Mother Teresa opening housing for homeless

Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi unveiled its new $1 million Mother Teresa Transitional Housing facility located at 1605 Mestina St. in Corpus Christi on March 23. The facility was set to open with a few residents in April, but due to unforeseeable circumstances it is now scheduled to open in May.

The transitional facility will house 24 residents, each with their own room, bed and dresser. Residents will share a kitchen, bathrooms, dining room, laundry room and living area. The facility also provides a kennel for residents who have pets.

The shelter will also offer three cooked meals and two snacks daily. Mental Health and Behavioral Case Manager Teresa Bohem and Senior Case Intergenerational Manager Julia Ramone will work on a daily basis with residents.

Yiyi Dean, grant writer and program developer for Catholic Charities and Mother Teresa Shelter, leveraged $70,000 approved for the project by the Catholic Charities board of directors to secure a city of Corpus Christi $74,000 grant, a $100,000 grant from the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation and a grant for $817,719.53 from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Mother Teresa Shelter used the funds to purchase four vacant lots and a two-year-old classroom building from Annapolis Christian Academy and moved them to their present location.

“Let us seek to make this home a dwelling of friendship,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey said as he offered a blessing and thanked family members of the late Daniel D. Meaney who died last year and for whom the facility is named.

Meaney was a founding director and member of the Kenedy Foundation.

“He was a giant of a person. He had the corazón (heart) that you would expect from an organization that’s out to help people,” retired Lt. Gen. Marc Cisneros, Executive Director of the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation, said.

Meaney family members were in attendance as were several religious, including Bishop Emeritus Edmond Carmody who spearheaded the creation of the Mother Teresa Shelter, city councilwoman Nelda Martinez and several members of the board of Catholic Charities.