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Cabrini Mission Foundation, in collaboration with Cabrini Immigrant Services – NYC, have partnered with Community of Sant’Egidio, a global Christian movement of volunteer communities focused on service to the poor, have helped to distribute 400 meals weekly to the homeless population in New York City. Volunteers and supporters work in tandem to provide individuals in need with a hot meal, a friendly smile, and an opportunity for a long-term relationship.

To establish a meaningful connection with those who come for help, Sant’Egidio’s members exceed expectations, and accompany these individuals on apartment viewings and social security meetings, while following up on various social services. In addition to food resources, Sant’Egidio has partnered with Power in a Shower to provide mobile shower services to those who are in search of access to basic hygienic needs.

Cabrini Mission Foundation and Sant’Egidio, through this partnership, hope to inspire others to help their neighbors, and continue to spread teachings of healing to those in need, growing closer together in the process.

The program is an ongoing funded grant.

Hundreds of immigrant families have been bused to New York City from the southern border in recent weeks. They have been placed in all-purpose City shelters, and the influx has strained City resources.

To respond to the needs of our newest neighbors, five Cabrini institutions — The Cabrini Mission Foundation, St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, Cabrini of Westchester, Cabrini Immigrant Services New York and Cabrini Immigrant Services Dobbs Ferry – are collaborating in a manner in keeping with the spirit of Mother Cabrini.

Our immediate goal is to provide comprehensive support to 50 families in the coming weeks.

We have met with several newly-arrived families and identified the following urgent needs:
• Monthly NYC Metrocards (cost: $127 per parent) so refugees can access the services they need and look for work (a top priority for many of them);
• Basic personal hygiene items and PPE;
• Visa gift cards in units of $25 and $50. These allow families with zero income to purchase essential items that aren’t readily available from charitable centers;
• Case management services to support families in getting medical assistance, registering their kids for school, and finding jobs.
• Legal assistance to help families find out if they have a case for asylum, and education on their rights under U.S. law.

Mother Cabrini said, “Begin the mission and the means will come.” This collaborative project across Cabrini institutions has been seeded with a $10,000 grant. Its sustainability depends on your generosity. Matching gifts and donations will be accepted by each of the Cabrini-sponsored organizations. To the extent you are able, please contribute to continue Mother Cabrini’s mission to immigrants in need.

In a continued effort to respond with urgency to the individuals affected by natural disasters, Cabrini Mission Foundation, in collaboration with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Guadalupe Providence, has partnered with Water With Blessings, a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to providing clean drinking water, to assist those affected by the Appalachian floods in Perry County, Kentucky. The 100 filters donated will provide desperate mountain families and the elderly with access to safe, clean drinking water where the entire water system has been destroyed and offer financial relief from paying for bottled water, which may not be accessible.

It was a day to remember as Sisters, supporters and friends braved a record-breaking heat wave for a day full of laughter at the Cabrini Mission Foundation’s first-ever charity baseball event. Held just over the Hudson at the Staten Island FerryHawks Stadium, the event raised money in order to further the Foundation’s mission and come together to share a light-hearted day full of excitement.

Attendees enjoyed the game in comfort from a private box suite and all the stadium staples including hot dogs, popcorn, and more importantly, ice cold beer to beat the heat. Sisters and baseball enthusiasts cheered at each inning – even a fly ball was caught and cherished as a keepsake.

In all, the event was a ‘Home Run’!

Every day we seek to continue Mother Cabrini’s legacy and lifelong commitment to the dignity, development and empowerment of all people, especially during natural disasters, and to do so, our Foundation responds with urgency to provide immediate assistance to those in need. The devastation that has swept through Haiti following this month’s magnitude 7.2 earthquake has left thousands of people without basic necessities, food, housing and access to life-saving medical attention.

In order to help with relief efforts, our foundation, in collaboration with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Guadalupe Province, has donated $10,000 to the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), a century-old organization rooted in Catholic traditions and deeply committed to redressing health inequities for women and children worldwide, to assist in providing medical aid and more to the people of Haiti.

Within three hours of the quake, CMMB-Haiti allocated and shipped medicines to Les Cayes health facilities, sent two orthopedic surgeons and five anesthesiologists to the region to perform critical surgeries at Immaculate Conception Hospital in Les Cayes, distributed 20,000 water purification tablets to provide 100,000 gallons of potable water to people lacking safe drinking water, and provided food to families of those hospitalized, so they could care for their injured loved ones.

We are honored to help CMMB’s mission in helping the country, and we will continue to pray for the safety of all persons in Haiti as well as the CMMB staff.

Our Foundation responds with boldness and urgency to the unmet needs of the most vulnerable, especially when there are those in need in our own community. During the summer season, our team worked with Cabrini Immigrant Services’ NYC Food Pantry, and has been dedicated to supporting and feeding more than 200 families each week.

Whether it was lugging groceries up numerous flights of stairs or working as a team to fill the bags of food, our Sisters, staff, and volunteers worked tirelessly to provide meals for the disadvantaged. Though many of us come from different backgrounds, speak different languages or come from various parts of the world, we came together to “answer the call” for help, as Mother Cabrini did throughout her lifetime. 

As access to COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available, it brings hope the pandemic will soon ease its grip.  Our prayers continue for all who grapple with the virus, and we are optimistic here in New York, once the epicenter of COVID-19 cases in the United States, we can soon return to a sense of normalcy.

For our immigrant families, business interruptions and closures have meant a loss of jobs.  The lack of working hours over the last year have led to mounting debt.   When it comes to paying for food or rent, the choice is obvious.  In response to this COVID-19 driven crisis, the Cabrini Mission Foundation offers a rent assistance program for those most impacted.

To qualify, renters must have documented proof of a current lease, a letter from their landlord as well as recommendation from one of our immigrant services caseworkers or immigration attorneys. The current family benefit is $1,000 and Foundation checks go directly to the landlords to cover past due rent.

The Cabrini Mission Foundation has been able to assist 37 families to date with this program.

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