From NC Catholics WILMINGTON – The Cape Fear Regional Office of Catholic Charities recently moved into a new 6,000 square-foot space on Highway 421. About half of the facility, which is leased, is warehouse space. The other half includes rooms for office work, a client-choice food pantry and a food prep area with walk-in refrigeration, freezers and food packing space. The grand opening and blessing took place March 8 and drew donors, community partners, employees… Read More
The sun shone bright while a chilly breeze blew through the air Monday afternoon when Mr. Charles Bennett, a Hurricane Florence survivor, received the keys to his replacement mobile home. Bennett had been waiting over four years for this moment. The day was the culmination of work among various partner agencies still committed to long term recovery operations in response to Hurricane Florence. Family, friends, and the community partners who made this possible gathered for… Read More
In the United States, 76 million individuals are enrolled in a Medicaid health care plan which provides health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults, and people with disabilities. Beginning in 2022, a pilot program began in three areas of North Carolina to test providing expanded services to improve health outcomes of Medicaid Beneficiaries through the Healthy Opportunities Pilot. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “The Healthy… Read More
“Charity is putting our faith into practice; it is an expression of how we live our faith.” The 10th Annual Catholic Charities Gala was a resounding success! Hosted at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley, there were 275 guests in attendance, with others joining the festivities online. To celebrate over a decade of Catholic Charities Galas, over $260,000 was raised. These funds will be used to support the Disaster, Immigration Legal, Family Advancement, and Food Pantry… Read More
At the Catholic Charities offices of the Raleigh, Cape Fear and Tar River Regions, staff and volunteers worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to ensured that dozens of families are able to enjoy the holiday season, through the “Wrapped with Love” Christmas Program. This year has been very difficult for many families. Sharing gifts, despite the new restrictions that limit the organization of large gathering of people in one place, would provide some much… Read More
Providing help, creating hope, serving all. This is the tag line for Catholic Charities. It is also an appropriate description of how Mrs. Patricia Gutierrez Tootoo works in the community. Due to her incredible commitment to others, Tootoo was recently nominated to receive the 2020 Impact Award. The annual Impact Award is organized by the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc. and New Hanover County Domestic Violence Advocacy Council (DVAC), in collaboration with the Pullman… Read More
Recently, StarNews Media and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce released their annual 40 under 40 list. This year, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh is excited that our Regional Director for the Cape Fear Office, Ms. Emilie Hart, was included on this list. Following this recognition, we sat down with a few of Hart’s coworkers and community partners to learn more about why she was a good candidate for inclusion on this list. In… Read More
Catholic Charities Cape Fear Regional staff typically distribute food from the food pantry located in their downtown Wilmington office. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, as with many things, the food pantry was forced to adapt. In order to better serve the community, food distribution has gone mobile, reaching remote communities facing major shortages of food. “Historically, we had taken food and other supplies out to communities following disasters such as Hurricane Matthew and… Read More
*Client name changed to protect their privacy in this story. In September of 2018, Hurricane Florence ravaged Renee’s home of 20 years. The storm tore her home apart, causing the ceiling to cave in and floodwaters to rise through the floors. Devastated as she was, this is the home she shared with her late husband and Renee refused to abandon it – she worked hard to salvage what she could. By the time Renee reached… Read More
The Catholic Charities Cape Fear Regional Office food pantry is undergoing a special type of makeover this month focused on improving the food that is distributed. “Health and poverty are inextricably linked,” shared Emilie Hart, Cape Fear Regional Director. “We see the snowball effects of this every day.” Food insecurity is a key factor in chronic diseases. At Catholic Charities, 37% of the clients served have someone in their household with diabetes and 69% have… Read More
