THE GLOBE
PO BOX 5079 (51102)
1825 JACKSON ST.
SIOUX CITY, IA (51105)
712.255.2550
800.352.9035
WWW.CATHOLICGLOBE.ORG

Consequences of economic crisis

By Jerry Eaton, LMSW
Executive Director
Catholic Charities

Turning ourselves over to the love God places in our hearts is the most natural thing in the world.  Twenty years ago this July a plane crashed in Sioux City and the love God placed in our hearts, took over. People who didn’t even know one another were suddenly helping, or being helped by people they might have ignored in most other circumstances.

For some people their human nature, the love that God places in all of our hearts, is always open to others. They know there are people in every one of our communities facing hard times, through no fault of their own, or through their own fault, that need the human nature of others, the love that God places in our hearts, to help, or guide them.

Some give with their lives in their work with those in need in non-profit agencies. Some give with their time volunteering at food banks, at soup kitchens, at thrift stores, and at other non-profit agencies. Some give with their money to sustain these organizations that reach out with the love of God that has been placed in their hearts in their human nature to help those in need.

Some know that people facing hard times sometimes need more than just emergency assistance. Sometimes the struggles they face mean they have to dig deep within themselves to discover strengths they didn’t know they had and they need someone who believes in them to help them find and develop this strength. Sometimes the struggles they face don’t have an easy solution and they need long term help and guidance to regain their footing to be able to lead healthy, happy and successful lives.

Right now a very public financial and economic crisis is being played out in the privacy of homes throughout the diocese impacting our most intimate relationships. It may be difficult to see in our everyday interactions with one another outside our homes, but we all know there is a great deal of anxiety, tension, and frustration in many of our homes as we face the long term consequences of this economic downturn.

Since we have reduced the fees at Catholic Charities by one third here in the Diocese of Sioux City we have seen a significant increase in clients coming for marital counseling. It stands to reason that during a financial crisis the stress and frustration will play itself out within the family and within the marital relationship in particular. We are pleased that reducing our fees has encouraged more people to access needed services that help couples and families work productively through this difficult time economically.

We saw reducing the fees as the right thing to do and we are seeing that it is just what the people of our diocese needed from us. Now we need your help if we are to keep the reduction of fees in place. If we work together in this situation with many hands contributing what we can, we can keep the fees for services at Catholic Charities at a lower rate for at least another year during this economic crisis.

Together our many hands can help ease the tension, the frustration, and the added stress so that people and families can weather this circumstance. The family is the basic social unit of all society and right now too many families are living in a situation that can seem overwhelming.

Please be generous in the collection being taken on the weekend of June 13th and 14th, it is the right thing to do for our neighbors in need.  Thank you for your generosity in advance; we know that hard times bring out the best in us.