Catholic Charities in Springfield, Massachusetts, is welcoming a new executive director – one hoping to find ways to collaborate in the wake of federal grant dollars for refugee programming being pulled.
For years, the Catholic Charities Agency of Springfield has been a source of support for locals across the Pioneer Valley and Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. Whether it’s individuals, families or parishes, the agency’s assisted thousands over the years with its services – including one of the area’s refugee resettlement programs.
However, that programming recently came to an end after the diocese learned $600,000 in federal grant funds supporting it was being yanked, leading to five employees being laid off.
Now helping navigate the aftermath is the agency’s new executive director, Shaina Rodriguez – introduced at a press conference Tuesday by the diocese.
“Overall, we had 83 cases. We had 13 families still living in temporary housing, which we are working to find some permanent, stable housing for - … we are working with Jewish Family Services to make sure that we stabilize them,” Rodriguez told reporters.
Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts is another organization in the immediate area still offering such services. According to The Republican, it too was hit by the grant cut – said to have lost “$500,000 in expected federal funding” as well, which also led to similar layoffs.
New leadership amid "re-visioning"
For Rodriguez, her new role will involve overseeing a small team that helps facilitate services across western Massachusetts. Before her, Joan Paris served in the interim, filling the role for several months following the departure of longtime director Kathryn Buckley-Brawner.
A native of New York City and product of Catholic education, Rodriguez’s resumé includes 15 years of nonprofit experience, the diocese says, including work involving behavioral health and housing – two areas she hopes to help expand into as the organization retools its offerings, post-federal grant cut.
“[The loss of grant funds] has forced us to look and to expand - to address mental health, food insecurity, housing insecurity, housing affordability - and we are really looking to the community to identify what their specific needs are, and we will make a determination as how we move forward, based on the needs of those that we need to serve,” she said.
The new focuses, and addition of Rodriguez, follow a “re-visioning” of the Diocese’s outreach ministry, says Bishop William Byrne, who adds the federal cutbacks didn’t help matters.
“Even before these changes, we had undertaken a complete and thorough review of the mission of Catholic Charities, speaking with all of our partners, all of our stakeholders across the diocese - both within the church and within our civil colleagues,” he said. “And so it is that we emerged with three pillars that we see as we move forward - mental health services, food insecurity and housing insecurity.”
“So, let me be clear, we remain committed to helping all in need, not just here in Springfield, but across Western Massachusetts,” he added.
Byrne emphasized that even with federal dollars gone, commitments to the refugee families who were being helped will be honored, and that the diocese is “committed to making sure that we do what is right for them.”
Early goals: meet the parishes, explore potential partnerships
As for Rodriguez, the new executive director says she hopes to get out to some of the almost 80 parishes that make up the diocese spanning Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.
Her early priorities include strengthening its food pantry network and tackling one of the aforementioned pillars – mental health services – exploring how best to offer support, including, potentially, partnerships with mental health-focused organizations.
She emphasized that as other federal grants and programs are slashed or frozen – partnerships of all kinds are going to be vital.
“There is a need for banding together and collaboration - in the nonprofit space, when funding is not secure, it's not strong, we really need to be able to work together,” she says. “I'm of the mind that if you want to go somewhere quick, you go by yourself. If you want to go far, you go together.”
