Catholic Charities of Diocese of Venice serves Manatee

Editor’s note: The Herald will be periodically visiting Manatee County social service agencies to report on their missions. This first story is about the work Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice is currently doing in Manatee.

Two years ago, Manatee County residents Jose and Luisa Ramos, not their actual names, faced a huge knot in their lives they had no idea how to unravel.

Luisa Ramos, of Cuban descent, is a U.S. citizen. But Jose Ramos, her husband, entered the United States illegally from Mexico. Luisa Ramos wanted to help her husband achieve U.S. citizenship so that he could work legally in Manatee, get a driver’s license here and maybe purchase a home.

The couple had gone to a “notario” or notary, in the community, who charged them a large sum and sent them to an immigration office in Tampa with an application filled out, telling Luisa Ramos confidently, “You are a citizen therefore your husband can adjust his status,” according to the Ramoses.

It was a false statement and the couple’s application was denied, Margaret Sciscento , a Manatee County-based immigration counselor for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice said last week, recalling the case.

“Only if Jose had entered the country with inspection, which is a Visa, could he get citizenship through marriage to a U.S. citizen,” Sciscento said.

The Ramos’ first needed a “letter of forgiveness” for Jose Ramos’ act of coming into the country illegally, something the local notario did not know how to go about getting, Sciscento said.

Through word of mouth, the Ramos found their way to a white building next to Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 1219 16th St. W. in Bradenton where they met Catholic Charities’ always smiling administrative assistant Blanca Gentile, who introduced them to Sciscento.

“Can you do it?” they asked Sciscento.

Sciscento asked them if they were willing to go through what would be months of digging up medical records and past bills, going for psychological evaluations, letter writing, fees, and Jose Ramos having to return to Mexico, all required to get citizenship via the legal path.

Instead of the hefty payment demanded by the notario, however Catholic Charities would charge them a nominal sum based on their incomes.

The couple said “Yes.” They worked with Sciscenter so closely that they became like family to her, she said. Their commitment paid off after two years of effort.

“Last Monday Jose called me from Juarez and was screaming, “I made it! I made it! I’m approved!’ I’m on my way back!” Sciscento said, her voice possibly revealing just as much excitement in the retelling as Jose Ramos’. “So, from a losing case where they had been denied because they submitted the wrong application using an unaccredited source or practitioner, they came here and achieved the desired results.”

Catholic Charities has large reach

The work that Catholic Charities is doing in Manatee is primarily immigration counseling like the case above by Sciscento.

But there is also home buyer education workshops and foreclosure prevention and budget and credit counseling classes all taught by Lucy C. Sanchez Cruz.

On top of that Ruth Ross handles the case management and oversight of residents living in affordable housing for the elderly at Holy Cross Manor I and II in Palmetto.

Finally, Reina Buzzi supervises a small emergency assistance fund to help needy Manatee residents with rents or utilities.

Close to 30 percent of Sciscento and Garcia’s clients in Manatee are from Haiti, a percentage that has risen dramatically in the past five years. Together, Sciscento and Garcia see 700 to 800 individuals a year requesting immigration assistance. Most every case involves family unification.

“Most of our applications deal with citizens petitioning for their family members that are already in the U.S. or in the home country, waiting to come,” Sciscento said.

Although there is a waiting list to get into Holy Cross Manor I and II, which offer rents to those age 55 and older based on their incomes, people needing affordable housing can get it sooner if they are willing to go to another county that the Diocese of Venice and Catholic Charities serves, said Peter Routis-Arroyo, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities.

While the above are Manatee’s most pressing needs based on research Catholic Charities did recently in Manatee, each of the 10 counties that Catholic Charities serves in southwest Florida has its own needs and when all are factored in, the agency’s yearly social service budget crests at $10 million, Routis-Arroyo added.

The list of programs offered across the remaining nine counties — Hardee, Highland, Desoto, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Glades and Collier — is vast and includes adoption services, after-school reading and tutoring programs, clothing banks, early learning centers, farmworker housing, English classes, food assistance, financial assistance, HIV/AIDs housing, AIDs support services, veteran’s housing, youth mentoring, soup kitchens and many more.

“We are a very large social services structure with a housing component added to it,” Routis-Arroyo said.

Catholic Charities has 120 social service employees for the 10 counties and serves roughly 40,000 needy people annually, Routis-Arroyo said.

“Our social services budget is probably 30 percent from state and local governments, 30 percent raised by us and 40 percent from donations from our parishioners, who number about 400,000,” Routis-Arroyo said.

Education is power

Sanchez Cruz provides free budget and financial management classes in the white building as well as free home buyer classes.

Interestingly, many clients march right over and see Sanchez Cruz after getting help from Sciscento.

“After I help them get citizenship, then Lucy helps them get a home,” Sciscento said. “We’ve had numerous cases like that.”

“What Margaret didn’t say is that we are helping people become productive members of society,” Routis-Arroyo said. “Now, they can get a job. She also helps with their work permits.”

Sanchez Cruz teaches people how credit works and how to pull up their credit reports as well as how to read them.

“I do counseling for individuals who are having problems with their finances,” Sanchez Cruz said. “Sometimes they don’t know where their money is going.”

She is probably best known in Manatee for teaching her eight-hour, “Homebuyer Education Workshop.” The workshop covers such things as “Steps to Successful Home Ownership,” “Winning Credit History/Shopping for a Loan” and “Shopping for a Home/Choosing a Realtor.”

“It’s a Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling workshop,” Sanchez Cruz said. “We teach it in Spanish and English. We also teach them about fair housing and explain that it’s the law.”

Routsis-Arroyo listened to all of the above employees during a visit to Bradenton last week.

He showed pride when the women told of their successes, but also insisted that not everyone who comes to see Sciscento and fellow immigration counselor Yolanda Garcia and Sanchez Cruz achieve citizenship or are able to buy their first home.

“Some we can’t help due to their situations, but I’m proud of the passion our staff has in helping every client who comes to them,” Routis-Arroyo said.

“They become like family to us,” Gentile said of the clients, who often will show up in the office to let the workers umpire a personal family issue that has nothing to do with immigration.

Routis-Arroyo said that Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice has been nationally accredited by the Council of Accreditation assuring best practice standards and has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.

“That tells us we are good stewards of the funds we receive,” Routis-Arroyo added.

Information: Immigration, Margaret Sciscento, 941-747-1467 or msciscento@ccdis1.org or Yolanda Garcia, 941-747-1467 or ygarcia@ccdis1.org; housing and financial counseling, Lucy C. Sanchez Cruz, 941-714-7829, ext. 302 (English) or 380 (Spanish). Holy Cross Manor housing, Ruth Ross, service coordinator, 941-488-8622 or 941-729-8147. Financial assistance, Reina Buzzi, 941-355-4680, ext. 304.

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Catholic Charities of Diocese of Venice serves Manatee."