MIAMI | Staying home is hard. Juggling online school and work is hard. But hard doesn’t compare to the hardship other people in South Florida are experiencing during this coronavirus pandemic.

Like the single mother who lost her job and her child support payments due to the economic shutdown.
Like the father who lost his wife to cancer and must find both work and a way to care for his out-of-school children.
Like the children who lost their father and their home, and whose mom is struggling to feed them.
All stories of hardship but also stories of hope, because the Archdiocese of Miami has been helping these families with food, with rent payments, or by covering their electric or medical bills.
“The need is always greater than the resources available,” said Katie Blanco Bourdeau, chief development officer for the archdiocese. But, she added, “We are helping people. Things are happening.”
Sometimes that entails tapping the resources of archdiocesan agencies and ministries, including Catholic Charities, Catholic Health Services, Catholic Legal Services, Respect Life and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Other times, the help comes through generous donors who step up when informed of a specific need.
“It’s very much a collaborative effort. There’s no one thing that anybody can do to help everybody, but together, we can do a lot,” Bourdeau said.
For the past month, help has also been coming through donations to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, which was created by the Development Office the same weekend that South Florida churches were closed for public gatherings. The fund has collected $77,790 through April 29, 2020.