Catholic Charities gets grant funds for Basic Needs Program

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Wilmington has recently received grant funding totaling $50,000 for its Basic Needs Program, allowing it to continue providing service to those at risk of homelessness.

Comenity Bank awarded the program $20,000; DuPont Corporate Contributions gave $15,000, Citizens Bank Foundation provided $10,000, and TD Bank made available $5,000. Funding from DuPont and TD Bank helps residents throughout Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore meet rent, mortgage, or utility payments in arrears. Citizens Bank funding helps with energy payments, and Comenity Bank funding helps New Castle County families in need.

Richelle A. Vible, executive director of Catholic Charities, said, “The slow economic recovery has challenged many families, pushing many who have never asked for help to come to Catholic Charities for relief. We sincerely thank these businesses for their continued generosity and collaboration. As our economic recovery continues to fluctuate, we continue to see households struggling to maintain their economic self-sufficiency. This funding will not only help us provide residents throughout the diocese with funding to help with basic needs expenses, but also counseling and case management services to help prevent future economic crises.”

Today’s Basic Needs clients are overwhelmed with the current economy of decreased income due to job loss or loss of working hours contrasted with increased food, fuel, energy, healthcare, and housing costs. Clients receive financial coaching, learning new skills and perfecting others to create and maintain a household budget, find and obtain higher-paying employment, or discover additional sources of income, in addition to receiving a financial grant to pay rent, mortgage, or utility payments that are in arrears.

Those in need of assistance should call the Catholic Charities office in their county to make an appointment.

Catholic Charities, the charitable arm of the Diocese of Wilmington, has been serving those in need for more than 180 years and offers a wide range of services to strengthen families, care for children, assist the disadvantaged, and build human relationships throughout Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.