housing
New Creations
“My whole life has changed,” says 18-year-old John Michael Montilla, one of thousands of Filipinos benefiting from Cross Catholic’s support of Gawad Kalinga, a ministry that revitalizes old, impoverished slums into new, Christ-centered communities. We help replace shacks made of tin and wood scraps with beautiful, concrete homes; clean up polluted streets; and turn a … Continue reading
Changing hearts in the Philippines
Whenever I see the results of Cross Catholic’s Gawad Kalinga house construction projects in the Philippines, my first thought is, “Wow! This used to be a slum?” The newness, the cleanliness, the bright, cheerful colors are a visual repudiation of poverty. This is the tangible part of ministry. It’s also, in some respects, the easy … Continue reading
Success Story!
Haiti needs positive role models, and these young men just might fit the bill. The team of construction workers recently stopped in at Fr. Marc Boisvert’s Espwa (Hope) Village to work on a roof. If it seemed like they knew their way around the place exceptionally well, that’s because they used to live there – … Continue reading
The Eternal Rock
It’s not a good sign when the community you live in is called Laroche, or “The Rocks.” The Haitian community of Laroche outside of Les Cayes can be difficult to access because of—you guessed it—the rocks that permeate the terrain. While driving to visit several families who received a new home through our ministry partner … Continue reading
Full House
Fr. Bob of St. Martin of Tours Church told us that every time he visits the Webster home, he finds sacks of cement on the floor. And lo and behold, when we dropped in to meet Aura Webster – a saintly 66-year-old woman who receives monthly food assistance through Cross Catholic – there it was…a … Continue reading
Oregon Teen Helps Cross Catholic Build a Home in Haiti
Caroline Newman of Coquille, Oregon may be young, but her Christ-like actions are making a huge difference for a family in Haiti. The 14-year-old Girl Scout was deeply impacted after a priest visited her local church. He told her congregation that though it’s been a year and a half since the earthquake, many Haitian families … Continue reading
A Mission Trip Full of Surprises
Several months ago our missions VP, David Adams, visited projects Cross Catholic supports in Belize. Fr. Perl, a priest who runs some of the projects there, took him to visit Maria Natividad Tracey, a very poor, elderly widow and her mentally handicapped adult son. Well, David was more than disturbed by the condition of this … Continue reading
Praise Report from Mozambique
Yesterday morning, Cross Catholic staff listened as International Projects Officer Tara McKinney shared photos and stories from the recent vision trip she led to Mozambique. One of her co-travelers, Cross Catholic staff member Maria Aleman, joined her in person while the other, Monsignor Lambert Luna from St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Catholic Church, joined … Continue reading
Much Has Been Done But There’s Still Work to Do!
Traveling in and around Port-au-Prince recently, I was struck by two contradictory impressions. First, it appears quite a bit of rubble has been cleaned up compared to what I saw during my last trip to Haiti six months after the quake. Of course, there are still places where houses and buildings are waiting to be … Continue reading
His sheep shall not want
Assfu Halfon is one of the women chosen to receive a newly constructed house this year through Cross Catholic and the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia. Assfu’s current housing conditions are better than some – which is to say she has a bed to sleep in (only since she inherited one from her deceased father), … Continue reading
