Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh will formally dedicate its new facility, located at 2013 North Raleigh Boulevard, on Thursday, November 20 at 4:00 p.m. The building will house the Catholic Parish Outreach (CPO) Food Pantry and Centro para Familias Hispanas (The Hispanic Family Center). The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Raleigh, will conduct the dedication with members of the agency's Board of Directors present.

This is the agency's second move in five years, due in large part to the increased number of clients for both services. Rick Miller-Haraway, Regional Director of Catholic Charities, said Catholic Parish Outreach has seen a thirty percent increase in clients so far this year and a ninety-four percent increase in the last five years. In 2007, CPO provided approximately 687 tons of groceries to an average of 4,540 people a month. That averaged out to 57,000 weeks of groceries. Each family is allowed one week's worth of groceries each month. The monthly figure increased this year with a record number of 6,303 people provided food in September.

CPO Director Terry Foley attributes the growing number of clients to a broad range of economic problems, including unemployment and medical expenses that are tapping into a family's limited income.

The space available in the new facility allows for the storage of more food supplies and houses a large 900-square foot combination walk-in freezer cooler that was donated by Amerisource Bergen Corporation.

In addition to the food pantry, Catholic Parish Outreach also provides children's clothing and maternity wear. "Many of the pregnant women who come to us have only one maternity outfit," said Foley. "Thanks to clothing donations from the community, we are able to provide them with several additional garments."

"Our response to the growing need of people in Wake, Franklin and Johnston Counties would not be possible," said Miller-Haraway, "without the generosity of our supporting organizations, monthly donations from parishes in the Raleigh-Wake County area and our more than 900 volunteers." The supporting organizations include the Food Shuttle, Food Bank, USDA TEFAP and the Diocese of Raleigh.

The expanded center of operation also accommodates the growing services provided by the Centro para Familias Hispanas. The center began in 1997 by providing disaster relief in the Hispanic community following the devastation of Hurricane Fran. It started with a half-time Director. Today, three full-time and three part-time staff provide a wide array of services to close to 12,000 people per year.

The Center offers crisis counseling, individual and family counseling, information and referral services, immigration services and case management services. As a partner agency with Wake County SmartStart, the Center serves families with pre-school aged children by providing developmental screenings, referrals to services for children with developmental delays, parent education and a book exchange program for pre-schoolers. The Center also partners with Wake Tech to provide ESL classes, GED classes in Spanish and computer training. In partnership with the Mexican Consulate and Wake Tech, the Center also offers literacy program for adults that enables a person to eventually earn a high school diploma. A summer camp and an after-school tutoring program are also offered for Hispanic children. The Center also collaborates with SAFEchild to provide a child abuse prevention program in Spanish called Crianza con Carino. The Center has experienced an increase in clients of 149% over the past two years.

"Without our presence," said Center Director Consuelo Kwee, many of these people would have no where to turn. They are so thankful that we are here to help them in this challenging time in their lives. They trust us."

All of the services provided by Catholic Parish Outreach and the Centro para Familias Hispanas are available to all people, regardless of creed.

In addition to Bishop Burbidge, other officials scheduled to speak are Vice Chair Betty Lou Ward, Wake County Board of Commissioners; Mayor Pro Tem Dr. James West, City of Raleigh; Executive Director Pam Dowdy, Wake County SmartStart; Dr. Ramon Rojano, Director of Wake County Human Services.