Powerful stories show how St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities excels at ‘being there’

Clarissa and Wade Thaxton smile at their daughter Elanore, whom they adopted through St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities’ Adoption Bridges of Kentuckiana in New Albany, during their talk at St. Elizabeth’s Giving Hope-Changing Lives gala on April 18 in Louisville, Ky. The Thaxton’s son Wesley stands at right. (Photos by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The list of what it takes to help women, children, families and adults with developmental delays is extensive.

But Mark Casper summed it up in two words: “Being there.”

“You have to be there to be there to help,” said the agency director of St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities (SECC) in New Albany during the organization’s annual Giving Hope-Changing Lives Gala held in Louisville on April 18.

SECC gives hope and changes lives by “being there” through eight programs that range from housing women in need to helping adults with developmental delays live fuller lives and more.

Three of those programs were highlighted by powerful witness stories shared that evening with the gala’s nearly 600 attendees.

‘You will always feel like our home’

One couple shared how adopting through the agency’s Adoption Bridges of Kentuckiana brought them “our sweet Elanore.”

“With every negative pregnancy test,” the future family Clarissa and Wade Thaxton pictured “faded more and more,” said Clarissa.

After researching different adoption agencies, the couple chose St. Elizabeth’s Adoption Bridges of Kentuckiana.

“At their orientation, we had learned about the many other services [St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities] provided, and this was huge,” said Wade. “We were so encouraged to hear that they truly cared for and provided support with much-needed resources for the families in their care. This wasn’t an adoption agency—this was a place of refuge.”

Then there’s Monica Bottorff. She spoke of the benefits of the agency’s supported living program for her 23-year-old daughter Abbie, whose lifetime of issues with epilepsy and seizures has left her developmentally delayed.

Participating in the program’s activities “allows her social connections and interactions by engaging in conversation with the volunteers and guests.

“It also enables her to learn new skills, follow directions and walk away feeling proud of the project she just completed. …

“The togetherness, social interaction, education and engagement are all things that Abbie can get from the services she receives through the supported living program at St. Elizabeth’s.”

Abbie’s parting smiles and waves brought the applauding crowd to their feet.

The next speaker also received a standing ovation—a young, single mother of two who overcame tremendous challenges with the help of SECC.

In 2019, “I left an unsafe situation with my two boys, who were 11 months and 2 years old at the time,” said Dorcas Marrero.

They moved into SECC’s women and children’s emergency shelter, where she “received the validation I needed but was so deprived of at the time,” and “visits from so many volunteers and precious people. … It was like receiving a visitation from heavenly hosts.”

She and her children next moved into one of the agency’s affordable supported housing units. With support from her SECC caseworkers, Marrero found employment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That particular stage for me was very empowering.” she said. “I was breaking free of stigmas, and that helped me work toward my financial independence.”

The staff encourage her to apply for a Habitat for Humanity home, and “volunteered their time into hammering nails into the house that now shelters us.”

Marrero’s voice was emotional when she said, “St. Elizabeth’s, you are far more than charity for me. You will always feel like our home.”

‘We have to be present’

The gala is the agency’s biggest fundraising event. This year it raised more than $386,500, nearly 19% more than last year.

Casper shared stories that evening of how donations are translated into essential help for those in need through SECC’s eight programs.

He spoke of two working mothers who were housed while “working, doing all they could while caring for their children undergoing chemo treatments.”

There was the 18-year-old high school student who needed a home when her only parent died, and a woman “so beaten, she was bedridden while nursing her 2-week-old baby.”

When Gabriella, “whose parents courageously made a decision to place her for adoption prior to her birth,” was born with life-threatening medical issues, our amazing social services team … visited her daily,” said Casper. “They prayed over her daily in making very difficult medical decisions that was every parent’s worst nightmare.”

He spoke of the grandmother who “comes to our Marie’s Blessing program, asking for essential baby items to care for her grandchild as her daughter was removed from her parenting role due to addiction.”

And he noted “the children we are assisting in our school counseling program, for issues that, I can tell you, most of us never even thought about these in our school years.”

Casper mentioned an expectant mother who recently moved into the agency’s maternity home, who “is receiving prenatal care for the first time in the sixth month of her pregnancy.”

There are the general stories, too.

“The mom no longer worrying where her child’s next meal is coming from,” he said. “The victim whose slow recovery from trauma is just begun. The resident’s self-esteem that has been raised from non-existent to ‘I can do this.’

“These things happen every day at St. Elizabeth, and the first key to St. Elizabeth helping anyone is, we have to be present.

“This means doors open, staff trained, resources to deliver the quality services that we all expect.”

Casper, now serving in his 15th year as SECC’s agency directory, closed with a thank you.

It’s the agency’s supportive community that “makes it possible for us to provide help, create hope and serve all,” he said.

“Whether your support is driven by the cause of homelessness, pro-life, empowering women, addiction, mental health, domestic violence, protecting children, disabilities or creating forever families, we thank you.”
 

(St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities in New Albany offers eight programs: maternity home; women and children’s emergency shelter; domestic violence transitional housing and rapid rehousing; affordable supported housing; Adoption Bridges of Kentuckiana; Marie’s Blessings; school counseling; and supported living for those with developmental delays. For more information on these programs or to donate, go to www.stecharities.org, call 812-949-7305 or e-mail info@stecharities.org.) †