Catholic Charities unveils plans for the new Marian House

Plans for fundraising and a promotional campaign for the New Marian House have been unveiled by Mayor Lionel Rivera, Jay Cimino of the Phil Long Dealerships, Father Paul Wicker of Holy Apostles Catholic Church, Kurt Bartley, Executive Director of Catholic Charities.

“In the long history of Colorado Springs, the need to help hungry people in our community has never been greater,” states Tom Corsentino, Director of the Marian House. “We are currently serving an average of 400 - 450 people a day in a dining room that seats only 68 people. And that number will increase significantly during the summer when children are out of school.”

“The problem isn’t that people in Colorado Springs aren’t willing to roll up their sleeves and help needy people in our city,” comments Kurt Bartley, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs. “We have 249 organizations who have volunteered or contributed in-kind to our Soup Kitchen in the past 18 months, and we get more food and other donations than we can store. The bottleneck is that we’re operating out of an old, poorly designed building, part of which dates back to the days of Wyatt Earp in the 1880’s. It was originally designed to house 22 nuns, not accommodate the 400-plus people we now serve daily.”

Every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, between the hours of 10:30 am and 1 pm, Mon – Sat and 8:45 – 10 am on Sundays, the Marian House serves a hot meal at no charge to anyone who is hungry. They also provide free medical exams through the S.E.T. Clinic, job counseling, case management and many other outreach services to help people move towards greater self-sufficiency.

“Only 35 to 40% of our guests are homeless,” noted Tom Corsentino. “Most are the working poor, single mothers with children, retired veterans who are barely getting by and elderly people on fixed incomes. The free meals and other services provided by the Marian House make it possible for many of these people to keep their homes, because it allows them to keep their money for rent, utilities and other basic needs. Otherwise, they would be living on our streets.”

“Of the $5.8 million dollars we need to raise for The New Marian House complex,” explains Rochelle Schlortt, Community Relations Coordinator, “$4 million will be used for construction of The New Marian House and $1.8 million to renovate our existing building for expanded human services. This will increase our dining space, so people won’t have to wait in line outside where they’re on display and exposed to the elements. It will also double the handicapped parking space, increase the medical exam and counseling rooms, add air conditioning, and provide the cold storage and clothing closet space to handle the volume of donations that cannot be stored in the present facility.”

“Most important of all,” adds Bob Diekmann, Marian House Operations Manager and Campaign Director for the Capital Campaign, “we’ll be able to serve people in need in this community and do so in a way that treats them with greater dignity. Many people only need the Marian House temporarily. And this is the only place in Colorado Springs that serves the hungry with a mid-day meal, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”

“As one of our community’s best known charities,” says Juan Hernandez, Campaign Steering Committee and BOD member of Catholic Charities, “The Marian House is also a major conduit for donations that are redirected to Care and Share and many other Colorado Springs charities. So building the new Marian House will help many other charitable efforts as well.”


 

[ Back ]