Beneficiaries thank DDD for support of programs

Friday, Oct. 23, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — As the 2015 Diocesan Development Drive wraps up the year, those who direct their parish drives and others who are instrumental in the DDD’s success gathered Oct. 16 at St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s Holy Family Hall for a celebration dinner.

The annual DDD helps fund 30 ministries, programs and services throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City, including vocations and the Youth and Young Adult Ministry. 

As part of the dinner program, those in attendance heard from four people who have benefited from the DDD.

Deacon Michael Bulson, who was ordained in 1997 after completing the diocese’s permanent diaconate formation program, spoke of the work of his fellow deacons in the diocese. “You see the face of the Father’s mercy when Deacon Hector Mota visits the county jail, when Deacon Keith Norrell helps care for the homeless at St. Joseph’s Parish in Ogden, when Deacon George Reade visits the sick. The litany of deacons living out the ministry of mercy goes on and on in the Church,” Deacon Bulson said.

Currently, 16 men are in diaconal formation in the Diocese of Salt Lake City; their anticipated ordination date is Jan. 27, 2017.

Catholic Community Services of Utah, the diocese’s social services arm, also benefits from the DDD. In addition to feeding the poor and helping the homeless, CCS operates a refugee resettlement program. More than 600 refugees from more than 20 countries have been helped through CCS this year.

“These are the lucky ones among 20 million refugees warehoused in refugee camps [worldwide],” said Adan Batar, CCS’ director of immigration and refugee resettlement, who himself came to Utah as a refugee from Somalia in 1994, driven by the country’s civil war. CCS helped him adapt to life in the United States, get a job, and helped his wife learn English, he said.

Each of the 12 diocesan parishes participating in the refugee resettlement program “takes families under their wing, teaches them English, teaches them life in the United States, and most importantly, getting them jobs,” Batar said. “The refugee – all they need is somebody they can call friend. If they have a friend, they can easily integrate into our community very successfully. They want to provide for their families; they don’t want to live on handouts.”

Through a similar program, CCS’ refugee foster care program, Ben Aikuli, who lost his parents when he was 6, came to Utah from the Congo five years ago. Living with a foster family, he completed high school; he now attends Weber State University. Although he is unsure of his major, “my heart is telling me to help other people and to serve them,” said Aikuli. “Being able to graduate from high school and go to college has been a blessing for me, and I will continue pushing for the greater path in my life. … I really appreciate CCS. I don’t know what else I could say about CCS besides thank them. In everyday life they still help me.” 

Likewise, Tami Bernstein furthered her education with help from the DDD. The director of faith formation at St. Thomas More Parish, Bernstein was certified as a lay ecclesial minster in 2009 through a four-year diocesan formation program, then went on to earn a master’s degree from the Catholic Theological Union 

“Without the DDD’s assistance, I would never have been able to afford to take these courses,” Berstein said. “After graduation, I could not wait to use my education to glorify God. … I am so happy to have the knowledge and the resources to help me do my job. I know that there are a lot of other people out there like myself who would want to assist the Church in the manifestation of God’s kingdom. I pray that the DDD is able to continue the support of laypeople in this quest.”