Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh: Helping residents for 115 years
Courtesy of Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh
Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh works within six counties, including Washington and Greene, providing programs and services to help individuals transform their lives.
“There are many ways life can trip people up. We run into hard times whether that’s a crisis pregnancy, job loss, a natural disaster or a chronic health condition,” said Marion Ahlers, chief reputation officer. “We provide the resources needed to help you move forward on a path toward dignity and stability.”
One of the newer programs at Catholic Charities is in Washington County, where the nonprofit is expanding its Gismondi Job Training Program.
“This is a free student program for hands-on training, and in a short time and a small cohort, individuals can learn the skills they need to be job ready in broadband communications,” Ahlers said. “These jobs are open and available right now because they are trying to shore up infrastructure in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The school gives people access to living wages and points them down a career path.”
Since establishing the program, Ahlers said they’ve experienced a healthy graduation rate and better yet, a healthy job placement rate.
“For some of these folks, it’s the first time ever they’ve been able to move into a full-time job with a living wage,” Ahlers said.
In Greene County, Rollercoaster, a youth program, is thriving.
“Teachers and counselors hand-pick elementary students who are dealing with transition. We’re talking about subjects (that are) even difficult for adults to manage like divorce and death,” Ahlers said. “The free program helps students learn coping mechanisms and tools to navigate these rougher waters.”
In a short time, students are able to cope and manage their emotions. It helps them focus on school and sets them on a path to positive things moving forward.
“This is very important to us because adults who come to us with a degree of unresolved trauma often struggle in the court system or have decades of unresolved pain. We’re hoping by catching this early, we have a positive impact on the community,” Ahlers said.
In every county Catholic Charities serves, they offer additional services ranging from basic needs assistance to pregnancy and parenting support services.
They also provide counseling services on a sliding fee scale for a variety of needs from anger management to couples counseling.
Ahlers said before coming to the human services world she had a lot of misperceptions.
“It’s embarrassing to confess, but I thought there would be one major issue that drove people to reach out for help, but it’s really holistic. Everything impacts everything else. If you don’t have steady work, you can’t make ends meet and then the mental and emotional toll that takes impacts the entire family and physical health. It’s a scary cycle to get caught in,” Ahlers said.
Catholic Charities is available to walk alongside those individuals and families to address each issue and find resources and resolutions to them.
“If you are in need, we welcome you with open arms regardless of your background or your past. We treat everyone with the care and respect you deserve and we’ll help directly but also connect you to others who can help too,” Ahlers said.
Visit https://www.ccpgh.org/ for more information.