Our parish participates in multiple ongoing and annual outreach opportunities with various organizations. Each of these is open to all parishioners, young and old, and invitations are published in the bulletin and on the events page of our website when applicable.
The committee oversees the distribution of 5% of the parish's stewardship funds, which are supported by parishioner contributions to the yearly plate collections. Charitable organizations considered for funding support include the areas of Catholic education, prison ministry, Respect Life ministries, low-income housing and shelters, medical aid, and general assistance to the poor.
A few years ago, Bishop Barber repeatedly invited each of the 84 parishes of the Oakland Diocese to team up with Catholic Charities of the East Bay (CCEB) to "adopt" a refugee family, helping them to get settled in the Bay Area.
Santa Maria has helped transition a family of five from Burma and a family of ten from Afghanistan into being financially independent as of March 2019.
This effort had involved furniture collections to furnish their apartments, drives to the Social Security office and DMV, lessons on how to use bank accounts and public transportation, and, of course, tutoring in the English language.
Please keep these two families in your prayers as they move on to great things!
For more information, or to get involved, please contact our co-chairs, Janet Riley and Gail Gabriel.