New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund Awards Catholic Charities $100,000 Grant

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Paterson is helping more people than ever before in our 80-year history.  

In a typical month, our 3 food pantries help between 5,000 - 7,000 children, women and men. Since the start of the pandemic, we have assisted upwards of 27,000 individuals per month. Calls to our Emergency Support Services have increased tenfold. We are assisting a greater number of homeless individuals and those at risk of becoming homeless than ever before.  All of this while nearly all of our programs remain nearly entirely operational, including the largest nonprofit drug and alcohol treatment center in the country (Straight and Narrow) and the Department for Persons with Disabilities, which provides help and creates hope for over 300 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities each day.

Though we have begun to see a light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic is far from over.  We are blessed to have support from volunteers, donors and service groups such as the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, to help us through this challenging time. 

We are thrilled to announce that our organization has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.  This grant will be used towards our Unmet Needs Fund, and to help all of our agencies care for the most vulnerable among us. 

Since its incorporation one year ago, the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund (NJPRF) has raised over $65 million and provided $56 million of relief with the support of tens of thousands of individual donors from across every county in New Jersey, every state in the United States and countries from around the globe. 

An announcement letter shared on March 17th on the NJPRF website read: "Inspired by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s recognition of our Fund’s impact and her transformational $20 million gift, today NJPRF is pleased to announce $16 million of further support to urgent needs across the state. This support includes $10 million in grants to 139 dedicated nonprofit organizations doing exemplary pandemic relief work at the state and local level, as well as an additional $6 million in direct cash assistance targeting more than 18,000 of our state’s most vulnerable individuals and families, including higher education students, who will not benefit from government stimulus checks in the forthcoming American Rescue Plan." 

“We would like to thank all who made this grant possible including First Lady Tammy Murphy, the NJPRF Board of Trustees, MacKenzie Scott and the thousands of individuals from across the world who donated to this important fund.  Thank you all for recognizing the vital, widespread, and unending work of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Paterson.  We are blessed to provide help and create hope for those most in need, and are fortunate to have support from our communities during this critical time,” said Scott Milliken, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Paterson, CEO.

For more information about the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund please visit:  www.njprf.org.

To get help or learn more about Catholic Charities please visit www.ccpaterson.org.