Catholic Charities

Friends, At this time of great worry and uncertainty for us all, we sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are in good health.

At Catholic Charities, we are following government advice and have put strict measures in place to protect our staff and everybody they come into contact with.

As a charity that exists to protect and care for people, we are continuing to reach out to people right where they are and doing all we can to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on their health and well-being.

• Our Children’s Learning Center is working with CYFD to provide top-quality childcare for parents who are emergency workers. Director Diane Lozano regularly speaks with representatives from CYFD to ensure that the center is maintaining the most current regulations for cleanliness and safety. Our incredible CLC teachers continue to work with children every day, providing absolutely essential care through this crisis.

• Like thousands of teachers across the country, our adult education teachers made miracles happen by changing from a classroom-based to a webbased curriculum in a matter of days. They’ve been working with students to make sure everyone had the materials they needed to continue getting the quality education experience they’re used to having in our building, while remaining safe and healthy at home. Student Gloria Chaverria said, “I cannot believe how good I feel, especially when Carlos explain[s] online class and I understand linear functions!¨

• Our Mobile Food Pantry was available to safely provide food to our community on March 27. Volunteers wore gloves and masks to sort and hand out food, and the pick-up process was adapted from a line of people to a line of cars in order to ensure distance recommendations were followed between everyone involved.

• The Senior Transportation Program has limited the rides it is providing to only necessary medical appointments. However, Volunteer Coordinator Cathy Aragon-Marquez continues to reach out to all our senior riders and drivers to ensure they are doing well and are connected with the resources they need.

• In Refugee Services, Program Coordinator Sarah Azibo is dropping off homework packets at the houses of each student and making incentives to send back pictures proving they have been working on it. She is working to get Zoom video conferencing software to keep meeting online. Programmatic Outreach Liaison Carolina Romero also continues to make sure underrepresented populations understand the importance of responding to the 2020 Census.

• The Housing and Self-Sufficiency team are still meeting vulnerable clients, but making in person visits only when absolutely necessary and maintaining necessary health precautions during visits. We are so grateful that they continue to work on the front lines to support clients who are extremely vulnerable and need to access housing immediately.

Our priorities have been and continue to be the health and safety of our staff, volunteers and the community members we work with every day, and we’ve pooled resources of time and funds from every corner of our organization to make that happen. As with any unforeseen event, however, these new interventions will place a considerable strain on our resources for the near future.

If you’ve already supported our COVID-19 Relief Fund, THANK YOU! Please help us spread the word of our work and continued

need by passing along this message or finding us on our Facebook page. If you haven’t had a chance to donate, please consider helping us continue serving people through this incredibly difficult period by clicking here to donate now. Now, perhaps more than usual, we are counting on you.

We have a special appreciation for every donor, parishioner, reader, any anyone else who holds Catholic Charities in their heart and mind. This pandemic has highlighted the brilliant resilience of our communities and the strength we hold in our capacity for empathy and altruism. We are strong because every individual our community shows up each day with grace and tenacity to work together through this crisis. Thanks to you, we continue to believe in the power of putting faith into action to improve the lives of those in need.

With our gratitude and very best wishes for your health and safety, The Catholic Charities Team

Website Gets an Update

In order to provide easy access to resources for our clients, staff and community, the communications team has been hard at work updating the website this week. Check it out yourself and refer anyone who might be looking for more information about the services available to help people through this difficult time. The updated site includes information about COVID-19 in eight different languages, and the Google Translate feature helps translate our entire page so it is accessible to everyone. You can also find resources from the state and city, information about school, food assistance, housing and legal resources, and unemployment and tax information along with dozens of other links on our Coronavirus Resources Page. Learn more at www.ccasfnm.org

International Club Adapts to School Closures

Catholic Charities International Club at Van Buren was just starting to hit its stride when the coronavirus outbreak caused things to grind to an unexpected halt. However, within a matter of hours Program Manager Sarah Azibo had developed a plan create and deliver “Education Bundles” to students’ homes. Director of Community Involvement Kathy Freeze collected school supplies, which were bundled into packages for students along with a menu of lessons for them to select from based on their interests, skills and grade level. Education bundles were delivered to 15 students’ doorsteps (at a socially-safe distance) with a challenge to complete five lessons within a week’s time to have their family entered into a raffle for a gift card.

When lessons were delivered on March 25 th and the work from the previous week was collected, nearly every student shared a piece that showed their heritage. Two students shared their mom’s delicious recipe for birani rice, others drew pictures of traditional clothing worn by women in their countries and one student wrote of how she needed to work to get drinking water in Ghana – and how different that is from a drinking fountain. Word is spreading of the education bundle deliveries and Sarah continues to receive requests to expand the program to serve others beyond the International Club. We’re working to bridge the digital divide that limits access for these families to the lessons available on the APS website and other learning sources. In the meantime, deliveries of education bundles will continue through wind, rain and COVID-19 for as long as possible.

Mr. Andres A. Benavidez, Sr. and Miss Annabelle Griego were joined in holy matrimony on April 4, 2020 at San Isidro Catholic Church in Las Nutrias, New Mexico; they are now parishioners at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Albuquerque.

Andres was born and raised in Casa Colorado, New Mexico. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and reached the rank of NonCommissioned Officer in the Air Intelligence Unit RAF, Alconbury, England. He went on to graduate from New Mexico Highlands University with a Bachelor of Arts, and then completed his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington. Andres has been practicing law in New Mexico for over 44 years. Annabelle was born and raised in Las Nutrias. She was a hairstylist for several years as well as working for the University of Washington, UNM Cultural Awareness Center, University of Albuquerque Placement Center, National Indian Council on Aging, Albuquerque Public, and the Veterans Credit Union. The last 30 years, she has been a paralegal and office manager for AAB Law Center. The highlight of Andres and Annabelle’s lives are their family, which they spoil with love, attention, and home cooked meals. They have three sons: Andres A. Benavidez, Jr., wife Erin Wise Benavidez; Mario S. Benavidez, wife Angelica Ortega Benavidez; Santiago I. Benavidez, wife Shayla Diesel Benavidez. They also have five grandchildren: Mario, Alia, Artista, Andres III, and Mateo.