Saint Anthony of Padua Social Justice: Day of Hope

"You are not alone. You have your community behind you." With those words Fr. Tuck Grinnell opened the first Day of Hope program Saturday, June 20th at Saint Anthony of Padua's Corpus Christi School campus. The Day of Hope was a program organized by Saint Anthony parish, Arlington Diocese Catholic Charities, and several other faith congregations in the Falls Church-Arlington-Fairfax area to help provide support and resources to those suffering in these difficult economic times.

As reported in the Catholic Herald ( http://catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=10527 ), "...the Day of Hope reached out to the hungry, unemployed [and] those requiring legal, career or financial counseling." As Fr. Grinnell noted, "This has been a difficult year for many people. People were beginning to lose hope. [They] don't know where to turn, they get depressed and they get passive." By providing free access to resources from various organizations, those who came were able to get advice on how to deal with a potential foreclosure; how to use the internet to find out about job opportunities; get answers to legal questions about issues like leases and employment rights and financial questions about how to plan a budget or how to manage credit, as well as information about governmental and volunteer resources available in our community. Another important part of the day was programs on managing one's health and managing stress in very stressful times.

Encouraged by the success of the Day of Hope, Steve Luteran, Director of Catholic Charities, is planning to organize similar events in other parts of the Arlington Diocese. For those in the Falls Church area, Saint Anthony of Padua parish does provide food, clothing, and counseling services as well as information and referrals on Food Stamps and health services for the poor and the suddenly unemployed. More information can be obtained by calling the Parish Office at 703-820-7111.