Works of Mercy reach out to St. Gerard

Success in the classroom often begins in the home, but not all young people are afforded that opportunity.

At St. Gerard Majella School in Baton Rouge, many students are from single-parent homes, which can often stretch parental involvement with home studies, said Father Tat Hoang C.Ss.R., pastor of St. Gerard Church.

“Our young people struggle academically,” Father Hoang said. “Students also need preparation not only for state-required LEAP testing and TerraNova scoring but also for Standardized Testing by the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. While achieving passing scores is important for continued student academic growth, these youth also require emotional nourishment and spiritual foundations.”

Father Hoang said the holistic development of a child is imperative for society and church today, and he said a $3,500 grant from the Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott Works of Mercy Trust Fund will be used to help develop those young minds and hearts. He said the money will be used to enhance, support and improve the academic prowess of students (grades 3 to 8) in an afterschool program.

“While students will be nurtured academically – reading, writing, and math – they will also be nurtured spiritually in moral values, faith and good manners,” he said.

St. Gerard was one of four ministries to receive Works of Mercy grants. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge was awarded $5,000 for its Parents and Children Together (PACT) program, a home visitation model designed to service the underserved in rural communities.

PACT has provided assistance to parents with utilities, diapers and even such basic needs as baby items and clothing. Staff members also have helped families receive food by directing them to locations, such as churches and organizations, that give away food baskets.

“While students will be nurtured academically – reading, writing, and math – they will also be nurtured spiritually in moral values, faith and good manners.”
Father Tat Hoang C.Ss.R.
Pastor of St. Gerard Church

The Christian Outreach Center of Baton Rouge Inc., and HOPE Ministries of Baton Rouge each received $3,500 for their ministries.

The grant to the Christian Outreach Center will be used to feed the hungry. The COC, in partnership with the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, delivers fresh produce, frozen meat and hard groceries directly to the doors of participants on a weekly basis to supplement state SNAP allotments and to ensure that households have access to nutrient-rich foods.

The funding to HOPE Ministries will help sustain the Client Choice Food Pantry.

“This year it was quite evident that there is a great need to provide food,” said Gwen Fairchild, Stewardship Director for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. “This food shortage is heartbreaking.  Each of our 2023 Works of Mercy recipients provide food for their clients along with their other services.”

Fairchild has a sense of pride and humility when speaking of the grants,  knowing the legacy of Bishop Ott will continue to touch so many lives, including children. She said the only criteria for each applicant to meet is that its mission aligns with the corporal works of mercy

Bishop Ott, recognizing a need in the community, created the Works of Mercy program in 1991 for educational, religious, charitable and other similar purposes as embodied in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. A charity does not have to be Catholic to apply.

The Board of Trustees, made up of community members of all faiths who serve as volunteers, grant the funds to the selected charities.

The interest from the trust determines the amount to be awarded each year. Fairchild said that since the trust has become smaller during the years the board is seeking ways to help it grow.

“The recipients are usually small but powerful organizations to whom $5,000 can make a difference,” she said.

Such as the young students at St. Gerard, who face their own unique challenges that Father Hoang witnesses daily and is trying to make a difference. Since coming to St. Gerard in July 2019, Father Hoang has  guided a steady increase in enrollment in the north Baton Rouge school.

“We are very grateful for the support of the Works of Mercy grant,” he said with his typical modesty.