‘Today is a miracle’: Catholic Charities celebrates new shelter

$13.9M Housing Services Center lauded at ribbon-cutting on Erie Boulevard East

By Tom Maguire Associate editor

They skedaddled but kept their commitment.

A few years ago, Catholic Charities of Onondaga County ran a men’s shelter on South Clinton Street. But it bowed to the potential of economic growth from a new JMA Wireless manufacturing campus at the same site. The only thing that matters, said CCOC Executive Director Michael Melara, “is fulfilling our commitment to the people that we serve.”

So he consulted with his chief operating officer, Christopher Curry. “Chris listened and quietly assured me that relocating the shelter wasn’t the worst thing ever,” Melara recalled. “And as Chris always says, ‘We will figure it out.’”

Matching Curry’s can-do tone was Bishop Douglas J. Lucia, who recalls saying, “‘Mike, we’ll do it. Somehow, we’ll put this in the Lord’s hands and it’s going to work’ and it worked … and this has certainly been a great blessing.”

The optimists were right. On May 23, the Bishop, Melara and Curry were among the notables at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for CCOC’s $13.9 million Housing Services Center (HSC) at 1801 Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse.

Tackling an ugly issue

“Homelessness is an ugly issue that requires a community response to address it,” Melara said. “We at Catholic Charities are privileged to be part of that response.”

CCOC CFO Lindsay M. Cronkright supplied this summary:

The Housing Services Center includes an 80-bed emergency shelter for homeless men, eight apartments for chronically homeless men who are either living on the streets or in a shelter, on-site health and mental-health services, case management, a culinary-training program, and office space for approximately 40 professional Catholic Charities staff who were previously located at different sites throughout the city.

Residents who arrive under the influence are not turned away for service. Instead, they are assessed based on health and safety and allowed to stay if they are not in need of immediate medical care or safety interventions from emergency staff. By providing emergency shelter services 24/7, Catholic Charities provides an immediate response to homelessness while also addressing the issues that lead to homelessness.

The HSC model incorporates critical treatment and job-readiness components that directly impact the length of time an individual might spend in a shelter. And the presence of on-site professional HSC staff will facilitate a more comprehensive approach to delivering services.

Praise for team

“Considering the circumstances and pressures we were under, today is a miracle,” Melara told the guests under a tent outside the center. “And my team at Catholic Charities, they are miracle workers.”

Melara had gotten the call about the JMA Wireless project from Deputy County Executive for Human Services Ann Rooney in August 2019. Expenditures for the project began in October 2021 with the purchase of real estate. Site work began in late 2021, and an intake center opened in downtown Syracuse in April 2022. Total rehabilitation of an existing structure and new construction were completed in March 2023.

Men are already living in the 80-bed emergency shelter. The eight apartments across the street, which are expected to be completed soon, will have a living room, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom.

Over in the 80-bed shelter, a big sign on a wall says, “Rev. Msgr. J. Robert Yeazel Dormitory.”

“Catholic Charities has done a marvelous job, because they always do, in helping people who are most in need,” said Msgr. Yeazel, one of the guests. “And I can’t think of anything greater than having a wonderful home for people who are homeless.”

The Yeazel Dormitory has five skylights and 10 pods with 4-foot walls separating them. The eight beds in each pod have a light and a lockable wardrobe. “Beautiful in here,” said Jessie Butts, CCOC’s program officer for prevention and shelter programs, “and you wouldn’t think that it’s so functional because it’s so nice and light and bright and pretty. But it’s extremely functional.”

Tasks for caseworkers

“We have caseworkers that help to connect people with housing, mentalhealth services, substance-abuse services, job employment,” Butts said. Some residents will be there for one or two nights, she said, and some for a much longer time. CCOC will never turn away somebody who is homeless, even if the shelter is at capacity. “We figure it out,” she said.

CFO Cronkright said Catholic Charities has over 300 apartment units around the county — permanent supportive housing for housing-vulnerable individuals.

Skills training for shelter residents will include culinary study. “The kitchen is the hub of the house, the nerve center,” Executive Director Melara said. “Chris Curry is the hub of this construction project.”

Therefore, Melara said, “We’re going to name it the Curry Culinary Center.”

His sign was to go up, just as Msgr. Yeazel’s did.

Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of the Sun’s coverage of the new CCOC Housing Services Center. In our next issue, read about a 26-year-old resident of the shelter who wants a job, a family and a financially stable life.

Key contributors

Lindsay Cronkright, CFO of Catholic Charities of Onondaga County, says this is where the key funding came from for CCOC’s new Housing Services Center:

The $13.9 million project was constructed with $7.1 million from the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, which is administered by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. Other governmental funding includes $3.0 million from a federal appropriation, $2.8 million from Onondaga County, and $500,000 from the City of Syracuse. Funding was also received from our community of generous foundations, organizations and individuals.

The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance is also providing $200,000 annually in operating funding for the eight units of permanent supportive housing through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.

‘LOURDES,’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 despair about her future and her inability to return to her apartment and live on her own. Gone was her feeling that God was far, far away. I was astonished and asked her what had happened. She said, “I felt a complete change come over me. It must be the prayers you offered at Lourdes.”

When I talked to her sister she confirmed that my friend no longer has to sleep in her wheelchair in front of the nurse’s station to prevent falls, no longer has to get an aide to dial the phone for her. My friend joined a craft group to make hats for Mother’s Day and went to the religious service on Sunday. She said this all started a few days ago and she doesn’t know what to attribute it to. I told her it is a miracle from Our Lady of Lourdes! As my friend took her first steps and the physical therapist told her she can now use a walker she said, “Another miracle from Lourdes!”

I boarded my flight to Syracuse exhausted but so happy when I heard a voice call “Michele!” It was my dear friend’s husband returning from a biannual business trip to Atlanta. I said, “It is nice to see you. Can you drive me home?” He replied, “I would love to!” One last miracle from Lourdes. As I carry the memory of Lourdes into the future I know it can always get better than this!

Michele Ryan is a parishioner of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Syracuse. Note: More information about Lourdes and the water can be obtained by going to the website of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers located in Syracuse, lourdesvolunteers. org.

Many people come to be healed at Lourdes. Here, two people in wheelchairs hold hands in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the Grotto.

May your birthday be blessed with gr ace and g lory from above full of God’s almighty goodness, happine ss and love 80th 10475

NY 13502

Happy Birthday To Bishop Emeritus Cunningham.

e Ademoyo Family wishes our dear and loving Bishop Emeritus Cunningham a Happy 80th Birthday. Bishop Cunningham your love, kindness, support for our family are constant as the lode star. You are the Shepherd of our family and our children. Your love, support, inspiration, and motivation for our children remain evergreen and unwavering. Today and always, we remember your words of encouragement and love when you came to our parish St. omas Aquinas Church years ago, and you expressed to us how joyful you always are serving with our children in the Sanctuary! We are humble by yourwords, love, and kindness. May Almighty God continue to strengthen you, bless you, be kind to you, be merciful to you today on your 80th birthday and always.

God loves you. Our Children love you. We love you.

Happy Birthday To Our Shepherd, the Shepherd of our family.

Deacon Ade and Bola

(For Ademoyo Family and Children St omas Aquinas Church; St Patrick’s Church Binghamton, NY)

Pope has named two-thirds of cardinals eligible to elect his successor

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the retired archbishop of Naples, celebrated his 80th birthday June 2 and, consequently, became ineligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. The cardinal’s aging out left the College of Cardinals with 121 clerics under the age of 80 and eligible to vote. Of those 121 cardinals, 81 — 66.9% — were inducted into the college by Pope Francis. According to modifications to the norms governing the election of the bishop of Rome promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 and still in force, “a majority vote of two-thirds of the cardinal electors present is always necessary for the valid election of a Roman Pontiff.” With Cardinal Sepe’s birthday, just over twothirds of the currently eligible voters were made cardinals by Pope Francis.

Profit-at-all-costs is not a good model for business, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Business leaders must fight the temptation to seek financial gain above all else and instead promote a “culture of encounter” that improves their balance sheet and the lives of their employees and communities at the same time, Pope Francis said. “It is essential to approach work from a culture of encounter. The values of this culture can enable the world of business to defend itself from the shadows of evil that invade us when profit at all costs distorts our relationships, to the point of degrading or even enslaving people,” the pope told business leaders from Latin America June 1. The Latin American Business Council was holding its annual meeting in Rome May 31-June 2 and used the opportunity to meet with a variety of

Vatican officials to discuss social themes that, Pope Francis said, “affect us all, like work, migration, climate change and integral human development.”

Nevada’s Catholic governor who campaigned as ‘pro-life’ OKs some abortion protections

CARSON CITY, Nev. (OSV News)

— Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Catholic who campaigned on a prolife stance, signed legislation in May granting some protections for those who travel to the state seeking to undergo or perform an abortion. The move sets the Republican governor apart from his GOP counterparts in other states that signed legislation restricting abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022 that overturned prior precedent making abortion access a constitutional right. The bill, SB 131, prohibits law-enforcement officials and agencies from aiding in any investigations by other states into their own residents who undergo abortions in Nevada. It also prohibits state medical boards or licensing committees from penalizing doctors who perform abortions in the state. Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for Lombardo, told OSV News the governor “made a campaign commitment to sign a law ensuring that Nevada would not participate in prosecuting those seeking legal medical care in the state.” Ray added, “This week, Governor Lombardo kept that commitment, signing SB 131 into law.” Phil Scott of Vermont and former Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, who left office in January, are other GOP governors who enacted post-Dobbs abortion protections in their states. Lombardo is currently the only GOP governor to do so in a swing state.

Nicaraguan regime freezes bank accounts of dioceses in wave of Church persecution

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (OSV News) — Nicaragua has frozen the bank accounts of dioceses nationwide as the regime of President Daniel Ortega escalates its persecution of the Catholic Church with accusations of theft and money laundering. The country’s banking regulator also requested of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference and Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua “the presentation of the documents that show the movements of the dioceses’ bank accounts so that the laws of the country are complied with at all times, avoiding the illegal acts that have been committed,” according to a May 27 statement from the National Police. The statement describes Cardinal Brenes as “Head of the Nicaraguan church.” The independent newspaper Confidencial wrote that the frozen accounts were first reported in the Diocese of Estelí, where imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez of

Matagalpa is apostolic administrator. Bishop Álvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison in February after a sham trial on charges of undermining national sovereignty and spreading false information. Two priests there, Fathers Eugenio Rodríguez Benavides and Leonardo Guevara Gutiérrez, were detained May 20 and May 22, respectively, and are being investigated for matters pertaining to a now-extinct Caritas chapter, according to a Diocese of Estelí statement. Another priest, Father Jaime Iván Montecinos, pastor at St. John Paul II Parish in the Diocese of Matagalpa, was detained May 24 for unknown reasons. The freezing of bank accounts complicates church ministries and the maintenance of parishes.

Televised Mass air times youtube.com/syrdio

Syracuse area:

Sun., 6:30 a.m., Channel 9 (WSYR, Syracuse)

Sat., 8:30 p.m., Channel 98*

Binghamton area:

Sun., 6 a.m., Channel 12 (WBNG, Binghamton)

Utica / Rome area:

Sun., 6:00 a.m., Channel 2 (WKTV, Utica)

Thu., 6:30 p.m., Channel 99*

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