MONTICELLO  — Catholic Charities opened their new facility at 396 Broadway in Monticello on Monday morning. This is a newly renovated location for Catholic Charities Food Pantry and Case Management Services.

According to CEO Shannon Kelly, they have been “out of commission” for some time.

“A lot of hard work went into preparing the space that you’re going to see today,” explained Kelly.

In a typical year for Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster’s anti-hunger efforts, they provide 5,500 households with food. This will happen at their three food pantries as well as the many pop-up pantries that they hold throughout the region.

“My favorite part about our work is actually that our food pantries serve as a point of access for folks,” said Kelly. “Someone who is actually in need of food for their family is going to need a trained case manager who is going to be able to provide with case management service.”

This means financial assistance and paying their bills.

This also includes paying for the basic needs like rent, utilities, furniture for their children, diapers and baby supplies, as well as school supplies. This also extends to immigration services.

“Attorneys and paralegals who work for Catholic Charities and serve immigrants on every step of their path to citizenship,” explained Kelly.

Kelly also invited Father Bob Porpora, the Pastor at St. Peter’s, to give a blessing to Catholic Charities.

Porpora is also on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster.

In his blessing, Popora asked of God’s blessing as the Case Management Office for the Catholic Charities Food Pantry opened.

“The work that will be done here, the ministry provided, will all be done to fulfill the mandate that Jesus gives us,” stated Porpora. “We’re all called to bring his presence to others, by being his presence to them. That’s exactly what Catholic Charities does.”

Catholic Charities has many departments, with the Monticello Department being case management and supportive housing.

In the coming weeks, Catholic Charities will have a pop-up-pantry on the 18th. 

“The food pantry wasn’t open for almost close to a year and now we’re opening it again. We’re seeing a lot of clients so we’re excited about it,” said Cristina Saito, the Director of Human Service at Catholic Charities for all three counties. “We’re seeing about an average of 30 to 35 a week so that’s good.”

Giving back to the community is important for them because they know times are hard.

“We want to make sure that we can have the variety of items that our clients can receive. It’s important because it’s more of a personal thing for us knowing there’s people out there who need it so we want to reach out to as many as we can,” said Saito.