Faith in Action—Angeline's Wing for Children & Families, June 1, 2026

Tune into Faith in Action at 9 a.m., Monday, June 1 on Channel 88.1 FM, Siouxland Catholic Radio. Host Joanne Fox interviews Amy Bloch, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City, about the recent addition of Angeline's Wing. This program replays at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 6. Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and on several other podcasting platforms. Programming is subject to change.

Transcript

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Hello, listeners of Channel 88.1 FM, KFHC Poncassoo City, and KOIA Storm Lake. Thank you so much for joining us. This show is Faith in Action. I'm your host, Joanne Fox, and I'm just so pleased that you take time out of your busy schedules to join us. And we always try our best to bring you maybe information you're not aware of, or we try and enhance your faith life. But we do the best we can. Maybe it's Monday at 9 a.m. and you're listening to us as we broadcast this show. Maybe it's Saturday at 7 p.m. and you're sitting back kind of relaxing and listening to the show at your convenience, or maybe you're listening at your convenience. And that again, you can find our show at our website, Siouxland CatholicRadio.com. You go to local programs, you click on Faith in Action, and all of the shows are there. So in case you missed a previous one, that's the way you can access it. We are also on Spotify and we are also on a number of other podcasting platforms. That's all due to the generosity of Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center that is the exclusive underwriter for this show. Well, listeners, if you are faithful and listen with any kind of regularity, you know I just kind of bring all my friends on this show and we talk about great things that are going on uh in the Siouxland area, uh northwest Iowa, northeast Nebraska, South E Southwest South Dakota, you know, anything and everything. And so today I have in the studio with me Amy Block, who is the executive director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Sioux City. Thank you so much, Amy, for taking time out of your busy schedule to come on in and uh collaborate with me. Again, we have done this so many numerous times. It's always a joy. Well, thank you. I was so happy when I got your message and you asked if I would be willing to come on, and it was an immediate yes. I love getting to come on and and talk with you and share about the great things that are happening um with Catholic charities for sure. And there are many great things, and we are going to just kind of tweak your interest a little bit. We're not going to start out sharing all the wonderful things because we want you to continue listening. Yes. And so, Amy, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, where you went to school, maybe uh some career highlights. Sure, yeah. No, I'm happy to. And so I uh I grew up in southwest Minnesota, Marshall, Minnesota, a little small town there, although it's getting bigger, uh, which is wonderful to go back and see. But I grew up, I have uh one younger sister. Um I'll share some funny stories about her maybe later, but uh very close, a Catholic family. Uh grew up, both of my parents worked for Happy Chef. And oh wow, there's everybody kind of knows Happy Chef. Right, Happy Chef, right? The big, the big hand or the big the big guy you could push the button and he would say something to you. Yeah, that's actually where my parents met um back in Oatonda, Minnesota, and uh uh near Mankato, Minnesota. I think there's one that's one of the only ones still still left there. Uh, but my mom was very young and they had just the most remarkable um love story um ever. And um, so we grew up and we did not we did not have a lot. They moved down to Nebraska um and then up to where they settled in Marshall, and they worked very hard. My mom was uh my mom was a was a waitress, my dad worked then at Schwann's ice cream. If you remember those days, he worked in the freezer, and then my mom was a stay-at-home mom for a while, and um then went back to work, and they worked very hard so that we could have a Catholic education. And so both my sister and I did K through eight at Holy Redeemer, Holy Redeemer School back in Marshall, um, which was just a gift in in looking back for sure. And um, so when I graduated there, then I went to uh South Dakota State uh for uh for a year and then um ended up going to Morningside University, where which is where I got my uh degree in psychology. I kind of always knew I wanted to get in the helping field and wanted to um get into some sort of counseling. So then I went on and got my master's degree in social work from University of Nebraska. I ended up while I was living in Sioux City, I met my now husband. Um we've been together 30 years, been married a little over 20 years. Um and uh he's Lutheran, although Bishop Nicholas used to, he worked hard to try to get to try to get Troy to convert, which was always a fun, fun topic. He never quite got him. Um, but uh but Well we're all brothers and sisters in front of us. Aren't we though? Aren't we though, yes? Um but no, and we have uh we have a 17, almost 18-year-old daughter getting ready to graduate in just a couple weeks. Um so she goes, she attends Healing here, here in uh Sioux City, and so she's been great. She's actually gonna be going to Mankato State, which is just amazing where my where my dad grew up and my parents met, and she's gonna be majoring in elementary education. So pretty excited about pretty excited about that. When I started, then my really my career was at Jackson Recovery Centers, and uh started as a substance use counselor down in Dennison, knew nothing. I mean, I knew nothing. And this person named Becky Moore took a chance on me, and I had some great mentors, and really thought I was gonna spend my career there. I loved working in the field of addiction, and and people who are um battling that disease, I think are some of the most strong, courageous people um with a really challenging disease. And um and I really uh uh felt called um after some prayer and a little bit of Catholic guilt to reconsider um when I originally said no to the position of executive director, um, but felt called to come here. And it the my first year was really challenging. Um I wasn't sure it was the right decision. My second year there, I was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. And um it was a battle for my first year. It was or my second year there when I was going through cancer. I um had um some some I had pretty strong chemotherapy, I had surgery, I had radiation, I had more chemotherapy about a year. Um, and that really changed my life as it does with most people who go through cancer. Um, I had a seven-year-old daughter at the time, and it also really changed my faith. Um, I would have said back then, you know, I was I was a mediocre Catholic, you know, I went to church, I prayed, you know, I believed. Um, but it really changed my faith, and I really believe that having gone through cancer, um, so many blessings came from that. I um I came out of it with a stronger marriage, a better marriage. Um I came out of it believing that I had a greater purpose in life. Um my faith certainly carried me through that. And my purpose at Catholic Charities, and I think my vision for what I was called to do was greater. My investment was greater. And um, so I really, you know, I don't know that I'd say I'd go back and do it again. That's kind of a hard one, you know, because it mostly really because of the toll it took on my daughter. Sure. Um, but uh so many blessings really came from that. And I've now been there for uh be finishing up 12 years and to have seen how it's really grown and evolved and the number of people who are coming through our doors and really um uh experiencing peace and change and really their lives improving. Um to get to be a part of that, I mean, ugh, it's just the greatest. Yeah, I would agree with you. And and I, you know, at that time I believe was at the Catholic Globe newspaper. Well, I've been on and off at the Catholic Globe for 25 years, so I I kind of saw you when you came on board in Neophyte and how you grew in the position and on the shoulders of so many legends when I think of you know the days I worked with Audrey Cole and Jimerson Anderson and uh Marilyn Murphy, you know, I could just go down the list of people I you know interviewed and collaborated with. And you know, that that's gotta be humbling too, I think, you know, to to look back and say, oh my gosh, I'm part of this. And I am always in awe because every time I turned around, it seemed whoever was at Catholic Charities had another story idea for me about they were taking it to the next level. And they were so good about you know having the understanding of how important it is to communicate the good news of what's going on. Because a lot of times when you say Catholic charities or Jackson Recovery or, you know, fill in the blanks with a lot of other counseling places, you think, oh, you know, broken families, addiction, oh, you know, right, sad stuff. But there's so many good things that you see. And I remember, you know, for years Catholic charities did adoptions. Oh my heavens to Betsy, you know, stories on that I did. And so the way that Catholic charities has evolved over the years has just been remarkable to watch. And in your 12 years, the the changes you have seen when I think about them, they're just almost uh staggering and you know, but so exciting. So we've kind of talked about some of the stuff, but I really wanted you to come in and talk about the most recent exciting happening, which I kind of followed, uh, but I couldn't, you know, quite collaborate with you to get you into the studio or me into the studio, and that is Angeline's Wing. And so that is a new building addition to Catholic charities. So give us a little bit of the background as to how that all came about. Ugh, wow. I mean, just when you started saying it, I don't know if you saw my whole face just smiles from ear to ear, and it it it hasn't stopped. So there's a couple different pieces in how it started. The dream, I will say, so the dream of it started probably three or four years ago when um I started talking to the board about the fact that you know, we probably need to start thinking about we're we're running out of space in our current building. And uh we we had no room to just put stuff, you know, storage stuff because all of the offices were full. So we needed to add more staff because we were seeing more people. We so every little nook and cranny we were putting a therapist in an office, or um, we had to add another finance person because we were billing more, and uh we wanted to have interns because we want to continue to develop to develop people, and oftentimes they turn into more therapists. So we just we were running out of room. And so I started talking to our board about this. And at the same time that was happening, we started to see the really the youth mental health crisis was occurring, and this really I think came to the surface after COVID. What we saw, COVID didn't cause it, but it really brought it to the surface and exasperated the issues that were happening with our kids. And so that was kind of coinciding. So that was happening, and then we received notice that this beautiful woman named Angeline Tom had left us in her will. And she had left uh substantial she left the entirety of her farmland um to us in her will. Angeline was in her 80s and um lived um kind of over near uh Ashton, Iowa. Okay, and she was a single woman her whole life, uh, came from a long line of farmers, and so it was generational farmland, and uh she did have a a brother who was um uh a priest at some time in their life, lots of nieces and nephews who she just loved and adored. Um, but she really wanted to make a difference with um in her in her uh I guess after she passed with with that. And so um that that happened at the same time, and so we realized it was really an opportunity for us to um to to to expand our space. And so that that all happened, and so what we really decided to do instead of just adding more space was to look at the fact that it it was an opportunity then for us to look at developing space specifically for children. Children really need space that's designed for them. Yes. Um as adults, we can adapt, we can go and hang out and sit in a space that's designed for kids and it it's it's fine, but as kids, they need space that says, I fit here, I belong here, um, with with beautiful, welcoming colors on the wall and furniture that's fitting for them, and where parents can walk in and be able to see that wow, this is a space where people really thought about the needs of my child and they're gonna be safe here, and these people know what they're doing, they clearly know what they're doing, and so we decided if we were gonna add on, we wanted to do it as a space in a wing that was designed for children specifically. So it was the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit brought all of these things together, and then MERD had their economic um development match grant where you could write for up to um up to a million dollars for a match, and we thought this is a great opportunity. Part of it is you have to show how you're going to improve the economic development of the community, add jobs, this and that. So we wrote for that grant, um, and there were other other community organizations or businesses that at the same time were doing the same thing. They had never given the full million dollars to an organization before, and we were the first. And I shared at our open house um that I'll never forget when I found out. So I was up in Minnesota on family vacation. We go every year to to Minnesota on a family vacation, and I was sitting in the boat, we were fishing. It was my husband and I, my sister and her husband. We were out sunny fishing, you know. We had some couple of beers, you know, out in the boat. Beautiful, beautiful Minnesota day to be fishing. I mean, we're half fish and half, you know. Yeah, I know. You're just sitting in a boat enjoying the beautiful the beauty, and so all of a sudden I get a call and it's Amy Jones, our director of development, and I'm like, oh boy, I knew it was kind of around the time, and I'm like, oh, okay, this is it. So I answer it, and she just says, Amy, we got it. And I said, We did. She's like, we got the full million. I literally screamed. I mean, there was not a fish to be left around because I was so loud. I think I jumped up and I just was so overjoyed because I knew what that meant. I knew what it meant to this project, and uh it again, the holy all of these pieces, when you think about all of these pieces coming together, Joanne. Yeah, it is remarkable. It's it's uh jaw-dropping, it truly is. It is, yeah, it is. And maybe the listeners don't know, MERD is the Missouri River Historical Development Corporation, which is it's attached to our casino here in town. Right. And they they're very good about giving money to nonprofits. I think we got something from them here at uh Catholic Radio uh to help with equipment because we always gotta have the new equipment. Um so that you apply for the grants and they are really good about awarding them. That's astonishing. And while you were talking, I thought to myself, you know, we give to things that resonate with us for some reason. So, you know, listeners may give to the Cancer Society, or listeners may give to the Humane Society, or hopefully listeners give to Siouxland Catholic Radio. But what was it with Angeline Tom that she said to herself, I think I'd like Catholic charities to have some money. Was there some connection in her life or she just loved you guys or what? We still don't really know all my the Holy Spirit. I mean, we knew we know now because we got to know her nieces through this. Her nieces that were part of the groundbreaking and the open house. We've gotten to know a couple of them. Um, that she loved children, but we don't know. There's no connection anywhere. It wasn't like there was any adoptions in the family or there's no direct connection anywhere. That is the Holy Spirit working in mysterious ways. It really, really is. And I mean I have goosebumps now. Yeah, I do too. I just I mean, and to leave this legacy, which is obviously why we named it in her honor, um to think, I mean, it's gonna affect generations of families. You know, when we have one child and one family come in, and that one child and that one family, you know, work through whether it's a trauma or a death, or we're able to help keep a family together, then that one child is gonna go on and have better relationships and do things different. And that is affecting generations. And when I think about that, what she did and the impact that has, I mean, it's it is remarkable what she did and the impact that will have. And it really has changed my thinking about what I do, what my what I will do with whatever meager estate I have in my life. But you know, I uh it's just amazing. Truly amazing. It truly is, and that's why this show is called Faith in Action is because this is faith in action. Yes. Truly God touched her in some way. Yes. That when she sat down with her financial people, her accountant, her lawyer, that she said to herself, I think this is where I would like uh my estate to go. Because she could have given it to her church. Maybe she did, maybe she made other contributions. Oh my goodness gracious. No. It was I mean and maybe she did before she passed but I mean she could have. It was just i i it was just remarkable. And um it it it beautiful. Absolutely she's absolutely beautiful woman and family. Yeah. And so listeners, if you're just tuning in now, and that's fine. We understand, you know, that you're busy and you're clicking on, you know, things on the website. This show is Faith in Action. Uh I'm your host, Joanne Fox, and in the studio with me is Amy Block. She's the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City, and we are talking about a lot of good things. Right now we're focusing on Angeline's wing. So I can't get my head around when you think about a project you do at your own house and what it takes maybe to remodel the bathroom or the kitchen or even a closet to come up with the idea of well, okay, we got this money, yay. How and are we gonna design it? So who did you work with to make this all happen? Yes. So, right, that's exactly what happened, Joan. It's like, yay, okay, we can do this project. We know we want it for kids. Um and so then we said, okay, so we need to find an architect, we need to find a builder, and we knew that those were critical pieces um in doing this because we wanted to stay, you know, we wanted it to fit with our current building. And so first thing, you know, we did a you know, RFP for construction companies and looked at that. So we settled with um HR construction and the Lord blessed us with Greg Top. Um he is um uh I mean he I believe he belongs with Modern Day. I think he's on their construction board. Um he has kids, I think, in the the Catholic school system here. Um he's now I've agreed to have him sit on our board of directors. Um he I I mean I can't say enough. About he and his team that we worked with, which I'll get into more of that um as we go on. So we selected him and then we had, and both he and his team and RML, um, was who we went with with an arctic, they had both helped us out with some early just to help us out information that we needed for the MERD grant. Because you have to have some initial bid numbers and kind of an initial design to even get the grant. So they just were like, hey, we just kind of need this to put together for a grant, and they just did that for us pro bono. I mean they they they didn't charge us anything. Um, but we still went through the process, of course, of you know doing an RFP for the construction. So then we went back to them and we worked with um two people at RML, Rachel and Annie, um, who ended up um doing the design. So we had a first kind of draft of this design, and we were talking to our our board, um, and then Amy Jones, who's brilliant, she said, you know, I wonder we're gonna just have kind of this little addition maybe on the back of our building. Um, you know, maybe add maybe eight offices or so. Um, and she said, you know, maybe we should figure out a way to have a bigger reception area. Um, because if you've ever been to our building, it's it was real small. It was about the size of an office. Yes, really, because right now that's what it is. It's somebody's office, if that tells you anything about hotel meal it was. And so from there, it was like, oh, yes. The board was like, yes, we need to kind of rethink this whole thing. So then we went back to the drawing board, they came up with this design with a new main receptionary, reception area. So that made it a little bit bigger. And then our board, because they are very visionary as well, and thinking they said, you know, if we're gonna do this, we should be thinking about the next 30 years. We've been in this building for 30 years, we need to be thinking about the next 30 years, not just building for what we need today. We need to be thinking about the future. Why are we gonna build this just to have just enough space? So then we went back to the drawing board again, and Rachel and Annie came up with another great design, which is what it is today. And um, so that's kind of where where it where it went. So along along the road that we that we went. And um so then the we got all these subcontractors, you know, of course, and the timing and put this all together, and then we ended up with our groundbreaking, which was October of 24. It must have been October of 24. Um, and they did a little bit of groundwork, and then um we had an early kind of winter freeze, and Greg said, you know, I think we should just wait until spring. And it was like, okay, and it was the best decision ever. They really started in late March of 25, and we had our open house in uh February of just this year. Um, the whole process was crazy, Joanne. I learned more. I mean, I knew nothing. I had never done I mean, the most home improvement I'd I I painted some walls. Yeah, you know, I could replace some screws or you know, put in some nails. So I feel like now I could, you know, I don't know. Could I do anything in the knowledge I have? No, probably not. I don't want to be too big of a talker, but I've learned a lot. And so there were two guys who were on our site every day, Bruce and Memo. And every subcontractor, I it still really makes me tear up. Um I say all the time, they were building hope. And I'm not kidding, every single person who came to our site, and I always had the opportunity to talk to them and talk about what the project was and what they were doing, and uh it was so intentional the care that they put into every wall and making sure everything was just right for those kids who are gonna be walking down that hall. And when you have people who care that much, and I was like, I was like, they're not just putting up walls, they're not just there's this saying that um, you know, that there was this um somebody asked this guy was putting all these bricks down and put you know in cement and and bricks, and they said, Oh, what are you doing? You you know, and you except say, Well, I'm you know, laying bricks. He's like, I'm building a cathedral. You know, it's that kind of mentality, and that was like these guys, they were building hope. They weren't just building a building, and um, I think that's why it's so exceptional when you walk in there, you feel the love and the care that every single person who worked on this job did. They went above and beyond. I mean, our we had Shram Electric in there, um, if you know that family, and I mean, they would just something would come up and they would just come right over if there was a problem. You know, I we put a few wrenches in there. I put I put a few wrenches in there. Um we were laughing about it last night, but um, we have three huge, beautiful stained glass windows in that building that came from Mercy when they merged with Unity Point. They're beautiful stained glass windows that are over a hundred years old. Yes, that were in their rehab unit, they were getting rid of. And so Mary Hendricks. Um God, love her. We've had her on the show. Yes, so she called and she said, They're getting rid of those. Would you want some? And I was like, Yes. Um, now keep in mind that we were very far along in the construction process. There wasn't plans really for stained glass windows initially. The windows were already cut out and ordered for everything. I mean, when I say we're far along, we were far along. So I bring it, we had we were having you know regular construction meetings with myself and Greg and Rachel, you know, we were all meetings. So I come into the meeting, I'm like, so we can, of course, I'm all excited, we can get these stained glass windows, and I think it would be beautiful in the outside of our building, and we also put in a prayer room in our new edition. And wouldn't it be great if we could have one in there? And our architect, she was all about it right away. Greg. Greg was like his face, like you just see the color, and he's a pretty tan guy, you could just see the color, just like, and he just nods his head and he's like, Okay. I mean, by the way, no one ever said no to me about anything. Ever. It was always like, okay, we can figure out everything. Um, I mean, I only really there were only two things that were kind of crazy, but that was one of them. And one of so we've got um, so so that was quite I behind the scenes. I can only imagine what they said, which they confirmed. There was lots of conversation behind the scenes, but to my face, it was always like, okay, we'll figure it out. So we had to go over, we looked at them, we picked them out, and now they are just beautiful in our building. We have two um that you can see from the outside, and they just shine this beautiful stained glass down our hallways, and like I said, one in the prayer room. Um, so that was again just it just makes the feel of the building. Our clients just love them. Um, and then we had another in our, we made kind of a bigger boardroom training room. Because we also were able to remodel our current building, which hadn't been touched in 20 years. So that new paint, new carpet, you know, just the basics. Um we so they were getting ready to put the ceiling back in. And um, so everything was done, all the HVAC, all the w everything was done. They were just getting and I said, you know, our board mentioned it might be good that maybe we should do put like the speakers and microphone. We should do like a more of a system than just use like a little owl with whatever because you know it's our chance to do that, and that really threw a wrench in. Okay. Um, and they were like, Okay, okay, okay, okay, sure. And then, of course, we had to order the system, which held up the ceiling guys, which held up other things. Of course, they're on a time crunch to get it done for us in the time they said that they would, and they did it. It was great. I mean, and then there were problems, they just they just made it all happen. Um, it's just absolutely exquisite. If you walk in to our waiting area, we have these like lighted um lighted fixtures that are just beautiful and fun, and down our hallways we have a pattern that's almost like, if you think about like the yellow brick road, okay, that's kind of like you know, you follow this path. So built into the floor is kind of this curved um cutout in the in the vinyl of this path that is it's kind of a turquoise in a blue path. And our kids just love, I mean, it's just so creative, love walking down there, you know, and just these creative touches that are so fun and engaging for our kids. We've also been able to add a um with the new edition, um, some other space. I don't know if you want me to just dive in and talk about that or yes, yes, okay, greatly. Um I'm happy to. I'll just I'll just keep going, Joanne. I know, I know. Yeah. Um, so we were able to add an art therapy room. This is one of our funnest rooms. One whole wall is just a big dry erase board. So imagine like this, like one whole huge wall. It's just dry erase um for the kids to write on and draw on. And again, keep in mind, I mean, we see kids that might be three or four all the way up to 18. So it's for all ages of children and teens. We see a lot of tweens and teens as well. So that's in the art room, as well as we have a table in there with chairs, and we have all sorts of different art supplies, everything from painting to um we did at one time have the staff had wanted some slime, a couple of them. I vetoed that because I have personal experience with slime and a daughter, and I know how that goes. So I did veto the slime. Okay, but we have lots of different kinds of art um in there as well as uh Sacred Heart here in Sioux City does a drive for us each year. They did an art supply drive um last year, I think, and so we also have some that kids can take home with them. So it's such a therapeutic approach. Um, we know that sometimes it's not always easy to talk about how you're feeling and or to describe it, but some kids are so good at being able to draw it out, so that's a really, really great space for kids and frankly even adults of all ages. So we have that. We also have a play therapy room, and that's really for the littler kids. And we have a puppet theater and a little puppet um show in there. We have, you know, a doll house, we have a little kitchen, we have a little play table, and um, that's again for the little kids who need to sometimes act out what's happening. They might not even be able to draw it, but kids are able to act it out as well as a sand tray therapy table. And then we have what we call our youth therapy room. That's maybe for kids who are maybe you know, 11, 12 on up to 18, and it's got kind of maybe a chill vibe to it. And we have a little bit taller table where they can play games with staff. Oftentimes kids do better when they're active, you know. If you've ever had a a kid that age, sometimes, you know, a car ride, or if you're in the middle of playing a card game, or we have some therapeutic games. We also kind of have some chairs that are lower to the ground, kind of slouchy, you can hang out in and and do that. We have a nerve basketball hoop on the wall, um, just a little bit for for some of the older kids. So those are the three therapeutic rooms we were able to add down that wing. We also are able to add a psychiatry suite. We have a psychiatrist that we work with who specializes with children, adolescents. She also works with our adults, but it has a room that's attached to her office. Uh, we do some screenings like for depression, anxiety, take vital signs, and then they can wait right there next to her office before they see her. So that was also a great addition, and then the prayer room that I mentioned with the stained glass window, and that was something we didn't have before, but it was really important for us to add that in. You know, our therapists have very all of our staff have very heavy jobs some days, as well as for our clients sometimes, just wanting to go and and be in there. Uh Father Gallus was able to get us some chair kneelers. So we have those in there. Uh, we also have a statue of Mary and a crucifix in there. Um we have a special um print, um, and it's of Saint Nicholas, we uh and a little dedication that we gave to in honor of Bishop Nicholas last year. Yes. And he retired. When he retired, right. That's in there, and then one of our staff's father, his name is Bob Phillips, he actually made us a prayer board. Oh boy. That's in there, and then we have little prayer cards. So if you would like people to pray for somebody, you can write that, and that's hanging there. And then our latest edition, oh, this is again just beautiful. So one of our staff's um parents in our welcome program, which is our immigration program, we were able to help them get their um permanent citizenship. They took the the test and they're permanent citizen citizens now here in the U.S. And so they were down in Mexico seeing family, and um the they brought back they they ride the bus back and forth, and she carried on her lap, it's this gorgeous um framed picture of our lady of Guadalupe. And so our patroness, the Diocese of Susidia. Yes, yes, and so that is hanging in there now as well. So it's just a beautiful sacred space that we love. Yes. And now it's done, and I saw on Facebook that uh you got an award. Oh, that was I was that you know, I had already contacted you to come in and talk about Angeline Swing, and then I saw the notice on Facebook of this award. So tell the listeners a little about the award, because that was like, oh wow. Yes, isn't that just amazing? Yes, so um our contractor, um, HR Construction, um and RML, well, uh HR Construction put in so the construction alliance of Siouxland, um they um notified um all of us that uh Angeline's Wing um received an award for the best um construction project in the three to ten million range um for 2020. It was for 2025, um, but they awarded them now for for last year. Um and it really has to do with um the creativity of the project, the difficulty of the project, because there were some challenges with different things, um, both construction-wise and I'm sure probably the glass window pieces. Um, they were hundreds of pounds, and they had to really figure out they had to cut into stone in one part to put them in. I mean, it was just really um amazing. And so we had the awards ceremony last night. They give awards out to them, like every sub subcontra gets a subcontractor gets a small um award for that as well. And I mean, what an honor. Yes. And I was so so proud um and so happy for our contractor and the architect, um, because it's just a spectacular, spectacular um building. When you walk in, I mean, just visually, I think from the outside it's beautiful with the stone and the brick so that it just kind of looks seamless. And um when you walk in, it's just I can't wait for you to come over and see it, Joanne. And you get a chance to get the tour and everything. The listeners know I've been snowbirding. Yes, you've been snowboarding. So we'll get you over there, but it just feels um just feels safe and welcoming. And um, so yeah, so that was just such an honor. I was so grateful. Yeah, that's often you know the individuals that are overlooked. You know, the building's done, yay. We got our clients in here, we got our kids in here, yay. And the people who did the bricks and the mortar and those stained glass windows. You know, often overlooked. And so what a wonderful moment for them to be recognized and honored. Who uh they often are not. Yeah, you know, they're just kind of the forgotten guys of putting up the you know the building. So that was really cool to see that. Well, and you know, we've talked about this is really a wing because you have seen that children, tweens, teens, you know, maybe very, very young adults when we're looking 17, 18, are having some challenges. And what what have you noticed and what are your therapists telling you about what's going on with young people that they need some guidance or direction or support? What's going on? One of the things that we're really seeing a lot of with kids is anxiety. That is really one of the the biggest things that we're seeing, and it really comes from a lot of places. It's actually the focus um, which everyone will be receiving our our newsletter in May. It's May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Right. And so we'll be sending it out to the whole diocese, which we do every every year. But that's one of our focus areas because it really touches even the real young kids all the way up to 18. Um a multitude of things that we're seeing. I mean, certainly um, there's school pressures, there's what's happening in the world. And part of, you know, what we're seeing happening in the world, um, everything from immigration and politics, and regardless of how people feel, it's it's the I think the divisiveness in people having such strong feelings about it. And that can be stressful for kids. Um, it can be stressful that when people have such strong feelings and it seems like sometimes it can feel like there's no way to talk about those things. Um the bullying and cyberbullying with social media is very real, and we're seeing a lot with social media. The other piece with anxiety is feeling with social media is feeling left out. I see on social media that all my friends went and did this, but I wasn't included. Um that can create a lot of anxiety, and we also know that the more kids are on social media, the more anxiety it creates, which means they're on social media more. It's just like this vicious cycle. And so that is a huge piece of what we're seeing with kids. I mean, the average right now, kids are on a screen seven plus hours a day. Seven that's the average. Oh my average, seven hours a day. And they're in school for what, eight, seven hours? So kids are on social, they're on it in the schools. Um really, I'm such a I am such a um I I mean I'll sing it from the rafters. I mean, to ban most schools have banned phones in school. Unless you literally take them and make them put them in front of you away, they're still on them. They're good. Oh my goodness, they're good. They're so good. They're in they're everywhere. And I mean, I know from having a 17-year-old daughter who's in school. I I mean, you know. I know. We all know. So, um, there are some schools who like they check them in at the beginning of the day, they're there, they can get them at the end of the day, or every class you go, and there's like a little pouch, you put it in the pouch, it stays there. But there's so much data, even you know, if you feel a vibration, what is that? It the preoccupation starts immediately. So I'm just such a strong advocate. Um, but it is the anxiety it creates in our kids is so significant. Um, there's also a lot of trauma kids are experiencing. Food insecurity. Um, you know, one in four kids are food insecure. So, you know, that's that's here in our In our communities. So those are also things that we're that we're seeing walk through our doors. And um so we we need to do better as a as I think a community. Um I think what's good is that there's more awareness and people are more willing to get help. There's less stigma for that. Um so I mean that's the upside to that, I guess. But yeah, I would agree with you that there's less stigma now. People are a little more open to, you know, I can't fix this, I'm not a mental health professional, I don't have any background, I don't want to try and Google this, but we know there's resources. Right. Of course, Catholic Charities is a a great resource, you know, to to help your kids. And Angeline's wing is, you know, a another great resource. Right. So as you kind of look back over this last year of um building and um now you're in entrenched in it now. Yes. And what are you hearing from maybe the community, the staff, the clients, what are they saying to you? What I'm hearing is that i it's been it's been humbling and overwhelmingly positive in that it really especially to have that I think building there in that side of town. Um, you know, there isn't an outpatient space on that side of town for children and families. And that it's you know, from the outside, it's a beautiful building. It blends in well with the community. We've done some landscaping. I think that's also been nice. Um, we're hoping to continue to do more. Um, so I think from that perspective, that's been very positive, and that they feel very comfortable and welcomed. You know, I also think that space is part of it. I think the other piece is, you know, our staff. Yes. And making sure that when people walk in, no matter who they are, whether, you know, um we have somebody who might be homeless walking in, um, you know, it could be a teacher, it could be a single mom, it could be anybody that they feel safe and welcomed and treated the same. And that's really what we strive to do in that space. And I think anybody walking in feels comfortable with that. So it's all just been overwhelmingly positive. Oh, I love that. Overwhelmingly positive, yeah, you know, and that's why I wanted you to come onto the show and share with the listeners, you know, what's going on, because this is really joyful for Catholic charities. Yeah. So, listeners, that kind of brings to a conclusion another episode of uh Faith in Action. I want to thank my guest today, Amy Block, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City. Thank you so much, Amy, for taking time out of your schedule to come on the show and enlighten the listeners about what's going on because it's all, like you said, overwhelmingly positive. Thanks so much for having me, and I just so appreciate the opportunity to talk about it and um just welcome anybody who wants to stop by and have a tour or check it out. We would welcome anybody to come on in. That's great to hear, yeah. And listeners are pretty tech savvy. You know, you just Google Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City and up it pops, and then you can go from there with the contact. Absolutely. Terrific. Well, listeners, thank you so much for tuning in to uh this edition of Faith in Action. If you tuned in late, uh you can certainly go to our website, Siouxlandcatholicradio.com, click on uh local programs, and then you can listen at your convenience to this show or any of our other shows that we produce locally. And we are also on Spotify and on a number of other podcasting platforms, our website, Siouxland Catholic Radio.com, and all of this is due to the generosity of Mary's Choice, a Susity Pregnancy Resource Center, which is the exclusive underwriter for this show. So on behalf of myself, I'm Joanne Fox, I'm the host of this show, and my executive producer, Ann Reed, I want to remind you that a faithful reaction is always good, but faith in action, it's so much better. Thanks for listening and God bless.