Mois : octobre 2024

Abortion-rights groups have raised at least $60.7 million, swamping the $9 million raised by anti-abortion groups — both sides flooding the airwaves with ads. The majority of the money pouring in on the abortion-rights side is from major national groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood. Catholics for Choice has contributed just $10,378 to the fight in Florida. (Searches in other states turned up no other donations from Catholics for Choice.)

With the appearance of a showdown between the powers on each side of the national debate, it may be fitting that the Miami Archdiocese has given the most money of any church organization in the country this year — three donations totaling $384,000 to a political action committee called Florida Voters Against Extremism.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops has donated another $271,000 and the Catholic dioceses of Venice, Palm Beach and St. Petersburg all gave $100,000 each. Dioceses in Orlando, St. Augustine and Pensacola also donated. 

Various Florida Catholic dioceses and the state’s bishops’ conference have stepped in, financially, during previous ballot initiative fights, but never on this scale — prior to 2024, they had given just $198,000.

The church in Florida has made these donations, a representative from the bishops’ conference said, because « it would be unconscionable not to defend against this threat to the sanctity of unborn life and the dignity of pregnant no women. »

The money comes from diocesan and individual contributions to the conference’s general operating funds, said Michele Taylor, associate director for communications. « Dioceses and the conference observe Florida election and campaign finance laws and so there have been no special collections for the defeat of Amendment 4, » she said.

Diocesan donations in other states were substantially smaller, but so is the overall size of the ballot initiative fights. In South Dakota, for instance, the Sioux Falls Diocese has donated $340,000 to two separate anti-abortion PACs fighting to block a ballot initiative to create a similar protection for abortion rights in the state constitution.

The one abortion-rights group raising money to support the ballot initiative’s passage had only raised $298,000 in September and October. The Sioux Falls Diocese’s donation included an in-kind donation of $40,000 for polling work. All of the diocese’s donations have been made since Sept. 25.

Similarly, in Colorado, despite a heavily funded abortion-rights PAC filling the airwaves with ads in support of Amendment 79, another effort to install a right to abortion in the state constitution, the Catholic Church had seemed to be uninterested — at least in terms of financial donations — in the fight until very recently.

But on Sept. 11, the Denver Archdiocese sent a $50,000 check to the Pro-Life Colorado Fund, and a second much larger check for $175,000 to the same group on Oct. 22.

In Missouri, by contrast, the St. Louis Archdiocese, four other dioceses around the state, and the state bishops’ conference all donated $5,000, but earlier in this year and only to the effort to block an abortion ballot initiative from ever getting on the ballot. Since the initiative was approved for the ballot, the dioceses haven’t donated again.

Some Missouri pro-life groups had hoped the fight against the constitutional amendment for abortion rights would attract more national money, said Jamie Morris, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, the church’s public policy agency in the state. He believes the focus on the presidential race, and ones in the Senate or House, put the financial focus elsewhere.

Losses in previous amendment battles, as in Ohio and Kansas, also may have dissuaded funders, Morris said. « I do think ours is tighter than Ohio’s ended up, » he said. « It would seem ripe for someone to come in and at least get some messaging and funding out there to push it over the top. »

Polling shows more than half of Missourians favoring the amendment, with 34% opposed. The Ohio abortion-rights measure was approved 57% to 43% in 2023.

In some states, spending from groups or individuals closely associated with the church has dramatically augmented or, arguably, eliminated the need for church spending.

In South Dakota, for example, where diocesan spending has been heavy, the national Knights of Columbus organization, based in New Haven, Connecticut, contributed $200,000 to a group opposing that state’s constitutional amendment on abortion. In Missouri, where the dioceses have spent only $25,000, the state Knights of Columbus chapter has chipped in $75,000.

In Nebraska, two ballot initiatives — one seeking to block abortion rights, the other to add it as a constitutional right — have attracted millions in spending, but none from that state’s dioceses. But two families of prominent Nebraska Catholics have contributed more than $6.6 million of the total $7 million donated to anti-abortion committees in the ballot initiative fight. 

Marlene Ricketts, the wife of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, and her son, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R), Nebraska’s junior senator, have contributed $5.1 million. The Ricketts family are prominent Catholics, and Joe Ricketts has given millions to the Catholic Church in Nebraska, including an estimated $34 million on the creation of a Catholic religious retreat.

Two members of another family, the Peeds, who have recently become prominent donors in conservative political and Catholic circles, chipped in another $2 million. Family matriarch Rhonda Peed has said faith drives the family’s charitable giving, including some $1.8 million to the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the past two decades.

In Missouri, prominent conservative and anti-abortion attorney John Sauer has contributed roughly $757,000 to the fight over abortion. Sauer, a former solicitor general of Missouri, has represented anti-abortion groups in the past and successfully defended a Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse.

In January, Sauer represented former President Donald Trump in his successful claim before the U.S. Supreme Court claiming broad presidential immunity. Missouri state campaign finance records show that this year Sauer gave $500,000 to Missouri Right to Life, which was spent to oppose an abortion-rights ballot initiative, and $257,000 to a political committee set up specifically to oppose the initiative as well.

Representatives from the Sioux Falls Diocese and the Denver Archdiocese did not respond to interview requests.

In all 10 states, Catholic groups and dioceses are working to oppose abortion-rights amendments with mailings, bishops’ statements, videos, prayers and other resources in English and Spanish. Says Morris of Missouri: « It’s kind of an all-of-the-above approach. »

Yet, the effectiveness of church attempts at persuasion are questionable. A recent poll of Catholic voters in seven battleground states found that the hierarchy’s influence on voters in their flock is extremely limited. Only 32% said bishops were very or somewhat influential in voting decisions, and 37% said priests were, according to the poll, which was conducted by the National Catholic Reporter.

Political strategies, like funding statewide anti-abortion initiatives, is only a part of conservative Catholics’ « long game, » according to Mary Jo McConahay, author of Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right (Melville House).

Legal activist Leonard Leo, for example, has turned his attention from the U.S. Supreme Court to a web of Catholic organizations aimed at instilling traditionalist values in the broader culture.

« I think ultraconservative Catholic intellectuals are leaning now in the direction of changing culture itself to achieve their various goals, including demonizing — or criminalizing — abortion, homosexuality, transgender people, etc., which also would move the country closer toward Christian nationalism, » McConahay said. « As long as the majority of the voting population is pro-abortion, Catholic money may start to go to this kind of longer-term effort, rather than fighting ballot measures. »

Seminary formation, women and episcopal authority

Looming large over the synod process since it began in 2021 has been women’s ministerial and leadership roles in the church.

While the pope has said the proposal to restore the female diaconate is not yet « mature » and needs further consideration, the final document declares that the issue is an open question. 

« This discernment needs to continue, » it states.

At an Oct. 26 press conference following the synod’s final vote, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich emphasized that the pope’s immediate publication of the document means that Francis has made the synod’s proposals « his own, » including to keep open the question of women deacons.

« The Holy Father has not said women will be ordained deacons. He has not said women will not be ordained deacons, » said Hollerich, one of the synod’s lead organizers. « This is not a decision for, it’s not a decision against. »  

The final document goes on to note that « women continue to encounter obstacles in obtaining a fuller recognition…in all the various areas of the church’s life. » It requests full implementation of all leadership opportunities granted to women under canon law that are currently under-explored.

The synod calls for a complete update to the current guidelines on how priests are formed and trained, and the document calls for a « significant presence of women » in Catholic seminaries.

While a special group was established by the pope to examine specific questions related to women, the body has largely operated in secrecy since its inception in March. After a ruckus earlier this month involving the leadership of the group, the final document specifically requested that the Vatican’s synod office « watch over the synodal quality of the working method of the study groups. »

The text goes on to envision a broader reliance on lay-led ministries within the church and for a greater voice for the laity in choosing bishops.

In a synodal church, the document states, the ministries of bishops and priests are marked by broad collaboration and greater co-responsibility with their flock, included within seminary formation and serving as judges in canonical processes.

Despite a centuries-long practice of accountability to one’s superiors in church life, the synod said that the dimension of authorities being held accountable to the community is « in need of restoration. »  

Transparency, accountability and evaluation

Over the last three years, revising the church’s decision-making processes emerged as one of the synod’s primary objectives.

The Final Document calls for a revision of the church’s Code of Canon Law from a « synodal perspective, » and in particular, a clarification of the distinctions between consultative and deliberative involvement in decision-making.

In addition, the synod recommends the « establishment everywhere » of finance councils, involvement of laity in pastoral and financial planning, preparation of an audited annual report for both financial matters and safeguarding policies and performance evaluations of all ministers and ministries.

The text also highlights the role of participatory bodies — such as diocesan synods, presbyteral, diocesan and parish pastoral councils. While many of the proposals are already mandated in U.S. and other Western dioceses, they have not been universally adopted by the global church.

« A synodal church is based upon the existence, efficiency and effective vitality of these participatory bodies, not merely the nominal existence of them, » the document states. 

« Without concrete changes in the short term, the vision of a synodal church will not be credible, and this will alienate those members of the People of God who have drawn strength and hope from the synodal journey, » it continues. 

On the role of episocal conferences, the synod declares that such bodies are fruitful in best identifying how to enculturate the faith and that local churches must have the ability to move at different paces.

While the text does not specifically mention it, one of the much-discussed topics of the Oct. 2-26 synodal assembly was the implementation of the December 2023 Vatican decree allowing for blessings for couples in same-sex unions. While the decision received widespread acceptance in many Western countries, some eastern European and African bishops’ conferences have refused to enact the decree.  

According to the synod’s final document, more study is needed to determine what matters of doctrinal authority should be reserved to the pope and what matters can be decided or enacted by episcopal conferences. The synod also encourages the further collaboration of continental groupings of episcopal conferences for a deepening of synodal practices and consultation.

Among other proposals in the synod’s final text:

• Consultation from Roman dicasteries with bishops’ conferences and other relevant parties prior to the publication of major documents;
• More collaboration among members of the College of Cardinals — the elite body responsible for advising the pope on church governance — in order for the diverse group to better know one another;
• Creation of a new synodal study group to examine how liturgical celebrations can offer a better expression of synodality;
• Establishment of a council of patriarchs, major archbishops and metropolitans of Eastern Catholic Churches to advise the pope; and
• More formation and training for those working with minors and vulnerable adults to improve the church’s safeguarding efforts.

On Sunday, Oct. 27, the pope will preside over a final Mass for the synod in St. Peter’s Basilica, officially bringing the three-year process to its end.

For most of the country, the grand finale of the baseball season is just getting started, as the cross-country World Series pits the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Yankees. But for many of us in Oakland, baseball came to a sorry end last month.

The A’s are moving to Las Vegas. And since their new ballpark won’t be ready until the 2028 season, they’ll play in a minor league park in Sacramento — nearly 100 miles from the Coliseum — in the meantime. It’s a wrenching departure, especially for A’s employees who will lose their jobs. But also for many of my friends and parishioners. And for me.

As a native of Berkeley, California, I began life as a San Francisco Giants fan, cheering on Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal. When the Athletics moved from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968 I moved my allegiance to the team next door rather than rooting for the team across the Bay. I faithfully followed the exploits of my new team, especially during the 1972, 1973 and 1974 seasons when the A’s were World Champions, winning three straight World Series titles.

Since my first in 1970, attending A’s games has brought me much peace over the last half century. To this day, nothing makes my heart jump like the sight of that infield grass. I endured many cold summer nights in my $2 seat at Wednesday games, donning a pair of long johns to ward off the bitter breezes from the Bay. Over the years, a priest friend and I attended at least a game a week during the season. The late Fr. Dan Danielson would hold a transistor radio to his ear, listening to the game on the radio, while I took in everything live in the seat next to him.

During the past few years, I often went to games just to clear my mind. Yes, I followed the action on the field, but I also brought homily prep material. I returned emails. I composed articles for the Sunday bulletin. Sometimes, I even brought a Kindle to read a book while enjoying the surroundings.

Most Major League Baseball teams have a Catholic priest assigned to work with the organization to ensure that Sunday Mass is available for the home team. I’ve been lucky to serve as the unofficial Catholic chaplain/priest for the A’s. One of my parishes (St. Benedict in Oakland) is a seven-minute drive from the players’ entrance to the Coliseum.

When I was asked to step into the role, it was a dream come true. But it wasn’t a dream without challenges. I had to balance Sunday morning Masses in the parish with those at the Oakland Coliseum with the A’s. This became more difficult when Jesuit Bishop Michael Barber assigned to me another parish with two worship sites in addition to St. Benedict.

The ministry of Sunday Catholic Masses for MLB teams is coordinated by Catholic Athletes for Christ, an umbrella organization that connects with MLB organizations to ensure that Sunday Masses are available for Catholic players and front-office staff, as well as visiting players and their travel staff. Often broadcasters from the opposing team (and the As) would attend.

Depending on my availability and that of the players, staff and organization, it wasn’t unusual for me to minister to other sacramental needs, such as baptisms. I was also available to hear confessions or provide pastoral counseling for members of the A’s organization. Depending on whether I had Mass back in the parish, I also ministered to the visiting team’s pastoral needs as well.

Over the past few months, as the reality of the A’s departure became more apparent and with the final home game fast approaching, my role extended beyond the press room (where we celebrated Sunday Mass). My credentials enabled me to attend the games and wander throughout the Coliseum, where I encountered fans, stadium workers, first-responders, numerous parishioners (past and present) and lifelong friends. Common sentiments were sadness and mourning, along with a bit of anger, frustration and confusion. I spent much of my time in the stands listening to memories of A’s players and highlights of classic moments in the team’s history, as well as absorbing the pain of loss many A’s fans felt.

As happens in many major league cities, Oakland-area Catholic parishes, schools and organizations often purchased tickets in bulk to celebrate an occasion or as an outing. I would often find out their connection to the Diocese of Oakland and pay them a visit, so that they could see that a Catholic priest is associated with the A’s organization.

But my primary focus was always on those who attended the Sunday Mass when the Athletics were at home in Oakland. Over the years, our A’s parishioners included, among others, broadcasters Vince Cotroneo and legendary A’s catcher Ray Fosse. Current team manager Mark Kotsay faithfully attended our weekly Mass, as well as the organization’s vice president for stadium operations, David Rinetti. He served as the team’s liaison with the production team for « Moneyball, » the screen adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book about the A’s then General Manager Billy Beane. Rinetti, a graduate of local East Oakland Catholic schools, was the catalyst in enabling Sunday Mass to be celebrated at the Coliseum during baseball season.

At the last Sunday Mass for the Oakland Athletics, A’s skipper Mark Kotsay took me aside before Mass to present me with a team jersey, featuring my name across the back, signed by the players. It is now framed in my parish office, lovingly displayed like a shrine to a lost loved one.

Because in truth, with the A’s gone, Oakland will never be the same. And neither will I. 

Teaching my course on synodality, « ruckus » was a word I had in mind more and more as I worried about the quietude in the synod hall. Francis used it in Christus Vivit, his apostolic exhortation that followed the 2018 synod on the youth (though, in his native Spanish, what Francis said — « Hagan lío! » — was « Make a mess! »). 

We talked in class about how the synodal process calls us to embrace the messiness of being a church. Urging a mess this way proceeds from a confidence that the Spirit is present when people from different starting points listen to one another in dialogue, speaking freely and frankly. « I trust the Holy Spirit, » Bishop Daniel Flores told us in the Paul VI audience hall, « The church has been messy for 2,000 years. »

Indeed, the church has been messy since before Peter quarreled with Paul. But quite often we avoid that messiness and tell the story of a church where nothing really changes or was contentious before our time.

That tidiness is dangerous.

It creates an impression that the church is an object of preservation rather than a subject of creation. Interrupting the action of the Spirit this way can take many forms. In our daily lives, we do it when we do not really listen to other people’s experiences. The cardinals can obstruct or frustrate the Spirit even when they choose a pope. And, of course, a synod where no one speaks very frankly also might be a way of frustrating the Spirit.

In every case, we are the ones who bar the Spirit from the room. And, perhaps also we are holding the Spirit at bay in how we respond to Francis’ call to synodality in our parishes and our dioceses as well.

I was thinking about this when one of the students who came to the synod was asked what the experience meant to her. She said the week had taught her to « appreciate other people’s backgrounds, » and instantly I could imagine someone scoffing. Of course a university student in 2024 would say that.

But pause a bit over that judgment and notice how much it presumes to know what the Spirit is doing and at what pace. We don’t really know what is at work in that student, and so the rush to that judgment is a problem. It is much like the way that skeptics dismiss the synod on synodality as a « meeting about meetings. »

Our desire to direct this synod toward concrete results or scoff when no concrete results emerge shuts the windows and doors of the house so the Spirit cannot rush in. We need to be more willing to be surprised, more patient while the Spirit works to change all of us.

The first session last year was exciting because it aired so many problems long gone unaddressed by the church. The synod made a pivot, moving emphasis from issues to process, in the months between the first session and the second session. Process does not grab our attention the way controversial issues do, and how we will do something also is harder to talk about than the results we will produce.

But process is important. We won’t reach anything like an understanding of issues or discern how God is calling the church to act on issues without a process that is inclusive, careful and prayerful.

Now is a critical moment in this three-year synod when we are confronted by the importance of committing ourselves to synodality as a process, learning how to be a synodal church. The ruckus that returned the synod to parrhesia on Oct. 18 might be our opening in this second session to reflect on that.

We must learn to be patient when answers do not arrive as quickly as we would like, remembering that is often how prayer works too. We also must become better listeners to the Spirit and to each other so that we can speak with candor and hear fruitfully from one another the frankness that leads us all into the Spirit.

Finally, we must accept the messiness that comes with this. « The protagonist of the synod is the Holy Spirit. » Our role is to give up our expectations while embracing all the uncertainty and messiness that will unleash.

It’s a frightening prospect.

But when we listen to the Spirit, Flores told us, there is no reason to « lose any sleep that the faith of the church will be compromised. » God is with us.

On a free afternoon, I walked the Roman Forum, excavated by archaeologists across the last few decades. To be in Rome is to see the passage of time in layers of stone. The dome of the Santissimo Nome di Maria church soars over the ruins of the Forum Traiani much as Pope Sixtus V topped off Emperor Trajan’s Column with a sculpture of St. Peter in 1587. The Roman Empire, one permanent, world-dominating institution gives way to another, the Roman Catholic Church. It is a sobering reminder in this precarious time for the church that permanence is our idea and history makes no promises.

Our expectation of permanence is a sort of a trap. It beguiles us to believe we know how things will turn out. There is no danger the church will disappear like the empire, of course. But our notions about what the church is or should be permanently is the trap synodality invites us to escape.

As the synod on synodality now races to its conclusion, it is time for each of us to do that.

« I’ve been to those areas, » Burgo said. « For the affected people, it’s an absolute catastrophe right now. »

As rising temperatures driven mainly by human activities have fueled more extreme storms and weather-related disasters, Catholic Charities is responding to an increasing number of climate-related incidents, she said.

« There used to be seasons — a hurricane season, a tornado season, a wildfire season, » Burgo told EarthBeat. « Because of the changes in our climate, the seasons almost no longer exist. We see tornadoes in December and wildfires in February. »

In the case of hurricanes, hotter ocean waters due to climate change has been connected to more tropical storms undergoing rapid intensification, where wind speeds increase at least 35 mph in a 24-hour period. Helene jumped from 80 mph winds to 140 mph winds in less than 36 hours, while Milton’s winds accelerated in a day from 85 mph to 175 mph — becoming a Category 5 storm before making landfall as a still-dangerous Category 3 storm.

While some people may be more inclined to wait out lesser storms, faster amplification leaves less time for critical decisions, Burgo said.

« When it gets up to a [Category] 4 or 5, they have to get out of Dodge, » she said. « The problem is by the time it gets to that point, they have lost an opportunity to evacuate, so more people end up in vulnerable situations because they are being notified in the last minute and there is no place to go. So it becomes very dangerous when we see these kinds of climate change incidents occur. »

Deploying with a plan

After disasters like the recent hurricanes, the immediate focus for Catholic Charities is on providing items essential for survival, including food, water, shelter and safety.

« We want to make sure people have access to food. We want to ensure they’re in some sort of housing situation with friends or neighbors, or if they need to be put up in a hotel or temporary shelter, » Burgo said. « They may need hygiene kits or medically necessary food, such as for diabetics. »

In a widespread disaster like ones brought on by hurricanes, determining where and when to deploy and what is needed takes some investigation, Burgo noted. Some responses call for setting up distribution sites; others require mobile teams.

With the local Catholic Charities office potentially experiencing the effects of the disaster, such as power outages and flooding, the national office monitors local media reports for immediate information to determine the area of greatest need, which changes over time.

For Catholic Charities, deployments typically begin with Burgo or a small team to assess the needs. They review factors like available lodging, as hotels may be booked by evacuees and other aid groups.

« We don’t just hop on a plane and rush in like disaster cowboys here to save people. That causes more chaos, » she said.

« We wait to be invited to come in, » she added. « Then we work with all local entities to determine what other kinds of deployments have to take place in order to meet community needs. »

Disaster response is an actual profession, Burgo notes. Of Catholic Charities’ 65,000 staff members nationwide, the organization has a cadre of people trained, certified and accredited to do disaster work when called.

In Ohio, Mercy Health’s medical system has a team connected to Catholic Charities of Toledo that deploys to places struck by disasters. In Hurricane Milton’s aftermath, Burgo connected with them at a Tampa, Florida, distribution site where they were providing wellness checks for people who couldn’t get in touch with their doctor.

Names of potential volunteers are provided to local Catholic Charities agencies, where each diocese has its own guidelines for training, background checks and fingerprinting.

For Burgo, some of the most striking examples of the impacts of the recent hurricanes are within local Catholic Charity staff who help people but often are not spared by disasters when they hit.

« Sometimes their roofs are ripped off. Trees have fallen on their homes. Their houses have flooded, » the longtime disaster response coordinator said. « But yet they find the fortitude within themselves to say, ‘I’ll take care of that later. I really need to also take care of the people I care for on a daily basis.’ They’re my heroes as they try to navigate their own disaster recovery but also work simultaneously to help the community to bounce back. »

It’s important for staff members to avoid compassion fatigue, she added.

« We understand from being in the business that we’re not going to get a week off — or maybe even a day — for a long time, » Burgo said. « But it’s taking moments of self-care, whether that’s turning off your phone for a couple hours, talking with somebody, taking a walk and not overwhelming yourself with what’s going on. If you don’t, it can creep up on you. »

Dignity amid disaster

In the wake of the recent hurricanes, Catholic Charities USA has provided blankets and solar lights in addition to other goods and services.

In some cases, partner organizations donate items like hygiene kits, but more often, the supplies have to be purchased from companies outside the disaster zone. That can pose challenges, Burgo said, as states have varying rules and requirements about trucking in disaster supplies.

Many disaster organizations, including Catholic Charities, are part of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), which serves as an umbrella organization for coordinated relief efforts.

« We have the mindset that there is not one organization out there — not FEMA, not the American Red Cross, not Catholic Charities — that has the ability to meet all the needs of the community when a disaster hits, » said Burgo, who is on the NVOAD board of directors. « We spend a lot of time on sunny days getting together, building relationships and having plans in place so that at the time of a disaster, we just activate those plans. »

« We’re very much in conversation with them all the time, so we all know what’s going on before the disaster, » she added.

After a disaster strikes, identifying what items are needed immediately is a top priority for Catholic Charities USA. With wildfires, that means rakes, shovels and bins to salvage what’s left of a person’s property. With hurricanes, it’s « clean out » and « clean up » supplies.

For people looking to assist impacted communities, Burgo said the best help is financial help. Making a donation or sending gift cards is better than shipping unwanted items from your closet, she added. « We really want to be able to purchase things at the local level wherever we can so we can get the local economy going. »

Catholic Charities USA has set up a relief fund for victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton that as of Oct. 21 has distributed more than $2 million to 11 chapter agencies in affected areas. All raised funds are directed to disaster responses, Catholic Charities said. Donations can be made through www.catholiccharitiesusa.org or by texting ‘Milton’ to 20406.

Catholic Charities views procuring supplies and services as an expression of the church teaching guiding its work. Its disaster response also encompasses spiritual assistance, which is often provided by onsite priests. A team of eucharistic ministers helps access the homebound to ensure their safety and provide needed services. The agency is also viewed as a leader within NVOAD in providing crisis counseling or mental health counseling, Burgo said.

« We want to be able to provide people the dignity and respect that they deserve when they’re at their lowest point in life, » she said.