Catholic Charities

"Catholic Charities is registering new clients at its four pantries; about 130 at two pantries over just a few months. In 2008, more than 50 percent of those who received basic assistance from us were children, and of the 160,000 who benefited from all of our services across Western New York, 60 percent of them were children and seniors, two vulnerable groups.

While on one hand, this year more working poor and more younger to middle-aged, unemployed people are asking for help who have never had to before, on the other hand, Catholic Charities typically serves families and individuals who are chronically poor - non-homeowners who live from paycheck to paycheck if they have a job, and have gone through the effects of a long decline in the WNY region.

Catholic Charities strives to continue providing much-needed basic assistance, as well as more comprehensive counseling and mental health services for individuals, children and families, preventive programs, adoption and foster care, anti-domestic violence programming, education and job training, and services for seniors, in the face of some of the 85-year agency's toughest economic times."