National Coalition Promotes Collaboration to Better Serve Needy
Story summary:
Competitive and territorial barriers that once kept Catholic agencies from working too closely together are slowly breaking down in communities across the country in favor of stronger collaboration to better serve clients in need, according to a national organization that promotes the benefits of cooperation among church-based ministries. Cleveland-based Ministering Together has embarked on a new campaign to promote collaboration among Catholic Charities systems, Catholic hospitals, parishes and Catholic social service agencies as well as public entities in serving and advocating for families and sick, homeless, mentally ill and elderly people in need of multiple services.
National Coalition Promotes Collaboration to Better Serve Needy
"The whole premise is built on the fact that we cannot do alone as well as what we can do together, and that we can serve God's people to a greater degree if you break down silos and look at the person as a whole person," said Sister Judith Ann Karam, president of the Cleveland-based Sisters of Charity Health System and a member of Ministering Together's executive committee. "It's all about the people we're serving," she told Catholic News Service. Sister Judith Ann, a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, has been part of the effort since its early days when it was known as New Covenant. She credited retired Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn, N.Y., for setting the vision for the organization at its inception in 1995.
