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Lives Rebuilt:
Thanks to Catholic Charities and The
For nearly 100 years, Catholic Charities has partnered with The New York Times, sharing profiles of some of those whose
lives have been changed by help and hope that Catholic Charities provides.
Their stories have often spurred readers to assist in nearly miraculous ways. A once blind and homeless man — Carlos
Castro — can now see, supports himself and lives in his own apartment. A once deaf man — Vladimir Gongora — can now
hear. And a disabled mother, Marjorie Suarez, now volunteers to help others in need.
Here are a few of their stories along with an interview with Stephanie Harrill, one of Catholic Charities’social workers
who drew on Catholic Charities’ wealth of services to help transform lives.
New York Times METRO Saturday, February 9, 2013
Fund Let Voices Be Heard,
and for One Boy That Was Enough
By JOHN OTIS
Niko J. Kallianiotis for The New York Times
Vladimir Gongora, the subject of an
article that detailed his inability to afford
a hearing aid, getting the issue resolved
in Queens.
For more than 100 years, the stories of
struggle that make up The NewYork Times
Neediest Cases Fund’s annual campaign
have inspired readers to help New Yorkers
in dire financial need.
The experience of Carlos Castro
prompted a response. Blinded after a
stabbing a decade ago, Mr. Castro, 26, has
been trying to support himself and his
mother with work as a translator. Until
recently, they had been living in the city’s
shelter system.
A midtown Manhattan business owner
sent Mr. Castro $2,500 in December to help
him pay rent; he also received furniture,
bed linens and a coat.
“I didn’t expect to get helped like that,”
Mr. Castro said. “I didn’t think someone
would go into their pocket for me.”
And after The Times published an
article about Vladimir Gongora, a recent
immigrant from El Salvador who is deaf but
cannot afford hearing aids, the newspaper
and his school received dozens of calls and
e-mails from readers who wanted to
donate hearing devices to him.
“I am a deaf 16-year-old high school
student living in New Rochelle, N.Y.,”
wrote Gabriel Brainson, a reader with an
extra hearing aid. “I showed my parents
the article, and asked them if we could
give my hearing aid to Vladimir and his
family.” He continued, “How can we make
this happen?”
The onslaught of support led the
Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, a
sister agency of Vladimir’s school, to create
a fund for young people who need hearing
aids but cannot afford them. The Hearing
Aids of My Own Fund quickly collected
enough money to buy new devices for
Vladimir. On Thursday, Vladimir, now 18,
was fitted for his hearing aids. “It’s your
responsibility to take care of these,” said
Joanne Tzortzatos, the audiologist who
fitted him.
Without the machines, Vladimir hears
nothing. But with them, a test showed
he can perceive sounds at the level of a
typical conversation.
“Initially it will be a lump of loud
sounds all together,” said Adele Agin,
executive director of the center. But as
he wears them longer, “he’ll be able to
discriminate more” among car honks, door
knocks and voices. “No one knows what
his potential will be,” she said.
After Vladimir squeezed the rubbery,
transparent devices into his ears, his father,
Jose Gongora, called him from across the
small room: “Vladi!” Vladimir whipped
his head around.
“It’s a blessing from God,” Mr. Gongora
said.
3 Copyright ©2013 The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.