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COMMUNITY
April 24, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
The LaScola Family Continues
Son’s Legacy of Helping the Poor
In life, Joseph Harold LaScola was
a devoted husband and son, an avid
runner, and a dedicated supporter of
providing opportunities to people in
need. His family continues to honor his
memory and is pleased to announce a
special matching gift challenge for the
upcoming Catholic Charities Annual
Appeal, May 19 – 20.
“The work of Catholic Charities and
local parish outreach programs person-
ify Joseph’s way of helping those less
fortunate than himself,” explained his
parents, Joseph A. and Emily LaScola.
“Joseph felt deeply that our Catholic
tradition instructs us to put the needs of
the poor and vulnerable fi rst. We miss
him and know that he walks beside us
in our eff orts to help the poor.”
Toward that end, the Joseph Harold
LaScola Family Foundation, to honor
their son’s memory, will donate $1,000
for every new Caritas Society Member
as part of the Annual Appeal. Caritas
Society Members, through prayer and
fi nancial support, demonstrate unwav-
ering commitment to their neighbors
in need.
As devoted parents and proud pa-
rishioners of Saint Thomas of Canter-
bury Parish, the LaScolas are honoring
their son in a way that makes a diff er-
ence in the community and refl ects his
dedication to the less fortunate. Joseph
died unexpectedly on September 23,
2015 in the arms of his wife, Angelika.
“It is our hope to encourage pa-
rishioners throughout the Diocese
to re-dedicate themselves to serving
the poor in our community, through
the fi ne work of Catholic Charities as
well as through neighbor-to-neighbor
eff orts of individual parish outreach
programs,” the LaScolas said.
“In our son’s name and with the
blessing of his wife, we support this
essential work.”
Look for Catholic Charities volunteers
and staff in parishes May 19 – 20. To fi nd
out how your parish can get involved,
contact Linda Pippin at (408) 325-5125 or
[email protected].
“Responsible Landlord Engagement Initiative”
Honors Neighborhood Champions
On the evening of February 21, com-
munity members, neighborhood leaders,
and city offi cials gathered at the San Jose
City Hall Rotunda for the annual “Re-
sponsible Landlord Engagement Initia-
tive” (RLEI) Neighborhood Champions
Awards. The awards ceremony honored
20 San Jose neighborhood groups for
their eff orts to work with landlord and
property owners to keep their neighbor-
hoods safe, vibrant, and healthy.
During the ceremony, San Jose
Mayor Sam Liccardo called Bill Holmes
to the stage and commended him as an
exemplary landlord whose longstand-
ing leadership sets an example for the
community partnerships in sustaining
safe housing across the city of San Jose.
The Responsible Landlord Engage-
ment Initiative is a program of Catholic
Charities that works with neighborhood
leaders, law enforcement, and local gov-
ernment to hold property owners and
tenants accountable for assuring that
their properties contribute to the well-
being of the community. The program
represents a unique way of approaching
neighborhood development through
improving “problem properties.”
“We are so grateful for your leader-
ship in this eff ort, to all the program
partners who have been working hard
on this,” said Mayor Liccardo. “This is
where innovative partnership starts. A
lot of folks tend to talk about techno-
logical innovation in the Valley, but not
From left, Council member Sergio Jimenez,
Steve Moffett, Diane Moffett, Jim Green and
Sean Screws.
enough talk about celebrating the social
innovation we have here.”
RLEI is the only community-driven
program of its kind. Its success is based
on the commitment of residents who
take pride in making their neighbor-
hoods safe and clean.
Through the teamwork of property
owners, tenants, nearby residents, and
other stakeholders, the program has
resolved issues for 32 neighborhoods
in the past year.
Over the past six years, RLEI has
worked alongside 120 neighborhood
groups in San Jose to improve the safety
and livability of their residents. The ini-
tiative has evolved from one case with
55 petitioners in 2011 to 132 cases with
over 2,150 petitioners by the end of 2017.
Dramatic improvements have included
the replacement of property managers,
blight removal, and crime reduction.
To learn more about the Responsible
Landlord Engagement Initiative, please
contact Program Manager Jaime Angulo
at [email protected].