by Sophia Root,

Commerce Chenango

CHENANGO COUNTY – This week, Commerce Chenango would like to highlight Catholic Charities of Chenango County, a diverse Human Service agency serving Chenango County and beyond.

Catholic Charities of Chenango County (CCofCC) offers services and support to all vulnerable populations within their service region.

Founded in the City of Norwich in 1970, CCofCC provides services to more than 10,000 unique individuals a year in Chenango County. According to Director of Operations Jeff Cheesbro, “All these individuals meet the requirements for services as established by funding sources, which include low-income thresholds.”

CCofCC is a human service agency that is predominately funded by federal, state, and local grant funding and Medicaid billable services. Cheesbro states, “We are a true Non-profit organization and the majority of funding that we bring into our community is invested directly into the community through salary and employment, purchasing of good and services, and service delivery.”

According to the 2023 CENSUS data, Chenango County has 45,920 residents, meaning Catholic Charities supports more than 21% of the entire population of Chenango County in some way.

Catholic Charities utilizes their platform with community providers and government entities to highlight the current and most pressing needs in the community. Cheesbro states, “We do this through active participation and engagement in all community functions, both public and private.”

The Chenango County location is one of six Catholic Charities organizations within the Catholic Charities of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse Corporation and represents the Chenango County arm of the Corporation. CCofCC is led locally by an autonomous Board of Directors that are from Chenango County.

CC of CC currently employs 66 people, many of whom possess a bachelor’s degree or another level of higher education. Between 2023-2024, utilizing its in-house grant writers and project managers, CC of CC has secured $7.84 Million in new funding to expand new services throughout the greater Chenango County Region.

The Main Office location of CCofCC hosts numerous case management and housing service is open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m.-12 p.m. CCofCC also operates an emergency services center, Roots & Wings, which is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Thursdays 8 a.m. -12 p.m. CCofCC’s residential and housing programs are open 24/7, 365 days a year. Many of their programs also offer 24-hour on-call services for enrolled recipients.

Currently, CCofCC is working on some ideas for hosting a community forum on homelessness. Cheesbro claims, “We hope this work can continue to educate the local community on some of the work our agency and others have done.” The organization is also sending out their annual appeal to donors, aiming to fund some of their emergency service programming.

Other projects include serving the homeless population in the community, including Shadow’s Rest, a development project in the Town of Norwich. “We are developing 12 Tiny Homes that will provide permanent supportive housing and emergency housing to homeless individuals in our community” states Cheesbro. “This program will offer 7 day a week support to people who are chronically in need and require a level of service that is not provided by traditional housing opportunities. Our increased funding has led to us offering many new job opportunities within the community, and there will be more employment opportunities available as projects progress.”

Along with the construction of these tiny homes, CCofCC is working on a homeless shelter. Cheesbro states, “We are also currently working with numerous community partners to secure a location that will be used for a Homeless Services Center which will include a Drop-in Center, Low Barrier Shelter and collocated community services all at one location to address the growing homeless needs in the community. This innovative project is currently being designed and we are collaborating with numerous private and public entities and individuals to develop this.”

Cheesbro believes that one of the best parts of serving Chenango County is just being part of the wonderful community itself. “We always receive strong support from members of the community and continue to work with individuals, families, businesses, agencies and local government with our projects and services, to ensure that we are addressing the needs that our community members feel are important to them, not just what is available to offer.”

To learn more about Catholic Charities of Chenango County, visit ccofcc.com or contact the main office at 607-334-8244. The website is being updated, but current programming information is expected to be available by the end of the year. To learn about employment opportunities, visit the CCofCC website or search for open positions on Indeed.