Carly Dumhoff, a graduate of Evergreen House and a client with Catholic Charities counseling services, speaks about the life-changing help she found through the programs.
A graduate of Evergreen House for women in recovery and a client in Catholic Charities’ Counseling Services commanded the full attention of the nearly 200 guests at the annual “Hands of Christ Creating Hope” dinner, telling benefactors, “It is absolutely wild to be emotionally stable and calmly competent” after years of successful treatment.
“My mental health was never healthy before and I truly had no conception about how capable I could actually be,” said Carly Dumhoff. “The months I spent at Evergreen and in continued therapy and psychiatrist visits at the Capital Region Counseling Services – having a consistent schedule, predictable activities, familiar faces and personalities – allowed for a gradual adjustment to a different way of life. The controlled environment gave me space and time to be myself and experience just being me.”
Dumhoff, who resides in Harrisburg, is now a certified substitute teacher and a health care and mental health advocate. She shares an apartment with a friend, now that she’s found life-changing help through Catholic Charities.
The “Hands of Christ Creating Hope” dinner, held this year on Thursday, May 8, at the Diocesan Center, is an annual benefit that shines a light on Catholic Charities’ programs and raises critical financial support for its continued mission of serving those who are most in need. Its wide range of programs and services includes Evergreen House for women in recovery, Lourdeshouse maternity home, the Interfaith Shelter for Homeless Families, Paradise School, adoption and foster care, counseling, and English as a second language services.
Dumhoff’s remarks offered a glimpse into the lives Catholic Charities changes every single day.
Having suffered from anxiety and depression since ninth grade, Dumhoff said her mental health continued on a downward spiral in college, compounded by antisocial behavior, a fear of people and a lack of career leads after graduation.
“Feeling like a failure and unable to secure a job with a livable wage, I really felt like this world did not want me in it,” said Dumhoff. To cope, she turned to methamphetamines.
“After a decade of self-medicating, a dysfunctional interpersonal dynamic and continued poverty from low-wage work, I decided to take a chance and go to rehab. That led to the next step with a halfway house,” she said. She chose Evergreen House because of its connection to the Catholic Church.
Bishop Timothy Senior is interviewed by Dennis Owens of ABC27 News as Catholic Charities’ annual dinner gets underway May 8, just hours after the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Bolstered by compassion, accountability, structure and therapy, Dumhoff found a lifeline through Catholic Charities’ Evergreen House and Capital Region Counseling Services.
“I was able to finally get some distance between myself and the emotional baggage of my dysfunctional, traumatizing past. It felt more tangible to process, to work through, to grieve,” she said. “I was somewhere safer, calmer, with accredited professionals and guidance.”
“Now, two years properly medicated, feeling stable emotionally, energetic and calmly competent, it is absolutely wild. I feel connected to myself, my environment and my community,” she said. “The importance of spaces and places for mental health, inpatient, sustained treatment is the difference between life and death.”
The “Hands of Christ Creating Hope” event was emceed by Dennis Owens of ABC27 News. In remarks at the start of the evening – just hours after the election of Pope Leo XIV – Bishop Timothy Senior shared his gratitude for the nearly 200 supporters gathered.
“I give thanks to God for your support for this core mission of our local Church that is doing tremendous work in reaching out to the poor and most vulnerable in our region every day,” he said.
The evening’s guest speaker was Sister Veronica Susan of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who spent 18 years caring for the infirm before working in fundraising and development for the order’s Holy Family Home in Philadelphia, a residence for the elderly poor.
Sister Veronica Susan of the Little Sisters of the Poor speaks about her congregation’s work with the elderly poor, including at the Holy Family Home in Philadelphia.
“The elderly are truly the pearl of great price that we talk about in the Gospels, in which we want to give up everything to get. The elderly can give you something no one else can give – wisdom and the truth. They are the presence of God,” Sister Veronica Susan said.
“The elderly are looking for security, serenity and dignity. But most importantly, they’re looking for love,” she said. “As the Little Sisters of the Poor, we become their home and their family, giving them love, dignity and respect. Once they realize they have that, they begin to enjoy what is around them, and they begin to bloom…. Sitting with them and letting them know we love them is the greatest gift we can give.”
Sister Veronica Susan shared the history of the foundress of her religious order – St. Jeanne Jugan, a poor maid during the French Revolution whose charitable and merciful act of taking in a blind and paralyzed woman led to the establishment of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The congregation now tends to the marginalized in 31 countries around the world.
“Jeanne Jugan gave what little alms she had and took in as many people as she could. God shows us in many different ways that we can do more, we can give more of ourselves…. We see what we can do when we come together to serve the marginalized,” Sister Veronica Susan said.
Kelly Gollick, Executive Director of Catholic Charities, echoed those sentiments in her closing remarks, in which she underscored the hospitality and accompaniment Catholic Charities staff provide to clients on a daily basis.
“Every single day, there is a person who is lost, feeling isolated and alone, disconnected, who musters up the courage to reach out to one of our programs with a prayer that they will be welcomed with hospitality and love,” she said. “Catholic Charities takes it one step further, though. We accompany them during their darkest days. This call to walk along the journey with a stranger in need leads both our clients and staff towards transformative love and change in the world.”
Quoting Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), “One who accompanies others has to realize that each person’s situation before God and their life in grace are mysteries which no one can fully know from without,” Gollick said “We trust in God’s plan and His mercy for us and our clients while we walk with them on whatever part of life’s journey they spend with us at Catholic Charities.”
Learn more about the services and programs of Catholic Charities, and find out how you can donate, get involved or participate in one of its upcoming fundraisers, at www.cchbg.org or contact Tara Benkovic, Development Director, at tbenkovic@cchbg.org.
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness (reprinted with permission)