PITTSBURGH — Bishop Mark A. Eckman announced Friday the establishment of the Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini Family Accompaniment and Emergency Assistance Fund to aid immigrant families experiencing extraordinary hardship.
Known as the Cabrini Fund, the initiative will provide temporary emergency assistance to households across six southwestern Pennsylvania counties within the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
The fund will be administered by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Church officials established the initiative to respond to a growing demand for assistance that parish pastors say now exceeds what any single parish can meet alone.
Bishop Eckman highlighted the responsibility of the Catholic community to support vulnerable families during severe personal crises.
“The Church cannot solve every difficulty a family may face, but we can make sure that no family faces its hardest moments alone,” Eckman said.
The Cabrini Fund is structured to serve as a supplementary safety net. Other available sources of financial assistance will be utilized first, with the fund filling the urgent remaining financial gaps.
Financial support provided through the fund is temporary, determined by genuine need and limited by total available resources. Specific aid covers basic needs such as food, clothing, diapers and personal hygiene items. The fund also covers rent, utilities and transportation required to keep a household stable, as well as medical, dental, prescription and counseling costs.
In addition to financial aid, each family supported by the fund will be accompanied directly by their local parish through prayer, the sacraments and a listening ear. Parish leaders will also connect families with trusted local partners for longer-term needs, including employment opportunities, schooling, health care access and qualified legal assistance.
Emergency assistance from the Cabrini Fund is scheduled to begin on Dec. 12, coinciding with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Catholic Charities will oversee intake review and rapid aid distribution across all six counties of the diocese.
Families seeking assistance are instructed to speak directly with their pastor or a member of their parish staff. Parish leaders will help identify what emergency resources are needed and refer the family to Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities will then review each request and work to deliver assistance quickly. The agency stated it will ask only for information necessary to render aid and will safeguard all shared personal data.
The diocese is inviting community members to contribute through prayer, welcoming newcomers into parishes and making financial donations. Direct gifts can be submitted online at the Catholic Charities website or mailed to Catholic Charities Diocese of Pittsburgh, 111 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, with “Cabrini Fund” written on the check memo line. Gifts can also be made through local parishes, which will forward funds directly to Catholic Charities.
The fund’s establishment was announced on the Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who serves as the patroness of immigrants. Born in 1850 in the Italian Alps, Mother Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She arrived in New York in 1889 to serve poor Italian immigrants and spent her life building schools, orphanages and hospitals for newcomers. In 1946, she became the first citizen of the United States to be canonized as a saint.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh was founded in 1910 to serve individuals and families facing life’s challenges across the region.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh, founded on Aug. 11, 1843, encompasses a community of 628,000 Catholics living across six counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington counties in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania.
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