Social Responsibility Commission

The primary purposes of the Social Responsibility Commission are to provide a focus on areas of community outreach, advocacy, service and social needs.

Pastoral Council Co-Chairs:  Art Adams and Frank Endom
Commission Co-Chairs: Wanda Love and Sue Steitz

Bereavement Food Team
A ministry that provides meals to the families who have lost a loved one.

Responsibilities include: Serving as member of one of four food teams; providing one dish at time of funeral.
Time Commitment/Meetings: 3-4 times a year.
Contact: Nancy Keaton or Angela Falgoust

Catholic Social Teachings Ministry
A ministry that raises social justice awareness among our parishioners.

Responsibilities include: 1) Willingness to openly and respectfully discuss the Catholic Social Teachings of the Church with team members. 2). Prayerful integration of the themes of Life and Dignity of the Human Person; Call to Family, Community, and Participation; Rights and Responsibilities; Option for the Poor and Vulnerable; Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers; Solidarity; and Care for God’s Creation into all parish ministries and daily life.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Monthly meetings from 6:00 pm until 7:30 pm on the second Tuesday of each month beginning August 2011 through April 2012.
Contact: Laura Poche or Angela Falgoust

Counseling Referral Program
A ministry that provides counseling to individuals and families referred by parish staff and/or school administration.

Responsibilities include: Volunteers must be board certified social workers who are willing to participate in the Counseling Referral Program. Confidential referrals are made by parish staff members.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies according to parish needs and volunteer's availability.
Contact: Deacon John Veron, Pastoral Associate

Communion Ministers to the Sick
A ministry that takes communion to the homebound.

Responsibilities include: Requires brief training. After appropriate formation, lay minister will take communion to 6-8 parishioners.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Every 4-6 weeks rotating with other team members; schedules are mailed out quarterly.
Contact: Angela Falgoust

Dignity of Life Ministry
As a revitalized Respect Life Ministry, this Ministry’s overall objective will be to send to the Parish a positive message of respecting life from conception to natural death.

Responsibilities include: The ministry’s yearly action plan will consist of four major programs. Activities surrounding the annual Bishop’s March for Life in January will remain in each yearly action plan. Each year’s action plan also will include an elective program for the youth of the parish and another for the elderly. The ministry will choose the remaining elective program each year that is consistent with the ministry’s mission and overall objective. Topics for these programs may include:

• Child Abuse
  
• Contraception
  
• Domestic Violence
  
• Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  
• Euthanasia
  
• Health Care for the Poor
  
• Human Cloning
  
• Human Trafficking

Time Commitment/Meetings: Initial organizational meeting; subsequent time commitments will vary, depending on program activities. A coordinator will lead in each of the selected programs.
Contact: Frank Endom or Angela Falgoust

Food Bank
A ministry that aids in the collection of donated food at Sunday Masses.

Responsibilities include: Receiving donated food items and delivering them to the Food Bank.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Special drives held approximately three times a year; food donations accepted anytime.
Contact: Krista Haefner or Wanda Love

Gentle Hands
This ministry provides support and information to families who have suffered the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth, or death.

Responsibilities include: Attending committee meeting to help with planning and organizing to provide an outreach for families who suffer the loss of a child.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies with needs of families.
Contact: Michelle Breaux

Giving Tree
A ministry that provides assistance during Advent to people in need in the following ministries: Children of Prisoners, Joseph Home Residents, Women in Crisis Pregnancies, Myriam's House, Bishop Ott Shelter, Habitat for Humanity, Boys' Hope/ Girls' Hope, Developmental Disabilities, St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy and Sweet Dreams, Cenikor, and Kids Café of Interfaith Federation of GBR.

Responsibilities include: Making ornaments; identifying needs of the ministries, collecting and distributing gifts; wrapping gifts.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies according to volunteer's availability; one planning meeting in October.
Contact: Arline Mistretta

Good Samaritans
A ministry that provides support to parishioners in a variety of ways based on the needs of the parish.

Responsibilities include: Primarily preparation and delivery of meals; hold frozen food drive twice a year. Team Leaders are also needed to help organize and implement the ministry's efforts.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies according to volunteer's availability.
Contact:  Kay Hoffpauir or Susannah Denicola Babin

Grief Recovery
A ministry that comforts parishioners who have suffered a loss through death.

Responsibilities include: Meeting with peers to support each other through the death of a loved one.
Contact: Lisette Borne´

Habitat for Humanity
A ministry that provides assistance  in building homes.

Responsibilities include: Working on a construction project or at Habitat Restore.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies according to volunteer's availability. Work dates to be determined.
Contact: Kim Boudreaux or Ron Chenevert

Interfaith Federation of GBR
A ministry that reaches out to people of diverse faiths, race and economic conditions in the Baton Rouge area.

Responsibilities include: Participating in the Federation functions, events and activities such as serving in the Holy Grill's soup kitchen for a week, attending the annual Fall Community Prayer Breakfast, providing Christmas gifts through the Giving Tree for the Kid's Café Christmas Party, organizing interfaith dialogues and other Federation programs.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Meetings are held three times a year, on the first Thursdays in January, May & September. Members also serve on one of the committees.
Contact: Christina Riquelmy

St. Aloysius Honduran Mission
An outreach ministry providing assistance through areas of health, farming and education to the people of the mission at Guaimaca, Honduras.

Responsibilities include: Mission Team recruits participants; coordinates medicine collections; prepares supplies for shipping; communicates with Mission Sisters to establish the work schedule; helps to promote assistance for girls attending the mission school preparing to enter college by donating laptop computers.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Seven to ten day trip to Guaimaca, Honduras; time commitment for other events varies according to volunteer’s availability.
Contact: Alvin Raetzsch

Just Faith
A ministry that promotes and supports small faith groups to be formed by the justice tradition articulated by scripture, the Church’s historical witness, theological inquiry and church social teaching. Our Christian faith extends an invitation to each of us to become agents of God’s compassion and healing in a wounded world. Just Faith empowers ordinary people to act on that invitation. Just Faith ministry helps participants to expand their commitment to social ministry within their parish.

Responsibilities include: Team members will choose from the choices of programs offered by the Just Faith National Office, which will provide St. Aloysius parishioners the opportunity to experience Christ’s call to care for the poor and the vulnerable.
Time Commitment/Meetings: The initial organizational meeting will be held in the fall and three additional team meetings will be scheduled during the year. Other commitments vary according to the members’ interests and their availability to volunteer.
Contact: Ginger Lowery or Verna Clouatre

Kairos Prison Ministry at Angola
A ministry that provides spiritual growth opportunity and support to incarcerated residents via weekend retreats similar to Cursillo.

Responsibilities include: Serving the residents of Angola LSP through the Kairos prison ministry program. Opportunities include participating in training and Angola retreats, baking cookies or preparing letters and children's art Agape.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Varies according to volunteer's availability. Three Kairos camp retreats at Angola scheduled per year: spring, summer and fall.
Contact: Rick Blackstone

Nursing Home Visitation
A ministry that provides St. Aloysius parishioners or their families in nursing homes support through visits to them.

Responsibilities include: Members visit three residents on a regularly scheduled basis.
Time Commitment/Meetings: One initial meeting; time commitment and visiting schedule varies according to volunteer's availability (usually once a month).
Contact: Melissa Healy or Deacon Jack Jung

Prayer Shawl Ministry
A ministry that provides comfort to distressed persons through the prayers and handicraft of others.

Responsibilities include: Flexible meetings on the second Thursday of each month to pray and assist members with the completion of a prayer shawl. No experience in knitting or crocheting is necessary.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Once a month or as much time as necessary to complete the shawls.
Contact: Joyce LeFleur

Prison Ministry at Dixon Correctional Facility
A ministry that provides support to prisoners during incarceration.

Responsibilities include: Visiting the imprisoned on Friday evenings at the correctional facilities.
Time Commitment/Meetings: At least once a month for about two hours each visit, which includes a Eucharistic service and discussion group.
Contact: Jeanie and David Bondy

Society of St. Vincent de Paul
A ministry that provides assistance to those in need.

St. Vincent de Paul - Home Visitation Teams
Responsibilities include: Monthly SVDP meetings and serving on a team to visit the needy within our parish geographical boundaries.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Monthly SVDP meeting plus each team serves on a 4-6 week rotation basis for home visits. Each rotation generally involves a 4-6 hour commitment.
Contact: Sue Chenevert

Thanksgiving Baskets
A ministry that organizes the donation of food at Thanksgiving to those in need.

Responsibilities include: Buying and delivering the items chosen, to the family in need, in time for Thanksgiving.
Time Commitment/Meetings: Parishioner sets up a day/time to deliver the food items in the Thanksgiving basket to the family in need.
Contact: Kim Hardman

Volunteer Health Corps of Baton Rouge
A ministry that provides medical care in evening clinics, with care provided primarily by volunteers, both medical and non-medical.

Contact: Frank Endom