STOCKTON, Calif. — As the pandemic continues, things are only getting tighter moneywise for people across California. It’s also squeezing the non-profits that work to provide support.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Stockton serves a wide area including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Alpine, and Mono counties. Elvira Ramirez, Executive Director, says calls for help are increasing rapidly.
“Things are getting more difficult for people and therefore we have started to receive many more calls for assistance," Ramirez said.
Ramirez said there was a spike in calls during November, many of which had to do with a program to provide one-time assistance to agricultural workers. Thanks to CARES funds from the city of Stockton, Catholic Charities was able to provide $1,000 grants to 95 households. Most callers were worried about paying their rent.
“Families, even with the need for food and other basic needs seem to be most concerned about not losing their housing,” Ramirez said.
That program is over, but another has taken its place.
“We have other funds that we are only allocating $500 per family," Ramirez said. "But they don't need to be agricultural workers. They can be anyone, whether they're restaurant workers, people that were laid off from construction, or we see a lot of housekeeping housekeeper type of jobs. People that were already living on the edge are living paycheck-to-paycheck and need just some assistance to meet their basic needs.”
Applications are being taken now, and Ramirez expects that program to run out of funds in mid-January 2021. Beyond that, they’ll keep looking for new ways to assist those in need while pointing people to resources like food banks, along with their programs for veterans and seniors, and to other groups who can help.
“Right now, it really is about non-profits working together to say ‘how can you help these families?’ and we’re referring to one another,” Ramirez said. “We noticed that one family can have multiple needs. It's not that we're trying to do everything, it's that we're trying to be able to help one family with several of their needs. And when we are not able to provide for their other needs, then we do connect with our community partners.”
To find out how to get assistance, volunteer, or to offer support, Ramirez says to call or contact them through their website. Here at ABC10, we stand for you. We’ve built resource guides that we hope will help find even more resources in your community.
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