Asfaw Hubtewold (Ethiopia), Krishna Basnet (Bhutan), and Phleh Reh (Burma) recently participated in an exercise class offered by the Catholic Charities of Tennessee Refugee Elders program. The program offers planned activities and case management services involving citizenship training, physical activities, and social/emotional support for refugees over the age of 50 for the clients, many of who were resettled in Middle Tennessee with their families through Catholic Charities of Tennessee Refugee Services.
(photo by Kats Barry for Catholic Charities of Tennessee)
Baptist Healing Trust has announced a one-year grant award of more than $27,300 to Catholic Charities of Tennessee’s Refugee Services program. The funding will support the program’s Refugee Elders initiative, providing citizenship training, physical activities, and social/emotional support for refugees over the age of 50.
“We are proud to help support Catholic Charities’ Refugee Elders program and 33 other local non-profits working to create access to quality, compassionate services for the community’s most vulnerable residents,” said Dr. Catherine Self, P.T., Ph.D., president/CEO of Baptist Healing Trust.
Lem lem Gebrekostos (Ethiopia) and Roda Ntamubanyo (Burundi) have become close friends through their involvement with the Catholic Charities of Tennessee Refugee Elders program. The program offers planned activities and case management services involving citizenship training, physical activities, and social/emotional support for refugees over the age of 50 for the clients, many of who were resettled in Middle Tennessee with their families through Catholic Charities of Tennessee Refugee Services
(photo by Kats Barry for Catholic Charities of Tennessee)
“The grant is being used to fund direct services to refugee elders in the form of group programming and case management, including transportation to and from program activities,” said Jennifer Escue, Youth and Elders services coordinator for Catholic Charities. “The outcomes of this program (including improved physical well-being, less isolation, enhanced social connectedness, and increased awareness of available community services) are so important to the overall well-being of our clients.”
Baptist Healing Trust was created in 2002 when Baptist Hospital in Nashville was sold to Saint Thomas Health Services, a ministry of Ascension Health in St. Louis, Missouri. Since its inception, the Baptist Healing Trust has awarded over $60 million in grants throughout the Middle Tennessee region.
Catholic Charities of Tennessee, established in July 1962, served more than 69,000 people living in 38 Middle Tennessee counties last year. Operating on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville and its congregants, the agency’s major areas of community involvement include refugee and immigrant services, adoptions and parental support, counseling, senior services, education and job training, basic needs (including feeding, housing and clothing assistance), and advocacy, speaking on behalf of those without a voice. Catholic Charities is a licensed child placement agency of the state of Tennessee and certified as an Adult Day Care provider. Its adoption program is Hague accredited. Services are available to people of every religious, ethnic, cultural and racial background.
The Tennessee Office for Refugees is a department of Catholic Charities of Tennessee. For more information, visit www.cctenn.org.
