Concept Paper: Caritas Manila, Church for the Poor

June 01, 2022

Concept Paper: Caritas Manila, Church for the Poor

Introduction

Poverty is a perennial problem in the world. In the Philippines, at least 21 million falls on the poverty line. Caritas Manila aims to alleviate poverty through access to education to the poor but deserving youths, and disaster recovery and rehabilitation to communities in need.

Caritas Manila is a non-profit organization that serves as the lead social service and development ministry of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. First known as Catholic Charities, Caritas Manila was established by the late Manila Archbishop Rufino Cardinal Santos on October 1, 1953 as a social welfare program “for uplifting the spirit and soul of the unfortunate members of our community, to assist them in all their needs, and to bring the help of God in their miseries and distress.”

Purpose

Under Caritas manila, this project works to provided college education for the poor, underprivileged but deserving youth equipping them with leadership and Christian values formation, provides emergency assistance for 50,000-100,000 families every year. They also aims to transform lives, restore human dignity and reintegrate drug dependents to their communities.

Description

Caritas manila programs and services, aims to concretize the love of God among the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable -the “least, last and lost” in society. Caritas Manila’s core programs are geared toward integral human, spiritual, and socio-economic development of the poor. Caritas Manila has always believed that meaningful assistance must be an empowering process. Most of their programs are designed to transform people from poverty and dependence to self-reliance with dignity.

Caritas Manila Core Programs

YSLEP Program

A tangible response in the spirit of charity, Caritas Manila breaks the chains of poverty through the Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP). For more than six decades, YSLEP provided college education for the poor, underprivileged but deserving youth equipping them with leadership and Christian values formation.

YSLEP Module three-point action:

YSLEP is not just a scholarship program but a leadership formation program. We hone servant leaders imbued with self-discipline, moral integrity and social responsibility.

1.Leadership engagement

2. Holistic formation

3. Academic excellence

Caritas Damayan

Caritas Damayan is the preventive health and disaster management program of Caritas Manila. Damayan provides emergency assistance for 50,000-100,000 families every year.

“Damayan” stands for compassion and putting faith in action.

We unite volunteers and donors to deliver preventive healthcare services, crisis intervention, emergency response and disaster recovery and rehabilitation.

Sanlakbay

Sanlakbay para sa Pagbabagong Buhay is a parish community-based rehabilitation program which aims to transform lives, restore human dignity and reintegrate drug dependents to their communities.

It is a pastoral accompaniment program for drug dependents toward healing, recovery and restoration. It was launched on October 21, 2016 in response to the Philippine government’s war against illegal drugs.

During the rehabilitation program, enrolled drug dependents, called, “kalakbay,” undergo spiritual and values formation, one-on-one and group counseling sessions, skills training and livelihood opportunities and sports, arts and culture development.

Restorative Justice

An answer to Jesus’s call to visit those in prison. The Restorative Justice Ministry provides values formation, paralegal assistance, counseling and healing of victims, livelihood and aftercare.

RJ volunteers and ministers regularly conduct visits for the pastoral care of inmate to aid their conversion, restoration, and transformation. Under this ministry, RJ provides training, social concretizations and awareness sessions for accused individuals in community or police station cells.

The Aftercare program, on the other hand, gives released prisoners assistance in looking for livelihood opportunities in their communities. RJ accompanies them through the tough phase of reintegration and acceptance.