Cathedral to cook for homeless women

Thanks to a core of new volunteers, the Cathedral Square Program (CSHP), operated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and supported by the Festival of Trees and Lights, is committing itself to cook and serve 13 homeless women once a month at Sister Nora’s Place, a facility of Loaves and Fishes.  Women in the shelter, like the homeless in the Cathedral Square Program, must want to transition into permanent housing and to get off the streets.

Cathedral volunteers will cook on the Third Saturday of each month. If you are interested in helping, just once a year, please join us in helping these women help themselves. Other parish communities, as well as Interfaith volunteers, will join in this new effort. 

If you know of students needing community service hours, this would be an excellent project for them to undertake. Our first year calendar is filling quickly with eager volunteers who want to support the Cathedral’s efforts.  But, as we want the Cathedral community to continue serving the needs of the downtown homeless, we are accepting as many volunteers as possible.

Also needed are volunteers who have a hobby or skill who can demonstrate that skill to these women.  Examples may include some of the following: 

• Opening a checking account
• Budgeting
• Thrifty ideas to survive the economy
• Making crafts
• How to handle job applications
• Tips on interviews

Our goal is to make these women self-sufficient and able to survive off the streets.