ALBANY — St. Catherine’s Center for Children was honored with the 2023 CURA Award for Outstanding Organization. This award is presented to a nonprofit organization in New York state, providing kinship care, or that has had a significant positive impact on kinship care. The award – presented by the New York State Kinship Navigator and New York State Kincare Coalition – was accepted by St. Catherine’s executive director, Frank Pindiak, as well as staff members from St. Catherine’s Kinship Care Program at a ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Albany – the Desmond Hotel.

St. Catherine’s Center for Children was recently honored with the 2023 CURA Award for Outstanding Organization. This award is presented to a nonprofit organization in New York state, providing kinship care, or that has had a significant positive impact on kinship care. The award – presented by the New York State Kinship Navigator and New York State Kincare Coalition – was accepted by St. Catherine’s executive director, Frank Pindiak, as well as staff members from St. Catherine’s Kinship Care Program.

TROY – St. Catherine’s Center for Children will present its first charity hockey tournament – the Lansingburgh Connects Hockey Clash – from Thursday, Sept. 7 to Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Frear Park Ice Arena. Organizers said the event is open to the public, with a suggested donation of non-perishable food items or personal hygiene items. It’s a four-team competition named after the community outreach program it will benefit: Lansingburgh Connects, an effort among St. Catherine’s, the Lansingburgh school district and the Rensselaer County Mental Health Department.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Recently, St. Catherine’s Center for Children and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s School of the Arts announced that they will partner, for the second year in a row, to offer children the opportunity to attend an arts and recreation summer camp. In 2022, in the first year of this partnership, the summer camp program hosted 35 Capital Region children, including 20 from St. Catherine’s residential program which serves children who have been removed from their homes and have experienced significant trauma in their life.

ALBANY — Recently, RBC Wealth Management’s RBC Foundation has awarded St. Catherine’s Center for Children a $5,000 grant to support the agency’s Foster and Kinship Care programs. These funds enable the continuation of wrap-around services which include supplying food, school supplies, clothing and other essentials needed to support the program’s children and families. In addition, this grant supports continued recruitment and retention of foster families, provides respite services to current kinship and foster families and funds classes in Arts and Culture for children in these programs.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) recently announced the launch of eight family opportunity centers (FOCs) across New York State. The centers are aimed at improving the safety and well-being of children and families by addressing issues of poverty, education barriers, substance use disorders and lack of adequate physical and mental health care.

In the Capital Region, the Pioneer financial services company recently held a Thanksgiving In April food drive to benefit St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany. The company collected donations from its employees and customers across its 22 Capital Region branches in Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Warren counties More than 1,500 canned goods and non-perishable food items were collected and donated to support the center’s efforts to provide a comprehensive range of human services for the children, families and adults it serves. The food drive was spearheaded by the Pioneer Charitable Foundation, which has provided more than $1.2 million in financial support to nearly 400 Capital Region nonprofits and contributed well over 10,000 hours of volunteer service since 2018.

TROY, N.Y. — St. Catherine’s Center for Children’s street outreach program, Pathways to Health, was honored as an Empire Whole Health Hero at a ceremony in Troy. This recognition is given to Capital Region residents and businesses that have demonstrated innovation and leadership in building the community’s whole health.St. Catherine’s Pathways to Health program was created to provide direct outreach and engagement in the community. With its “Care-A-Van” mobile unit, the Pathways team can set up on the street, in parking lots and anywhere necessary to meet with individuals and families in need.

Human services professionals work with society’s most vulnerable individuals and families. At St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany, our team provides programming and services for children who have experienced significant trauma, families who find themselves homeless, individuals in need of basic services but not sure where to turn and so much more. The need for these services is never-ending, which makes the jobs of our case workers and other professionals a 24/7 commitment.