Apr 27, 2016 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – When expectant moms come through the door of Catholic Charities in Waynesburg, there is a cheerful staff of counselors waiting to help them get ready for the big day, and beyond.

“We have all the B things,” Director Gary Yaquinto said with a laugh. “Baby blankets, bottles, bibs, bassinets, binkies…”

The store room in the back of the office at 72 E. High St. looks like an old-fashioned department store, with racks of clothes, from infant and toddler, to dress clothes for job interviews. Bicycles are there and so are shelves of diapers, boxes of formula, racks of coats and rows of car seats. On any given day, those who come to Catholic Charities will have their immediate needs met, and more.

Yaquinto remembers when a young father and his three children arrived from Florida two winters ago and came looking for help resettling.

“It was 8 (degrees) below that day and they were wearing their Florida clothes,” Yaquinto said. “Before they left they had sweaters, winter coats and bags of presents for the kids. When we found out they were moving in with his father and his father had a shut off notice, we helped with that too.”

Yaquinto, a 37-year veteran of mental health services, is program director of the Washington and Waynesburg offices of the organization that has been serving people for more than a century. When the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh saw the great need of European immigrants coming to Western Pennsylvania in 1910, the charity was created to provide food, clothing and the skills needed for a new life in America. Now it has offices in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver, Washington Lawrence and Greene counties and offers services that are needed for today’s moments of crisis – disaster relief and basic needs assistance, including help with utilities, parenting education, supportive counseling and help finding employment – professional clothing for interviews and gas vouchers for interviews or within two weeks of a new job.

“There are no income limits on our pregnancy and parenting services,” Yaquinto said. He encourages moms-to-be to take advantage of the counseling for pre-natal care, nutrition and learning to cope with the changes to the household that having a new baby can bring.

For Catholic Charities, helping families begins with mothers-to-be but doesn’t end there. There are holiday gifts for kids and help when they are swept up in emotions they are too young to understand but are only too real.

“They call me the rollercoaster lady,” Lori Zator said, laughing.

She’s the counselor who goes into the schools with the Rollercoasters Program, co-partnered through the Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation. Zator leads the eight-week sessions, which are only offered at Greene County schools, that help kids kindergarten through fifth-graders learn to cope with anger and grief, deal with bullying and build self-esteem though creative play in a schoolroom setting.

The agency also offers counseling at the office on a sliding scale and can bill behavioral health servers and insurance providers, Yaquinto said.

“We can always work something out,” he said. “We would never just turn you away.”

Losing a job when living paycheck to paycheck is stressful, Yaquinto acknowledged. “People come in here frustrated by their situation but leave feeling better,” he said. “I have a great staff and we can offer great service. If we can’t help, we make referrals to other agencies that can.”

On April 8, Catholic Charities held an open house to let other human services agencies in the county meet the counselors and review the programs their agency offers.

Last year, Yaquinto and his team of counselors provided nearly 5,000 “acts of service” to Greene County residents, including families with new babies on the way.

Catholic Charities serves all, regardless of religious affiliation. The Waynesburg office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, although its closed during the lunch hour. Call 724-627-6410 for more information. The office in Washington, located at 331 S. Main St., is open Monday through Thursday with the same office hours. That office can be reached at 724-228-7722.