Catholic Charities Gainesville

July Newsletter

2011-07-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

Our long awaited newsletter has finally arrived! Please take the time to sign up for it at our website if you haven't already done so.The newsletter will be used to update you on all that's happening here at Catholic Charities Gainesville. Remember to let your friends and family know so we can share the word about Compassion in Action!

Here's a preview of what to expect:

Weekend Hunger Backpack Program
New fridge and freezer
Nationwide and Microsoft updates
Annual Breakfast
Celebrate Adoption Dinner

Friday is right around the corner, we hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Help students by donating school supplies

2011-07-07T13:13:00.000-04:00

The new school year is rapidly approaching and school supplies are starting to appear on the store shelves. Educators agree that success in school starts with having the proper equipment. There are several children living in our rural communities who need your help to start the school year school right. The FAITTH outreach program is asking for your help. If you would like to help guide a child’s path to a brighter future please bring any new or gently use backpacks and any other school supplies to Catholic Charities or your local Parish. If you would prefer Catholic Charities will do the shopping for you, a donation of $15.00 will purchase a complete set of supplies for one child. Thank you!

United Way Grant

2011-06-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

Today we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to United Way and their Community Investment Committee for granting $60,000 to Catholic Charities Gainesville. This grant will enable us to help strengthen children and families and meet immediate needs of seniors and families in crisis.

Catholic Charities Gainesville is a United Way Impact Partner. Partners received gifts and grants which totaled $2.3 million from United Way this year. The grants were awarded in two categories: Strengthening Children and Families and Meeting Immediate Human Needs.

Our grant will be dispersed to help these programs:

Rural Mobile Food Distribution $22,500
Emergency Assistance $15,000
Food Pantry and Clothing Distribution $22,500

Did You Know?

2011-06-09T14:20:00.002-04:00

Here at Catholic Charities Gainesville, our food pantry includes a fridge and freezer. These enormous coolers allow us to provide frozen food from the USDA and Bread of the Mighty. Our fridge usually holds donated produce, fruit and dairy products.

Currently, our fridge is stocked with:

Tomatoes (donated from a local farm)
Blueberries (donated from a local farm)
Eggs
Refrigerated food from Bread of the Mighty.

Upcoming Events

2011-06-09T11:17:00.002-04:00

Summer has arrived! Here's what we'll be up to:

CANS FOR CHRIST! St. Augustine Church is trying to collect 2,500 cans of food during June for a Cantastic Can Building Contest. Bring in your cans anytime during the week or to Mass. Come join in on the fun Sunday 6/26 at 10:30 a.m. The cans will be donated to the Catholic Charities Food Pantry.
Annual Pancake Breakfast This delicious event will take place August 31 at Trinity Methodist Church. We encourage everyone to consider making plans on attending. It will be a great opportunity to meet the board and learn about all the exciting things we're doing at Catholic Charities!

Our Facebook page now has a new url: www.facebook.com/CatholicCharitiesGainesville.
If you haven't already, please take the time to "Like" our page!

Granting Hope Luncheon and Sister Marlene's Golden Jubilee

2011-05-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

Karen Slevin (left) and Carrie Lee

Today we'd like to extend our thanks to the Women's Giving Circle for its gracious donation and for presenting Karen Slevin, COO/Executive Director of Catholic Charities Gainesville, the 2011 Economic Empowerment Recipient award.

Sister Marlene (left) and Karen Slevin

We would also like to congratulate Sister Marlene on her 50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee) of devoting her services to the church and to the Lord.

Hope everyone is having a great day. God Bless.

We're back!

2011-05-25T13:17:00.001-04:00

our new building

After a long hiatus, Catholic Charities Gainesville has finally returned to the blogosphere. We're looking forward to updating everyone on what we have been up to, what we plan to do and everything in between.

For those who are just tuning in to this page, Catholic Charities Gainesville is a non profit organization that provides a number of services and programs for anyone in need within Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy and Union Counties in the state of Florida. Did you know, 95 percent of the people we serve are not Catholic? We strive to reach out to anyone in need of a helping hand. Last year, our two food pantries were able to serve 25,000 individuals.

We encourage everyone to follow us here and on Facebook to get the latest information on upcoming events and information!

Closer and closer to move in time!!

2010-09-13T14:35:00.000-04:00

It's been almost a month since our last post! Time flies when it's hot and humid outside :)

Check out how great the building looks; they are adding locks to the inside doors today and they finished the sidewalk this morning!

The changes over two weeks

2010-08-18T16:31:00.000-04:00

I have been on vacation and I returned to work this week. The construction progress has been amazing. Here is what the outside looks like today.

Brick Facade

2010-07-26T11:47:00.001-04:00

The client service center is looking more like the artistic renderings everyday!

Money Smarts

2010-07-21T12:10:00.001-04:00

This week Catholic Charities, The Library Partnership, Capitol City Bank and Big Brothers Big Sisters team taught a 5 day, 10 hour Money Smart course. Participants learned about budgeting, shopping with coupons and bank products. The response to the class definitely indicates that there is a need to continue to offer the course periodically. Catholic Charities hopes to host this series again in the Fall and utilize the media equipment sponsored by the Women's Giving Circle.

Window Day

2010-07-20T09:27:00.002-04:00

Today looks like a day for windows!!!

Window Frames

2010-07-16T09:51:00.001-04:00

I took a picture of our very pretty roof!

Check out the window frames that have been installed this week.

Catholic Charities Stud Signing Event Photo Show

2010-07-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

Gainesville Sun Photo Gallery

2010-07-12T17:40:00.000-04:00

Today's paper had a couple of our photos on the front of the Local section. Click here to see the full gallery.

The three amigos and Charlie

2010-07-11T14:35:00.001-04:00

This is our 3 o'clock greeting team. The rain is slowing down the traffic.

Duct, duct...

2010-07-09T14:58:00.002-04:00

We took a peak inside to see all the progress. This shows the insulation and duct work. Thank you Fields Mechanical Services for the A/C system!

Come to the open house on Sunday from noon to 4 to see everything that has been happening and to write your well-wishes on a stud. We have ice cream and the fans will be blowing!

Our Freezer and Refrigerator's Twin

2010-06-29T15:44:00.002-04:00

Larry took me on a field trip today to see what our refrigerator and freezer will look like. They are HUGE! Thank you to the Gainesville Rotary Club Sunrise for sponsoring our freezer!!! Anybody want to sponsor the other half of the duo?

Cupola Progress and the beginning of a window!

2010-06-28T10:33:00.003-04:00

This is the first window frame!

The stucco was put on the cupola. This is what color the whole building will be.

A look inside Part 1

2010-06-17T14:19:00.001-04:00

Karen took a few of us on a tour of the inside of the building. This is a special treat because the workers are usually hustling and we don't want to get in the way.

It was an exciting experience to stand inside our new home. I stood in the place where our walk-in freezer will go and in the media room that will be the place for our board meetings. At that moment it was easy to envision how much better we will be able to serve the community.

I hope that all of you will come on July 11th (noon to 4) for the stud signing event so you can experience the same feeling I have right now.

Roof tar paper?

2010-06-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

So they put up some black paper on the roof. I understand that this called tar paper but this doesn't look sticky.

Roof! Roof!

2010-06-07T12:58:00.000-04:00

Wow! Today they are putting the plywood up for the roof. I know the workers will be excited to have somewhere to go when the afternoon rain passes through. We are excited because this is helping construction stay on schedule.

Trusses and Roof

2010-06-04T13:59:00.000-04:00

Lots of progress this week. The trusses are up. They are working hard on the roof so these afternoon rains won't stop the work.

Rotary Club of Gainesville Sunrise Check Presentation

2010-05-27T10:38:00.003-04:00

This morning, Karen Slevin, Chief Operating Officer of Catholic Charities, visited the Rotary Club of Gainesville Sunrise to share with them our mission to help the Gainesville community. The Rotarians were very excited about Catholic Charities and many hope to join us for the frame stud signing event in July.

This photo is of President Al Cockrell presenting a check to Catholic Charities for the purchase of a commercial-grade freezer. This freezer will enable Catholic Charities to provide better quality food to our clients. The freezer will enable us to purchase frozen meats from USDA and Bread of the Mighty. Frozen meat is much lower in sodium than canned meats and many of our clients struggle with high blood pressure so a diet high in sodium is a health hazard.

Thank you Rotary!

2010-05-26T10:14:00.000-04:00

Here is the skeleton of our cupola!
According to Wikipedia, "in architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like structure, on top of a building.[ 1] Often Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.[ 2][ 3] The it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. "

I know that ours is going to shine light on everyone that comes to us for help.

Taking Shape

2010-05-24T16:05:00.000-04:00

I rode around the entire building today just take it all in! This process has been like watching a plant grow in my garden where every time I look it becomes more and more like the photos!

Beams are UP!

2010-05-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

The roof is taking form! It is getting hot out there so I think the workers are trying to make a little shade.

Looking like a building

2010-05-21T11:27:00.000-04:00

I arrived a work today to see the tremendous progress made. At our board meeting last night, Milito Zapata told me that a good mason can lay 400 bricks a day! Milito is co-chair of the construction committee and he said the building is on schedule to have a roof before the summer rain season starts!!!! This means the electricians and plumbers won't have to stop at 2:00 every day.

Walls are going Up

2010-05-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

I got to work today and saw that the walls are going up!!! We have two corners and lots of support beams up right now.

Concrete Day

2010-05-18T11:45:00.005-04:00

The concrete is being poured today! It is awesome to watch it all being smoothed with those hover-crafted looking machines. I hope they let us have a dance party when it dries ;) Click here for video.

Underpinning

2010-05-17T09:46:00.003-04:00

"I probably shouldn’t admit this, but watching the new construction has become one of my favorite things to do. The constant movement of the workers as each step builds on the other is just fascinating. For the last week Joyner has been preparing the ground to pour the foundation on Monday. As I’ve been watching the preparations I had been struck by how much work goes into the foundation of any thing that you want to be strong. The base is now covered with steel bars, held up with small pieces so the bars will be in the middle of the foundation giving our building great strength. I’m sure there are technical terms, but for me they are the underpinnings of our future. It’s a powerful reminder that all of our foundations in life need underpinnings, faith, love, prayer, family, and friends. We want to be sure we don’t build on sand (even though there’s a lot of it here in Florida) we want our foundations to be underpinned with things that will stand the storm and the test of time." - Karen Slevin, Catholic Charities COO

Cooking Class

2010-05-14T14:25:00.002-04:00

Jackie gave a cooking class today! She had a full house and everyone had a great time. I know I ate way too much but I am excited to see what she will be able to do in the new training room :) Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Gainesville Post Office Food Drive 2010

2010-05-10T16:39:00.001-04:00

Watch this video of the Post Office food drive food being unloaded and stored in the office. We received 7.5 tons! A comment heard all day was how much easier this project will be next year when we have a warehouse!

Above Ground

2010-04-27T10:35:00.005-04:00

Today we can see our building just peeking out of the ground!

Ground Blessing Ceremony

2010-04-24T11:53:00.004-04:00

Here is a photo from our beautiful Ground Blessing Ceremony. To see the YouTube video with more photos click here

Foundation

2010-04-23T12:21:00.001-04:00

Those trenches are for the foundation!

Gainesville Jaycees Check Presentation

2010-04-22T20:06:00.008-04:00

The Gainesville Jaycees presented Catholic Charities with a check for $5,000 and pledged another $5,000 toward our client service center!

The Sidewalk to Nowhere

2010-04-19T12:23:00.001-04:00

Only in Gainesville do sidewalks lead to nothing. I think they installed it so we would have a safe place to gawk at the construction progress. Come join us anytime!

Unseen Support

2010-04-15T15:00:00.005-04:00

This is below our client services center and it collects water so we don't float away! To me this symbolizes the many "unseen" heros of Catholic Charities. Whether it be the volunteers that come in every week to stock the pantry or the staff members that come with such full hearts every day. I am thankful that all of these people keep us from "floating away". - Alee Gunderson, Development Coordinator

Level Field

2010-04-09T11:14:00.001-04:00

It is always amazing to me how big a space can see once all the debris is cleared away and the ground is level.

More soil

2010-03-31T16:48:00.001-04:00

I don't know what kind of soil this is but these are really HUGE dump trucks! They tell me it is fill dirt to make the site very level.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

2010-03-23T16:00:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday, March 23rd, we held an intimate groundbreaking ceremony with representatives from our construction team and some members of the Board of Directors. In this photo from left to right: Chuck Austin (Joyner Construction, Inc.), Sharon Breitinger, Bob Rose, Jay Reeves (Jay Reeves & Associates Inc.), Steve Kay (President of the Board of Directors), Karen Slevin (Executive Director), Father Roland Julien, John Cousins, Joe Kemker, Arlene Huszar, Ray Milligan and Milito Zapata.

Several staff members also came to celebrate this exciting occasion.

We are looking forward to a community-wide celebration in June.

Big Changes

2010-03-18T12:00:00.001-04:00

Karen Slevin took this photo on March 18th. What a big changes from the stand of pine trees that was there!

Construction Begins!

2010-03-16T15:02:00.002-04:00

On March 16, Joyner Construction put up our sign announcing the beginning of construction for the new client service center.