BAA plays pivotal role in woman’s life

Dinah’s life has not always been easy, raising a four-year-old son as a single mom in St. Helena civil Parish. 

But a relatively new and award-winning program of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge has helped her secure a job and also open a savings account. Dinah has earned her Clinical Medical Assistant certification and her son is at the top of his class as he nears the start of kindergarten.

Dinah is one of the participants of PACT, CCDBR’s innovative peer-to-peer mentoring program for families. PACT focuses on at-risk families with young children and serves the dual purpose of improving parents skills and school readiness for children. 

“PACT is a desperately needed and proven successful program for low-income families struggling to parent and provide for their children,” CCDBR Executive Director David Aguillard said. “It helps them help themselves by learning new parenting skills and supporting their children’s pre-school development from birth through five years old.”

PACT is also one of several programs that are beneficiaries of the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, which recently kicked off. Additional BAA funding goes to Sanctuary for Life, the Catholic Schools Office, college campus ministries and seminarian formation.

“To be able to help those in need, especially easing the struggles of young parents such as Dinah, is at the heart of BAA’s mission,” said Gwen Fairchild, stewardship director for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. “It is gratifying to see the smiles on the faces of some of the community’s most vulnerable children. 

“It’s perhaps the most rewarding part of my job, knowing that the diocese can be such a powerful and positive influence in the lives of so many individuals and families in need.”

In his appeal, Bishop Michael G. Duca said stewardship is a collective effort and hopes people will be able to open their hearts to hear God’s call of how they may minister his love in the community.

“We cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of your generosity, which has positive impact on so many of God’s children in need,” the bishop said. “Whether we are giving to our seminarians to form new shepherds, providing counsel to mothers of unplanned pregnancies or funding tuition for underserved youth, we are  fulfilling God’s call to steward his graces.”

PACT director Vickki Maloid, herself a PACT graduate, said several years ago the program helped her set goals for herself and her children. She said when parents are involved in the lives of the children, their learning increases and they will perform better when entering school.

“When obstacles arise, the peer mentors help identify solutions and obtain services such as counseling, financial assistance or transportation,” Maloid said. “We can measure that the risk of abuse and neglect decreases significantly.” 

PACT was developed in the wake of traumatic events, such as hurricanes, senseless shootings and the devastating impact COVID-19 had on families. Maloid said they learned traditional case management models were inadequate, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

“We saw that the combination of financial, health, educational and employment threats facing families created unknown challenges,”  she said. “We didn’t want at-risk families with children to emerge more at risk at a time when access to services, schools and jobs were restricted.  

“So we brought support services to them, to help them develop for themselves the ability to cope with new stressors, adapt, and overcome evolving external challenges.”

Maloid is grateful for the BAA support, as it helps the agency reach even more families in need.

PACT is open to vulnerable families with children zero to five years old in Point Coupee, East Baton Rouge and St. Helena parishes. English and Spanish speaking mentors are available.

PACT won the Innovation Award and an AmeriCorps grant from Catholic Charities USA. 

To donate to the BAA visit diobr.org/baa.