Catholic Charities program helps separated parents and children find Christmas joy

Supervised Therapeutic Visitation in Union City, N.J. is a Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark program that works with children and parents who have been separated by The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), but are on track for reunification. The child lives with a foster family while their parent accesses help.

While separated, the parent and child have visits that are supervised by Catholic Charities staff. Additionally, staff assist families with building parent-child attachments, enhancing parenting skills central to creating competence in their parenting roles, and they connect families to larger systems of support.

Being apart for Christmas and the holidays can be a very challenging time for these families. In addition, many parents have little money for gifts. This is where Holy Name of Jesus Parish in East Orange steps in. For many years, the Holy Name parishioners have been buying Christmas gifts for children in the STV program.

Deacon Leo Woodruff and his wife Loretta coordinate with Catholic Charities to ensure that each child gets a gift, whether there are 20 families or 60. Loretta Woodruff says that their hearts are with the children and giving the gifts is a priority for Holy Name every year, and “isn’t this what Christmas is all about.”

Traditionally, STV program holds a Christmas party for parents to give these presents to their children. The party is a festive time, with face painting, games, music, and food. Santa comes too! This year, of course, things are a little different, but the children will still be blessed with gifts from the parishioners of Holy Name.

The STV staff is a dedicated group. Mary Garcia has been working for Catholic Charities for 20 years. She loves creating the children’s gift lists and planning the party. She brings her two sons to help. One does face painting, the other plays Santa!

Garcia recalled a child who was placed in a foster home on Christmas Eve. The little boy was concerned Santa was going to forget him. However, he and his parent came to the STV Christmas party and the little boy received a present. Mary still remembers how his face lit up when he opened his gift.

Catholic Charities is so grateful for the Union City community and their support, such as Access Homes Realty and its owner/broker, Gustavo Santacruz. This year, Mr. Santacruz and Access are making a generous donation of gifts for the children. These toys will make Christmas a little brighter for the families in our program.

Another bright star in the STV community is Dennis Lynam, who grew up in Union City and was even a mailman for 15 years! Lynam is a devout Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He feels very blessed in his life and wanted to find a way to give back. Lynam came by with a generous donation of grocery store gift cards at Thanksgiving, and again at Christmas, and promised he’d be back at Easter. Staff distributed the gift cards to parents in the program, some of whom are struggling to put food on the table.

Generous folks such as those at Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Access Realty and Lynam really make the spirit of Christmas come alive.

The dedicated staff throughout Catholic Charities highlight the importance of going above and beyond to make someone smile this time of year. We are so grateful for the givers at Christmas and throughout the year. Every contribution helps and can truly make a difference to a family in need.

For more information on how to help, please visit our website at www.ccannj.org.