Page 25 - Spring 2019 Extension Magazine

Extension | Spring 2019 25

about finding the resources to serve
people in need.
Reflecting on the enormity of the
challenges that the Archdiocese
of San Juan faces in the wake of
the hurricanes, she points to the
important role of Catholic Exten-
sion both in the immediate after-
math and in the long-term work of
rebuilding.
She talks repeatedly about the
feeling of “accompaniment” — of
feeling that as part of the Church,
she is supported in her difficult
work. Days after Hurricane Maria,
Catholic Extension was able to wire
much-needed funds.
Later, navigating the complexi-
ties of dealing with the government
and insurance, she was grateful for
the lead role that Catholic Exten-
sion took in working with all six
Puerto Rican dioceses to ensure
the proper submission of grant
requests. She expressed gratitude
for the ways that Catholic Extension
manifested the Church’s solidarity
with those most deeply affected.
“This is what we do,” she says of
Rodríguez is profoundly com- At a time of great distress in Puerto Rico, the way that the Church comes
mitted to continue the difficult work Sandra Rodríguez helps keep the diocese together to serve those most in
of rebuilding a devastated arch- functoning during its financial crisis. need.
diocese. Days after the hurricane, Rodriguez’s can-do attitude,
she managed to send an email to homes were wiped out by the persistence and determination are
Catholic Extension with the subject storm. Having worked in govern- making a huge difference in Puerto
line “We shall rise.” ment and a university school of Rico at a time when its residents
medicine earlier in her career, she desperately need assistance.
THE CHURCH’S MISSION understands complex nonprofit
She speaks of the Church’s institutions, but still she sees some-
outreach to people, particularly thing unique about the Church.
the poorest who live in the interior The Church’s mission, she says,
of the island and whose wooden is fundamentally about charity —