FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2024
Contact: Santino R. Thomas
(518) 949-4809 | [email protected]
Recently awarded Review Foundation grant ensures continued services by Pathways to Health and Housing.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Recently, St. Catherine’s Center for Children was awarded a $7,500 grant – by the Review Foundation – to support the agency’s Pathways to Health and Housing program. This grant is given to organizations that improve the quality of life in the Capital Region, with emphasis on health, education, social services and the arts.
These funds will enable the Pathways to Health and Housing program to continue direct outreach and engagement in the community. With its “Care-A-Van” mobile unit, the Pathways team can set up on the street, in parking lots and anywhere necessary to meet with individuals and families in need. The team connects those in need with services and resources they may not otherwise seek out on their own. Pathways offers case management and additional services to address the many social determinants of health that have a significant impact on clients’ lives.
“Our work does not just happen when a situation becomes acute in the emergency room or a police station,” said Michele Puleo O’Hare, executive director of The Foundation of St. Catherine’s Center for Children. “Pathways is on the streets, in parking lots, and wherever there is a need for the most vulnerable before they reach a critical point. Our dedicated staff meets each person where they are, both physically and mentally. We are extremely grateful to the Review Foundation for this generous contribution in support of these efforts.”
St. Catherine’s Pathways program serves community members by linking them with local resources to improve their overall well-being. Examples of services offered include enrolling and connecting individuals to healthcare services, assisting with transportation to medical appointments, and filling prescriptions. In addition, the program’s Care-A-Van meets individuals in the community to disperse immediate food items, diapers, hygiene products, basic clothing needs, health literacy information and more.
In January of 2021, the Albany Police Department alerted program staff to an individual sleeping on a park bench, during sub-zero temperatures. The Pathways team placed the individual in a hotel for the weekend while they connected him with a primary care physician in order to resume needed medication. St. Catherine’s Project HOST program was then able to help the individual secure an apartment where he has remained permanently housed and is now thriving.
St. Catherine’s Pathways to Health and Housing is at the heart of its mission to offer hope, foster growth, and improve the lives of those it serves. Through Pathways, St. Catherine’s is able to build relationships with constituents to build a bridge of trust, compassion, and respect for each individual.
The willingness of St. Catherine’s Center for Children to embrace change and develop new services is, and will remain, our guiding philosophy as we support human service needs, throughout the region, by providing a comprehensive range of services designed to offer hope, foster growth and improve the lives of the children, families and adults we serve.
For more information, http://www.st-cath.org.
