Assistance Directory: Pocket-sized handbook tailored to Owensboro Diocese's 9 deaneries

Don Wilkins, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Oct. 2—Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities, wanted to make it easier for low-income and homeless individuals within the Diocese of Owensboro to find resources that will help them through their daily lives.

Montalvo-Gesser said the idea was to create a pocket-sized directory that contained contact information for resources to the Diocese's nine western Kentucky deaneries.

"One of the things I've learned — even before I was at this job — is that one, it's really expensive to be poor, and two is that it's almost a job when you're poor to find the resources that you need to get assistance and get out of the situation that you're in."

This is the first time Catholic Charities has published such a directory that has pages devoted to hotlines, clothing and goods, education, financial assistance, emergency shelters, health, legal services, housing, transportation and pregnancy crisis centers.

Montalvo-Gesser said it took two years to accumulate the information, which was gathered by Heidi Reyes through the Americorps Vista program.

"It was almost like working out the web of where people go and then just having all of that in one place," Montalvo-Gesser said.

Along with all of the local Catholic parishes and homeless shelters, the 2021 Resource Directory can be found at the Help Office of Owensboro, 1316 W. 4th St.

Angela Settle, the Help Office's executive director, said she was excited to receive the 20-page directory in mid-September.

"They're very valuable," Settle said. "Normally, the resources that we give are just on a typed sheet, and we might hand them a list of food pantries. But this is compact — something they can stick in their pockets or in their backpacks. It's a wonderful tool, and I know Catholic Charities put in a lot of hard work and time to get this together."

Approximately 40,000 copies of the directories were printed, with 10,000 of them distributed within Daviess County.

Montalvo-Gesser said each directory also contains a pull-out food insert that lists the various food resources in each deanery.

"We've discovered the most needed thing is food assistance," she said.

Montalvo-Gesser added that the plan is to update the directory every two to three years.

"It's a guide that will give people who are on the margins — whether they're homeless or in poverty — the resources that they need to get assistance," she said.