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Speakers help vulnerable
By Julie Cronk
Published:
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Joan Collins-Marotte speaks at Women on Wednesday about charitable services in 2003. Collins-Marotte is the director of Caritas Family Services, which is a division of programs of Catholic Charities.
Have you ever thought of our world as being similar to the popular television show "Survivor," where people are competing to not be voted off the island?
This perpetual, well-known television show that has made its way into almost every American home, was the derivation for the speakers in the Atwood theatre on Wednesday.
"Survival of the Fittest" was taken to a new level in the discussion held by Joan Collins-Marotte and Maureen Gaedy. These women, whose professional careers consist of helping those in need and also promoting community involvement with aid to these basic needs, took the actual survival of the human race to a whole new level. Questions like "Who is considered the fittest?" and "Who is considered most vulnerable?" opened up the discussion about that to which these women devote their lives.
Collins-Marotte is the director of Caritas Family Services, which is a division of programs of Catholic Charities, a nonprofit organization that bases its focus on social services that pertain to families and children.
The organization is in no way connected to the Catholic Church, but does use the ideas that derive from the Catholic teachings. Catholic Charities is also concerned with the economy that affects families and children. These economical issues range from elections and budget cuts to unemployment and lay-offs.
Another big part of Collins-Marotte's job is finding enough food to help feed the less fortunate. Due to the high numbers of needy, she said there is an escalating need for donations of food. Recently, the SCSU Boxing Club donated $500 towards the food shelf of Catholic Charities. She stressed how any type of donation, whether food or money, can contribute to satisfying the needs of the less fortunate.
"Needing something as simple as food could happen to anyone," Collins-Marotte said, "it is not at all a shameful thing."
Along with Collins-Marotte, Maureen Gaedy, director of the Greater Minnesota Program Service, Goodwill/Easter Seals also advocates the need for involvement.
Gaedy focused more on training the less fortunate for future job employment, but acknowledged the same need for awareness and contributions that Collins-Marotte stated.
Gaedy's professional career involves working with people from every part of the spectrum. She feels strongly about the community coming together to be more aware of the important need for job training for those people with serious mental illnesses and low I.Q.'s.
She also said that due to the present economy, the professional job market is downsizing, but at the same time the everyday jobs such as janitorial, fast food workers and other basic areas are increasing. She hopes to prepare these people with problem solving tactics to better themselves in the future.
"I would like to think of what I do is helping people climb the ladder out of poverty," Gaedy said, "but also let them know that they have safety nets below them to catch them if they should happen to fall."
Gaedy also agreed with Collins-Marotte about the need to feed the hungry. Gaedy promoted the idea of feeding the needy as good business. Feeding the hungry children not only helps them learn and become healthy and strong, she said, but also gives them the ambition to grow up strong and career orientated.
One main problem that both Collins-Marotte and Gaedy clearly confirmed was the downsizing of these nonprofit organizations. Everyday, nonprofits are asked for more and more while they continue to lose resources to cuts as the economy shifts down. Both women are trying to involve the community to help keep these nonprofit organizations stay afloat.
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