Corpus Christi Parish, Conneaut
We, as Catholics, are always being told to “live the Gospel”—especially when dealing with those less fortunate. The parishioners at Corpus Christi Parish in Conneaut have taken that message to heart with their Matthew 25 Outreach Committee. The group’s name reflects the Gospel of Matthew passage about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned.
Their most recent project is sponsoring a family from war-torn Ukraine. Oleh and Dasha Halepa arrived in the United States with their 5-year-old son, Yarosalv, and dog, Nika, on August 30, but the preparation for their arrival began long before that.
Committee member Taylor Cleveland said his daughter, who attends Ohio State University, did an internship for a nonprofit called Us Together that sponsors refugees from areas affected by war, and she suggested it to her father.
“My father-in-law is Ukrainian and my wife is half-Ukrainian, so I have a soft spot for Ukraine. The Matthew 25 committee was very supportive of the idea, so we started working to find a family to sponsor,” Cleveland said.
They started on a website sponsored by the U.S. government in which refugees post their profile in the hope of being matched with a U.S. family. Cleveland called it a “Tinder for refugees.” He said the parish worked with Catholic Charities in Cleveland through its immigration office to lay the groundwork for bringing a family here.
“We knew we couldn’t sponsor a large family, but one of the profiles that we matched with was the Halepas, and their son has cerebral palsy, so we thought they would be a good fit,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland’s family owns rental properties in the city, so he offered one of them to Oleh and his family. He said the unit needed a lot of work, so people from the parish, including some with construction and carpeting skills, pitched in to get it ready.
“We had 40 to 50 parishioners working on the house at one point or another. And the parishioners donated all the furniture, linens, dishes and all the extras needed to make the house a home. It was move-in ready just days before they arrived,” Cleveland said.
He picked up the family at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on August 30.
“The international arrival gate there has to be the happiest place on earth,” Cleveland said.
He said within one week of their arrival, the family was volunteering at the church’s food pantry.
“We are glad to have them and blessed to know them,” he said of the Halepas. “It was a lot of work preparing for them, but it is the most rewarding ministry I have ever been involved with. I wish other parishes would do this.”
Cleveland said Catholic Charities in Cleveland will assist in the process, and he can offer guidance to other parishes, organizations or families who may be interested in also sponsoring a family.
Oleh speaks a little English, while Dasha and Yarosalv can understand it and speak a little. They are working with Cheryl Charillo—also a member of the Matthew 25 Outreach Committee—who is their English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She said they have come a long way in just a few months and are eager to learn.
Oleh is working at the Save-A-Lot distribution center in Austinburg, but is hoping to get a job in his field once his English improves—he was a psychologist in Ukraine and also worked for a nonprofit there doing grant writing. Dasha was a second-grade teacher in Ukraine, and Charillo said the goal is to get her certified here so she can continue on that path. Yarosalv is attending kindergarten in the Conneaut City Schools and “loves it.”
“They have been a joy to work with,” Charillo said.
Oleh said when the war began, he wrote grants to get medical supplies into Ukraine, and he has continued doing so since arriving into the United States.
“We are very happy to be here. The people are very friendly and this is a beautiful community,” he said.
“I am happy because I am here with my husband and son,” Dasha said.
Oleh said the school system and health care system are much better here than in Ukraine, and so is the economy. He said the family is looking forward to becoming more involved in the community and parish.
Sponsoring the Halepa family is not the first project the Matthew 25 Outreach Committee has undertaken.
Nicholas Perkoski, diocesan pastoral associate for Corpus Christi Parish, St. Andrew Bobola Parish in Sheffield, Our Lady of Peace Parish in Ashtabula and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Geneva, said it was always his dream to build up the outreach ministry at Corpus Christi. He worked with Rachel Hrbolich, executive director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Youngstown, to come up with a plan.
“Our first goal was to help the homeless because that seemed to be the most pressing issue. But then the committee saw other needs in the community, so we just answer the call wherever we are needed,” Perkoski said.
The committee fluctuates between 15 and 20 people, depending on the ministry, and the age range is 30s to 70s. Committee member Joanie Norton, who is Perkoski’s cousin, said some of the members bring their children to help as well.
“I was worried about getting it started, but it has brought out more people from the parish who maybe had not been involved before. This community, and this parish in particular, has always been service-minded,” Perkoski said.
One of the committee’s projects is Mother Mary’s Closet, which was suggested by Sandy Blank in October 2022. It has only been open since July 1, but Blank said it has been a huge success so far. Mother Mary’s Closet provides clothing, diapers, toys, furniture and other items for newborns to toddlers. The closet is open 9 a.m. to noon the first and third Saturday of each month and 5 to 7 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday.
The committee partners with Making Kids Count in Youngstown for the diapers, but the rest of the items are donated by parishioners and the community. Blank said some of the clients have even donated back clothing that their children have outgrown, so it is like they are paying it forward.
She said that, for a while, they had more donations than people coming, but since they started using social media, more people have taken advantage of the service.
“It is very heart-warming to help these women and their children. And the moms are so grateful,” Blank said.
Norton said she grew up at the parish and volunteered sporadically but wanted to be involved with Mother Mary’s Closet because she thinks it’s an important ministry. She helps with donation intake, sorting and preparing items for donation, and also volunteers on days when the closet is open.
“My heart feels like it’s going to burst sometimes when I see these women come in. It makes me feel blessed to have the life that I do,” Norton said.
The Matthew 25 committee, which started in August 2021, also offers several other programs for those in need, including an emergency needs assistance program supported by the Salvation Army; utility assistance and rent assistance; a soup kitchen that prepares meals for about 100 homebound residents bi-weekly; a grief support ministry; a prayer chain; and a food pantry. The committee also provides a basic needs package for the homeless in the area.
Member Sue Kananen said she is a newer parishioner and recently retired and needed more to keep her busy, so she thought the Matthew 25 committee would be a good fit, because there is a variety of ministries from which to choose.
“We all have a good time together and there is a great satisfaction in helping people,” she said.
“Since I have only been a parishioner for about seven years, it has helped me get to know people in the parish.”
Member Grace Tuuci said she enjoys helping people, but also enjoys the camaraderie of the group. Another member, Faith Hotevac, said her husband died, and her house was empty except for her dog, so she wanted to be more involved in the parish—the Matthew 25 Committee offered that opportunity.
Perkoski said sponsoring the Ukrainian family has involved people in the parish who are not involved in the Matthew 25 committee.
“I have been amazed by the support and help our parishioners have provided to make this happen. The amount of donations of household items as well as financial assistance that our parish has provided is overwhelming. This has truly pulled our parish community together and has strengthened our parish’s mission of social outreach,” Perkoski said.
He added that the amount of outreach done by the Matthew 25 volunteers even before the Ukrainian family sponsorship opportunity arose has been “overwhelming.”
“I could not ask for a better group of people. And the greatest part is that this outreach ministry continues to grow, both in members and in ministries.”
