By Marie T. Oates

STAMFORD, CT: On Thursday, October 1, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano blessed and helped dedicate the Cohen Family Building. The newly renovated, 13,500-square-foot facility at 507 Shippan Avenue is now the home of Catholic Charities Stamford and its New Covenant Center.  The facility is named for the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, the lead donor in the capital campaign.

About 110 guests came to the grand opening, including longtime donors, volunteers, public officials and leaders of Stamford social service agencies. They heard remarks from the Bishop, Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons, U.S. Congressman Jim Himes, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and leaders of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County (CCFC). The Bishop then joined them to cut the ribbon.

“Today is about much more than the opening of a building. It’s about strengthening our community and ensuring that more individuals and families across our city have the support and the pathways they need to build stable, independent futures,” said Mike Donoghue, executive director of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, who opened the program.

In his remarks, Bishop Caggiano noted that even in a vibrant, growing city like Stamford, many neighbors face impossible choices. “Do I buy medicine or do I buy food? If my landlord raises my rent, where am I going to live?” he asked. In the midst of those anxieties, he said, Catholic Charities comes to be “the hands and the feet and the heart and the voice of the Lord.”

“People don’t come here simply as a case or as a number. They come as a brother and a sister. They have a name and a family. They have a history, and the dignity of everyone who comes here is honored and respected in everything we do,” he said.

Noting that the dedication fell on the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Carmelite who found that her vocation was love, the Bishop said, “The vocation of this place is to make love real, and that is the most noble of all missions you and I can work on together.” At the close of the program, he led the gathering in prayer and blessed the new facility.

New Covenant Center has served the Stamford community since 1978. For all of those 48 years, it has been the only daily soup kitchen within 10 miles of the city. It is open every day of the year, serving three meals a day on weekdays and two on weekends. Its guests include people who are homeless or at risk of losing their housing, people struggling with mental illness and addiction, and many hardworking service workers who can’t make ends meet.

The center also runs one of the largest food pantries in Stamford, serving more than 500 working families each month. It offers a shower program for homeless guests, along with clean socks and underwear. More than 500 volunteers work beside the staff to cook and serve meals and to keep the pantry shelves stocked.

Catholic Charities says the need keeps growing because housing, food and childcare costs keep rising. Donoghue said demand for the agency’s food resources across the county has risen by 200 percent over the last three years. According to a recent CT Foodshare survey, one in six children in Stamford doesn’t have reliable access to enough food.

The larger building lets Catholic Charities do more than feed people. It brings its hunger prevention and social services together under one roof so it can help clients build more stable lives. Along with meals and the food pantry, the agency plans to offer:

• case management
• culinary job training in the building’s large commercial kitchen
• financial literacy training and a microloan program

Through partnerships with neighboring organizations, clients will also be able to get primary medical care from Americares, immigration legal assistance from Building One Community, and addiction and behavioral health counseling from Liberation Programs.

The building also houses Catholic Charities’ Senior Nutrition programs. Every day, the agency delivers Meals on Wheels to more than 300 homebound and disabled seniors in the Stamford area, and it serves meals to older adults at eight community dining sites.

Mayor Simmons called the new center “a one-stop shop and a hub for hope for so many families in our community.” “You judge a city or a community by how well it takes care of those who are vulnerable among us,” she said. “Judging by the outpouring of support in this room and the many years of dedication to this cause, we’re doing pretty well.”

Congressman Himes, who spent several years working on affordable housing, said that experience taught him that good housing “comes to nothing unless you also address the nutritional, the medical, the social, the financial needs of people living in poverty.” That, he said, is “the animating spirit of this facility.”

Attorney General Tong, a North Stamford resident who has volunteered at New Covenant Center, recalled Bishop Caggiano’s August statement on immigrant families, which spoke of suffering, dignity and indifference. Anyone who serves a meal at the center will see suffering and dignity, he said. “What you will not see is indifference. Nobody here is indifferent. Everybody cares.”

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation gave $2.5 million to the project. Since the foundation was founded in 2001, it has given more than $1.5 billion under Alex Cohen’s leadership. It supports underserved communities, women’s health, sustainability, the arts and children. Representatives of the foundation attended the dedication and joined in the ribbon cutting.

Other donors chose to leave a message instead of their names. Andy and Susan DiLoreto, both graduates of Villanova University, made a $1.5 million gift. Rather than having their names placed in the building, they chose a quote from Pope Leo XIV, a fellow Villanova alumnus. It now hangs above the serving area of the dining hall: “This is true hope: Knowing that God’s love sustains us.”

The building is owned by the Knights of Columbus. Bishop Caggiano reminded the Knights in attendance that Blessed Michael McGivney founded the order to serve the poor, the disenfranchised and immigrants. “I am absolutely certain that Blessed Michael, in his place in heaven, is looking down with a huge smile, that this facility that’s owned by the Knights is doing exactly what he asked the Knights to do,” he said.

To see more photos from the event, click here.