Arlington, Va., Sep 26, 2019 / 02:59 pm (CNA).- A Catholic group in Arlington, Virginia, is committed to helping homeless people, along with others down on their luck, by equipping them with the tools to find work and build careers.
In 2009, “Christians are Networking” (CAN) was launched by Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Arlington. The ministry began during the financial crisis, when unemployment was high, and those who had held steady careers were struggling to find work.
When the economy improved five years ago, CAN partnered with Christ House, a men’s homeless shelter in Alexandria, Virginia, to offer their services to people who have been living on the streets.
While the organization trains for resume-building, networking, interviewing, and computer skills, volunteer coordinator William Schuyler told CNA that the most important service has been helping participants believe in their own worth.
“The thing that we actually brought to the world was not so much that we could tell you how to write the perfect resume; it was that we reminded people of their value as a human being,” he said.
Christ House has enough space for 14 men at a time, and residents may stay in the house for up to one year. Men have their food, rent, and other necessities provided for them. They can also receive support to obtain identification papers.
The residents can also meet weekly with CAN to discuss career strategies like budgeting and networking. During the Wednesday night meeting, participants discuss progress and setbacks on the job hunt. Then, the job-seekers meets individually with volunteers.
Yvonne Horner, a volunteer coordinator for CAN, has been with the organization since it started at Christ House. With a background in human resources, she instructs clients on tax information and company benefits.
“When a man first enters Christ’s House, he will meet with the volunteers of CAN so they can find out a little bit of information, like education and work history. The volunteers also look to determine the clients’ interests and other areas of skills,” Horner told CNA.
“Then [we] talk a little bit about employment opportunities they might be interested in pursuing. We have a couple of volunteers who specialize in government work so they can help them navigate the government employment website.”
A major part of the program is helping men find a social support group.
Schuyler said that ideally the program will reconnect its clients to family members, like parents, children, and siblings.
The house will also encourage men to seek a community among themselves, he said.
“If [families ties are impossible], what we really tried to do is build ongoing relationships between the men at Christ House itself,” he said.
“Them bonding within the context of Christ … then what that seems to do is enable them to reconnect with other people.”
Through interactions with professionals and other job-seekers, the men are built up with encouragement, he explained.
“It’s important to remind people that they have value” in their dignity and in their work, Schuyler added.
“The organization needs you and it depends on you. Your colleagues are dependent upon you … if you do [your job] well, you are part of a thing that’s making an organization succeed.”
“If you think of only the [task] you’re doing, [like] the washing of the dishes, it’s pretty easy to think of yourself as not having value in this.” But, he said, “if you think of yourself as part of a team of people that are enabling people to have a delicious dinner, I think you can feel that you will have human value that’s worth it.”
Catholic News Agency spoke with Dorian Spring and Leon Brown, both of whom participated in the program recently. The men had been homeless, and either not working or underemployed. Now, they have promising careers.
Spring entered the program about six months ago, after his landlord sold his home, leaving him homeless. He had been working at a hotel for 15 years, he said, but there was no room to move upwards in the company.
“I was very stressed out and then basically abused,” he said, noting that he had been passed over for promotions despite his lengthy employment and good attendance.
“I had to find something else and I talk[ed] to the CAN group about it,” he said. “They help you make yourself better, like with your resume and [preparation] for interviews and how to present yourself in interviews,” he added.
After coming to Christ House, Spring discovered new approaches to pursuing a higher position in a company.
He is now working for Georgetown University Hotel Conference Center, where he has company benefits and an opportunity for a raise every six months.
Spring explained that because of his background in hotel work, CAN worked with him to discover the goals of his career. He expressed hope that he might eventually be promoted to hotel management. He said CAN also helped him discover skills in his current profession, which are reflected in other professions, like office work.
“They keep you motivated,” he said, noting that the house is always open for people to return for additional help.
“They were very good to me.”
Brown joined Christ House over nine months ago, with no housing and no job. Now, he is working as a dishwasher at Hen Quarters, a restaurant serving Southern comfort food in Alexandria. He cleans dishes, floors, and linens.
Brown said he feels like a valuable part of the team.
“[I] love it and I got a good team with me and they appreciate me and I appreciated them. So I thank CAN group for that,” he said. “The charity really helped us and it made a better me, and I’m just going to continue on getting better.”
Brown said CAN also helped him establish a Facebook profile and track down his son, whom he had not seen in about 15 years.
“I [have] pictures on Facebook – me and my son and my friends,” he said.
“My family, my workers and people who surround me, especially Christ house and CAN group, I appreciate each one of them.”
Both the men expressed gratitude for the job skills they’ve gained, but they also expressed appreciation for the community. One of their favorite aspects was the annual Christmas event. They said they had never experienced anything like it.
“Best Christmas I ever had,” said Brown.
“God is good all the time,” he said.
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Sadly, you had to figure that some trans-genders would attempt this.I agree with this Bishop that a DNA test should be required before admission to the seminary. In addition it would not hurt if our clergy at all levels would stop soft pedaling sexual sins, including homosexuality, sexual activity outside of marriage and transgenderism, to make the church position perfectly clear on these issues.And actually SAY something on these topics from the pulpit.
Our pope has surrounded himself with morally corrupt cardinals and priests. I wonder why 🤔
If only this same level of concern existed about excluding sodomites from seminaries. And why isn’t it?
The implication here is that there aren’t physical exams provided by physicians before admission to the seminary or religious life. Why would that ever be? We need to know the candidates are reasonably healthy. While unfamiliar myself with the reconstructive surgery provided by the artisans who do these work-ups I can’t believe they aren’t easily discernable as essentially cosmetic. And then of course there are the medications required by the patient-applicants to maintain the appearance of the assumed sex. Hormones are absolutely essential. Who would pay for them? How would they get them without being deduced? This bespeaks a lack of responsible analysis of candidates which obviously predates the Halloween party we presently endure. And then there is the long lauded psychological screening. What’s up there?
The irresponsibility exhibited in this turn of events is criminal. Is there no man in any ecclesiastical position who can find their way out of a paper bag?
Well stated, James. I strongly suspect there is willful cooperation on the part of someone in the admission process … an examining physician and/or psychologist, or, God forbid, a vocation director. and, yes, it all points to incompetence of the authorities. They didn’t see this coming?
Things keep on getting sickeningly worse in this Roman Catholic Church of ours. The malodorous stench of Satan is very much present. Who will see to it that the Church is rid of Satan?
The edifice is his.
At least ten states have passed laws allowing people to change their gender/sex identity on their birth certificates. Pretty soon, they will figure out a way to fool the DNA tests. Authenticity has gone the way of horse-drawn carriages, especially now that animal waste is threatening our climate.
A DNA test would do the trick. XY equals male, XX equals female.
Rearranging the furniture does not change the DNA.
It is simpler than that. If Y is present, male. If Y is absent, female. There are rare cases of abnormal karyotype (XO, XXY, XYY, etc) but the presence of Y is determinative. In re: a previous comment, it is straightforward to make this determination unequivocally.
We’ve gone past disgrace and betrayal. We’ve now entered full mockery.
When presented with REAL science and data via the y chromosome, they will cry discrimination.
Because it’s not about the truth. It’s about pretending trans people are normal and just like you and me.
Simple fix for this”problem”: allow female entrance into ordination.
Nancy, that will never happen. Priests will only be men because Christ was a man and designed His church that way. It’s not a church law, but a divine law. The church can’t change it the way they could change, say, determining the date of a saint’s feast day. And even if they could, it wouldn’t solve the problem. We are born male or female at birth because that is how God designed our soul. Pretending otherwise is living a lie.