for their continued support.”