Our St. Ambrose Family Shelter in Dorchester is so much more than a shelter; it is an essential community resource. Particularly over the last nine months responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has been busy distributing food and essential items to not only the residents of the shelter, but also to those in need in the surrounding neighborhood.

As our communities, and country, continue dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, support from local community partners remains essential in helping our programs at Catholic Charities of Boston continue to serve our neighbors in need.

This week, we’re excited to highlight two generous and supportive community partners who recently donated goods to CCAB.

This time in history is a creativity explosion, as people and countries come together to combat COVID-19. The challenge of combating COVID-19 has been addressed medically, socially, economically, and  emotionally and spiritually on websites, radio and TV shows and in houses of worship.

At Catholic Charities of Boston, our work often extends beyond the walls of our 23 locations in Eastern Massachusetts, as we are committed to supporting our communities through partnerships and outreach initiatives.

“No.  Thank you for inviting me!”

I heard this sentence five separate times Saturday after I said “thank you for coming” to sweaty but happy volunteers who came to Catholic Charities Yawkey Center to pack bags of food, snacks and produce for the 1300 families and individuals we expect will come to Yawkey this week to pick up one of those bags of food.

Almost two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see the effects of the crisis across all of our programs and services at Catholic Charities of Boston.

Our five food pantries are serving increasing numbers of individuals week over week-- in fact, since March 9, the number of individuals that we serve has increased over 460%. Our pantries have distributed over 100,000 lbs. of food more than this same time period last year.

Catholic Charities of Boston is so appreciative of the many volunteers and donors who make our work possible.

As COVID-19 continues to escalate, our goal is to shine a light on the helped in our community – our CCAB Champions—who are helping us continue our programs and services that support the most vulnerable in our communities.

We are so grateful for our community champions! Take a look at what’s going on across the agency:

During these unprecedented times, it’s important to shine a light on all of the helpers in our community who are doing their part to care for others.

Jim, Kathleen and Anna are a local family who enjoy giving back, engaging in a number of volunteer projects with area organizations.