Many of us remember, all too vividly, the anxieties that come with the first day of school. The mixture of uncertainty, curiosity, and pressure is a seemingly universal rite of passage for young learners. But for too many New York families, these challenges come with additional worries. The need to provide their children with essential school supplies can cause significant financial stress.
This stress is particularly acute in the South Bronx, where rents have risen sharply in recent years and inflation has driven up the cost of everyday necessities. Approximately 37% of South Bronx residents live below the poverty line. Low-income residents are often forced to forego one necessity for another.
“Most of the people who live here are people with limited resources,” says Julia, a mother of four and participant in the Jornaleros de El Bronx (Bronx Day Laborers) workforce development program, an initiative of Catholic Charities of New York. “School supplies are very expensive, and everyone has a lot of work to do. And sometimes, your employer doesn’t pay you on time.”
In keeping with its mission to provide help and create hope for neighbors in need, Catholic Charities of New York has been holding a series of backpack giveaways in anticipation of the 2026 school year. At its South Bronx Hub, now the home of the Jornaleros de El Bronx (Bronx Day Laborers) program, volunteers and staff distributed 175 backpacks to 50 families participating in its workforce development programming.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Community Partnerships
Also on the scene were Literacy Partners, a nonprofit that promotes literacy among children and their caregivers, which let families choose free books from a bilingual selection. “We really want parents to feel encouraged and confident as their child’s first teacher,” says Strategic Partnerships Manager Stephanie Torres, “So by getting books to families and putting books in their hands, we are supporting them in that journey as well.”
Volunteers from MGM’s Empire City Casino in Yonkers, which sponsored the giveaway, were also on the scene to meet families. Prior to the giveaway, they arranged a volunteer event where MGM employees stuffed the backpacks with notebooks, folders, writing utensils, highlighters, crayons, and other necessities.
“We’ve worked with Catholic Charities on many events, and they’ve been an amazing partner to us,” said Lauren Douglas, Director of Guest Experience at MGM. “They have had really impactful work in our community, and employees love to be involved in it.”
South Bronx residents know Catholic Charities of New York’s local hub as a location of weekly food pantry services, regular distribution of childcare supplies, legal support for New Americans, case management and education to address homelessness and eviction, and many other services that address critical needs.
The robust Jornaleros de El Bronx workforce development program includes skills training in trades from construction to cooking, as well as site safety and OSHA certification training, English as a Second Language (ESOL) and GED classes, and even legal advocacy to combat wage theft. Many of the parents at the backpack giveaway had also just received certificates in domestic childcare skills, including nutrition, internet safety, child abuse prevention — skills that also benefit their own parenting.
Small Steps Toward a Bright Future
“I’ve enrolled in several courses, and they have helped me a lot,” says Julia. “They have also given me a lot of support at home, with my family.”
“We want people to know that they are welcome here,” says Carolina Oleas, Workforce and Community Partners Manager for Catholic Charities of New York. “We are here to listen. We are here to educate. We are here to provide meals. We are here to give compassion. To ‘create hope’ is our slogan, and we really want to live that in our work with the community.”
Julia’s oldest, 21, has already graduated from college (“I thank God!” she says) and is studying to be an aircraft mechanic. Her other kids, 10, 13, and 17, have discussed becoming doctors, nurses, and electricians.
“Catholic Charities is an organization that supports people, so we don’t feel alone,” she says, “When you need help, you can come to them. Whatever it is that you are looking for, you’re going to find. Sometimes we think we’re alone in this country because we are immigrants, and we think we don’t have help. But there is help.”
