100 Women Who Care Donates $27K To Help Pontiac Residents In Need

ROCHESTER, MI — Just a few miles away from Rochester, many Pontiac-area residents are dealing with emergency situations. Fifty percent of Pontiac’s children live in poverty. Five thousand evictions are issued each year. Basic food, clothing and shelter are difficult to come by.

The Catholic Community Response Team (CCRT) serves the Pontiac community by meeting basic needs: paying heating bills, helping with vehicle repairs, covering the rent, furnishing low-income apartments with beds, and providing groceries. Recently, 271 members of 100 Women Who Care - Greater Rochester pulled out their checkbooks and each member wrote a $100 check to CCRT to provide a safety net for people in need.

100 Women Who Care presented a total of $27,100 to Barbara Williams, CCRT director, who explained how difficult it is for people who are poor to get ahead.

“CCRT’s most pressing concern is keeping people in their homes so they don’t end up on the street,” said Williams, who has been the CCRT director for 12 years. “Once that happens, every problem gets magnified. We are providing assistance for low-income and homeless people who are trying to break a vicious cycle of poverty. We are working to stabilize their living situation.”

In 2016, Williams said CCRT saved 500 people from eviction, paid 800 utility bills, distributed 1,200 turkey dinners for thanksgiving, donated school uniforms for students, helped people secure proper identification documents in order to get employment, and provided lots of food, clothing and hygiene items to people in need.

“These are dire situations,” Williams said. “But we try to make sure every little bit goes a long way.”

CCRT was formed in 2004 when the Catholic churches in the Rochester/Auburn Hills/Waterford/Pontiac area decided to combine forces and pool resources to support the community-at-large. They serve about 2,000 people each year and get 30-50 new calls and requests for support each day. CCRT functions as a mini-triage, assuring people have access to any existing benefits and supports for which they are eligible. Whatever needs remain after that, CCRT tries to meet them.

The people served do not need to be Catholic and they do not need to meet any religious or affiliated criteria. But it is primarily the area Catholic churches that provide the fundraising and volunteers to bring this critical aid directly to their immediate communities. For instance, St. Hugo of the Hills (Bloomfield) regularly holds clothing drives; St. John Fisher (Auburn Hills) runs a holiday giving tree program; and St. Andrew (Rochester Hills) provides hygiene kits and other wellness and grooming items.

100 Women seeks to support local charities with very direct and basic needs. The group takes pride in its no-frills approach to direct giving. They met, for the 15th time since their inception, in January. At that meeting, like all others, the 100 Women Who Care committed one hour of time to listen to three charity “pitches.” After a quick vote, each woman there agreed to the majority-rules philosophy, and wrote a $100 check directly to the winning charity.

To date, they have raised more than $281,100. The other winning charities thus far were: New Day Foundation; the Assistance League of Southeastern Michigan; CCRT—the Catholic Community Response Team in Pontiac; the Baldwin Center in Pontiac; Hands of Hope; SandCastles Grief Support; FaithWorks; Neighborhood House; God’s Helping Hands, Power Company Kids Club, Dutton Farm, Blessings in a Backpack and Turning Point.

For more information on the 100 Women Who Care group or to sign a commitment form to join them, visit the website at: www.100womenwhocare-greaterrochester.org or contact Amy Whipple at amynwhipple@gmail.com or (586) 254-1560.

PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured are volunteers from both organizations. CCRT volunteers standing from left: Janet Remington, Marie DeArment, Pete Keating (CCRT assistant program manager), Barbara Williams (CCRT director), Joe Pauwels, Victoria Carter. 100 Women Who Care volunteers seated from left: Linda Chayka (1oo Women Who Care co-founder), Patricia Ozybko, Carrie Schochet, and Amy Whipple (1oo Women Who Care co-founder).

Photo courtesy 100 Women Who Care - Greater Rochester