Msgr. Alfred LoPinto was named head of Human Services Vicar for the Catholic Charities. He will leave his position as pastor of St. Helen’s in January. File Photo
The Rev. Monsignor Alfred LoPinto, Vicar for Human Services for Catholic Charities of Brooklyn, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens and related agencies.
The appointment comes as Robert Siebel, who served in that capacity for 11 years and with Catholic Charities for 41, retires.
Monsignor LoPinto has been the pastor at St. Helen Roman Catholic Church in Howard Beach for six years and is stepping down to focus on his work with Catholic Charities. He will continue to serve as Vicar for Human Services, a position he has held since 2005.
Ensuring affordable housing for the displaced, the elderly, and people with special needs has long been a priority for Catholic Charities, the largest multiservice agency in Brooklyn and Queens. Catholic Charities works to help people of all ages, from its pre-Head Start programs to its various senior services, with special focus on seniors aged 85 and above. As Monsignor LoPinto explained, the agency continues to look at changes in the community—whether they are economic, cultural, environmental, or otherwise—to see how those changes impact people, and how they can help people navigate through them.
“We have to adjust to this new world. Brooklyn and Queens are not what they were yesterday,” said Monsignor LoPinto.
In the Diocese of Brooklyn and as pastor at St. Helen’s, he was a leader in the recovery efforts that followed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, and he remains impassioned about the mission to advocate for those affected by that and other disasters.
“We’ve been involved since Day One,” said Monsignor LoPinto, “helping people link up with appropriate agencies and get access to the benefits that they’re entitled to.”
As the monsignor explained, some federal agencies designed to help in disaster case management have “not produced the level of benefit” that is purported to be available. Oftentimes, Monsignor LoPinto said, agencies would lose applicants’ paperwork as many as five times and then still deny the claim. In some cases, applicants “never even got to first base” in the application process,” the monsignor noted. Catholic Charities initially put together their own grant program, a $2 million fund that was divided among 16 parishes. The organization will continue to help people “walk through the system” of applying for relief.
“Look at the callousness of FEMA, who didn’t give [applicants] anywhere near the amount they needed in the first place. Then, to ask them to pay back the money is as absurd as you can get,” said Monsignor LoPinto, referring to the grants issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Sandy relief, monies which FEMA is now asking some recipients to return. Via mailed correspondence, the agency has reached out to approximately 850 families, asking for the repayment of a collective $5.8 million.
The letters cover a gamut of reasons why FEMA requests the return of the funds, such as alleged duplicate payouts. One letter to a borough family read, “These funds were provided based upon disaster-related needs you indicated in your application to FEMA. However, during our review of your case, you were found ineligible for some or all of the funds provided you under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.” The letter then invites the family to either pay back the money—at once or in installments—or appeal the decision within 60 days.
Monsignor LoPinto’s suggestion to those who got the letters: “You ignore the government; what else can you do? Let [FEMA] make an effort to take the house,” he said, adding that, for some people, stress and the fear of losing their homes, “could kill them.”
Indeed, area residents and business owners have been shocked and confused to receive these letters, and in many cases simply cannot afford to pay the money back, having spent it to make repairs and replace what is often a miniscule portion of lost belongings.
“Sandy took everything,” said Antonia Giove, 81, of Howard Beach. “We couldn’t live in our house for over a month after. They gave us money to fix things, and now we get this letter? It’s not right.” Giove and her husband live outside of the evacuation zone and didn’t have flood insurance at the time that Sandy struck. Additionally, the very paperwork they’re expected to file to appeal the FEMA decision was washed away with the rest of their finished basement two years ago.
The Giove family is just one of many in the community that, in addition to being displaced, lost a lifetime of memories, valuable belongings, heat, and electricity from Sandy’s wrath. Of course, some lost their homes entirely. Catholic Charities’ mission to provide various services to seniors, families, people with special needs, immigrants, and refugees, and in particular its focus on affordable housing, has been helpful to many, not only in the wake of such disasters. Since the organization began to provide housing over thirty years ago, it has offered 4,000 units, continuing to manage the buildings and monitor improvements over time.
As Monsignor LoPinto said, “We could double the number and still not meet the needs” of the Brooklyn-Queens community. In Howard Beach alone, Catholic Charities received last year 750 applications for senior housing. They were able to offer 82 units to seniors and 12 to people with disabilities.
By Eugénie Bisulco
