CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF FRESNO

The Senior Companion Program provides Senior Companions (Volunteers 55 years of age and older) who provide assistance and companionship to home-bound seniors who have difficulty with their daily living tasks. The service companions provide help the elderly live independently in their own homes instead of moving into institutional care. Eligible Senior Companions earn a small tax-free stipend to cover the cost of serving. They also receive reimbursement for transportation, an annual physical examination, and supplemental accident and liability coverage while they are serving.

The CalFresh Healthy Living Program enables us to provide nutrition education, physical activity instruction and environmental support to our clients. These services provide both adults and children with the tools to be able to choose healthier foods and beverages within a limited budget, as well as choose more active lifestyles. Healthier diets and higher activity levels decrease the risk of chronic health-related diseases, including obesity. The CalFresh Healthy Living Program hosts monthly in-person nutrition classes as well as physical activity instruction including Zumba and Yoga. The CalFresh Healthy Living Program was instrumental in getting the Catholic Charities Food Pantry recognized by Leah’s Pantry as 1 of 12 Gold-Certified Food Pantries in California. To do this, we improved nutrition education and distribution, community engagement and increased the availability of healthy non-perishable foods.

The Catholic Charities Rural Outreach Program is vital in fulfilling the Catholic Charities mission to serve all those in need throughout the 8-county, 35,239 square miles of the Diocese of Fresno – especially those who cannot come to one of the brick and mortar sites. The Rural Outreach Program is focused on serving the most impoverished and food insecure areas of our Diocese. Through parish relationships, Catholic Charities has been able to build trust with migrant farm workers and low-income families living within these rural areas to execute targeted food distribution events. Using census data and a heat map (which highlights areas below 50% of adequate food distribution needs), Catholic parishes, churches and missions are identified whose communities are most vulnerable based upon population size, income and current food distribution available. The distinction of these events compared to others include both trust and culturally sensitive food items that are being distributed.

The CalFresh Program, also known as Food Stamps, can add to a family's food budget to provide healthy and nutritious food at home. Catholic Charities can help eligible clients apply for CalFresh benefits through a simple 15-minute application submission at any one of our three sites. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many people. It’s a period of financial insecurity for many who may have lost their jobs, been temporarily laid off, or are just struggling to get the necessary supplies. The CalFresh Program is an extremely valuable resource to help put food on the table at home.

Individuals and families in crisis can come to Catholic Charities to receive clothing. In Fresno, clients can receive vouchers redeemable for items in the Catholic Charities Thrift Store and in Merced, there is a clothing closet available with a wide variety of items and sizes to choose from.

Many families struggle to pay for food, rent, utilities and transportation. As a result, 1 in 3 families cannot afford diapers, which are not covered by the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to the National Diaper Bank Network, one baby goes through six to ten disposable diapers every day, which can cost $70-80 a month, per baby.

Catholic Charities has been blessed as 1 of 10 local Agencies who benefit from a $1 million diaper grant through the Central California Food Bank. Through this partnership, we’re able to provide diapers to families with children between the ages of 0-5 years of age every 30 days. Clients need to provide proof of identification for themselves, a form of identification for children, proof of address and proof of income.

Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid healthcare program. This program pays for a variety of medical services for children and adults with limited income and resources. Catholic Charities helps clients apply for Medi-Cal benefits regardless of sex, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability or veteran status. We have taken our efforts beyond enrolling clients in Medi-Cal and have revolutionized our program to be a full case management program that helps with any Medi-Cal-related inquiries. Aside from enrollments and renewals, our team acts as the Authorized Representative for our clients for the entirety of their case - giving us access to assist the clients with the phone interview, filling out and submitting paperwork, troubleshooting issues, making changes and updates to their case, transfers, helping clients find a primary doctor, helping clients with appeals, helping clients get their medical bills covered and more.

The Immigration Services Center at Catholic Charities can provide information, guidance and support on various types of affirmative immigration cases including Naturalization, Green Card Renewals, DACA, and U.S. Citizenship. Since inception in November of 2021, the program has assisted over 800 individuals from 39 different countries and helped 10 people obtain U.S. Citizenship.

The Disaster Relief Center at Catholic Charities is currently serving survivors of the January 2023 flooding in Merced County and the September 2020 Creek Fire in Fresno County. This program is focused on disaster case management that works alongside survivors of natural disasters to create a recovery plan while connecting them with available resources for an achievable and successful long-term recovery.