Communities, parishes, Catholic schools struggle to cope with extreme events.
The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) continues to pray for Catholic school communities and all communities faced with loss and rebuilding following the extreme weather events of the last few months — hurricanes in the south and southeastern United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the wildfires in the western United States.
Most recently, in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, two schools, serving about 400 students, have been destroyed by wildfires and their communities devastated by loss. Cardinal Newman High School reports that hundreds of its students and their families have suffered the loss of their homes and Saint Rose Elementary reported to the diocese that of their 250 plus students 29 had lost their homes.
The Diocese of Santa Rosa serves approximately 165,000 Catholics stretched along northern California, from the northern edge of Marin County to the Oregon border. The diocese includes 41 parishes, 17 schools, two campus ministries and many Catholic organizations.
NCEA encourages all to continue to help Catholic school communities. As news stories may begin to fade, let us not forget the people in these communities who will be rebuilding their lives for years to come.
Donations still can be made to the Student to Student program, http://ncea.org/sts, established by NCEA to help with hurricane relief and expanded to include Catholic school communities affected by recent natural disasters. The Diocese of Santa Rosa has launched a donation site for affected parishes and schools, http://www.srdiocese.org/signofhope.
