Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced a $100 million fundraising campaign for New York City's human services Sunday as he marked the 100th anniversary of Catholic Charities of New York.
The privately funded initiative will be put toward improvements in the city's human services for New Yorkers in need. Combined with additional private funding from the Catholic Charities of New York, the project will leverage over $4 billion over the next five years.
A cornerstone project will be a partnership between Catholic Charities, the city and the state to build affordable housing in the Bronx, Dolan said. He added that the parish will also work with the Bowery Residents Committee create a safe haven with the homeless in Harlem.
To fight opioid addiction, Catholic Charities will partner with the state and a recently constructed recovery center in Sullivan County to house HEART, the Heroin Epidemic Archiocese Response Team.
Notable city officials, including Sen. Charles Schumer, Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman were in attendance.
Dolan took the stage to a round of applause and cracked jokes with the audience before diving into the history of Catholic Charities and its efforts to help vulnerable adults and children regardless of religious affiliation, including victims of Hurricane Sandy.
"Part of the genius of Catholic Charities, and certainly the wisdom of this city, community and country we cherish is the conviction that we are all in this together," he said.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo proclaimed April 24 as Catholic Charities Day to honor the organization's continual efforts to help the city since 1917. He thanked the parish's commitment to social justice and the clergymen who helped uphold its mission.
