Washington D.C., Apr 5, 2021 / 07:00 am
A year after the coronavirus pandemic forced closures of businesses and sent the national unemployment rate soaring, Catholic Charities D.C. is still serving the most vulnerable in the nation’s capital.
“Some people have really been hurt badly,” Fr. John Enzler, president and CEO at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., told CNA in an interview on March 24. “We try to encourage people who have not been hurt, not been affected, to make extra donations this year, and to do more this year to help people.”
Food insecurity has been an ongoing issue in the region and around the country; the number of families receiving weekly meals at Catholic Charities increased tenfold during the pandemic. Fr. Enzler said that a looming eviction crisis will soon become a massive problem.
“Our biggest concern right now is evictions,” he said. “It’s going to be a tsunami if we’re not careful. Because lots of people are not going to be able to pay their rent. And their jobs have been out for almost a year.”