Episode 10 - "Doing Good" Radio Show - Featuring Michael Smith and Bill Ayers from Catholic Charities of Long Island

In Episode 10 of the Doing Good show, Mangano Family Foundation’s Founder Sal Mangano sits down to discuss Catholic Charities of Long Island with CEO Michael Smith and Board Chairman Bill Ayers.

Michael Smith has served as CEO since February 2023 and has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector. Bill Ayers has served as CCLI Board Chairman since June 2017. He has a successful career in finance that has spanned decades working for some of Long Island’s most prolific financial institutions.  Additionally he has served on a number of boards and championed philanthropic causes, including the Peter & Jeri Dejana Foundation, the Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank, and the Pastoral Council of the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share our YouTube channel @ManganoFamilyFoundation to help us continue highlighting those who are truly Doing Good and visit our website at https://www.manganofamilyfoundation.com/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station, JVC Broadcasting Management, or its sponsors.

SPEAKER_04 0:22

All right, thanks everybody for joining us on another edition of the Mangano Family Foundation Doing Good Radio Show. And you know, this radio show, um, which was started by Sal Mangano uh and the Mangano Family Funeral Homes and Sal's Families Foundation was really started as a way to highlight the different organizations and elected officials and leaders across Long Island who were doing good. You know, oftentimes we hear you know a lot of a lot of the bad stuff or negativity across our you know media outlets all the time, right? And this is a nice refreshing place to kind of learn about what's happening locally, um, some programming. And here today we're really fortunate to have Catholic charities of Long Island join us. Um, just an amazing organization that just does so much. And when I think you hear about it today, you're gonna say, wow, that is an amazing, impactful group that's doing so much for everybody across Long Island. So joining us today, we have Michael Smith, the CEO of Catholic Charities of Long Island, and Bill Ayers, uh board chairman of Catholic Charities. So thanks for joining us today, gentlemen. Thanks very much for having me to be here. And um I'll just kind of go over quickly just a little bit about you know, sort of bio points, right? Um so Michael, uh graduate of Colgate University, and I didn't I think a lot of people don't realize you're a lawyer, right? So you went, you graduated law school, or how how what is it?

SPEAKER_03 1:43

And actually practiced law here on Long Island for uh eight years at the uh legal aid society in Suffolk County. Uh so I did that, and then I moved into the management side of nonprofit sector uh the nonprofit sector, and uh I've been there for the last 30 some odd years.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

Oh, okay. And Bill, Bill A. are synonymous with Long Island banking. So, you know, you have uh an incredible career that spans you know over 25 years across a lot of big financial institutions, um, doing commercial banking, private wealth management, um, and heavily involved in the nonprofit space. And for the last several years, you've been board chair at Catholic Charities.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Right, yeah, and I got involved uh in 2017. So it's it's uh nine years coming on 10. So it's been very rewarding uh being part of uh Catholic Charities of Long Island for sure.

SPEAKER_04 2:33

So so Mike, what was kind of like your you know path, you know, to get into the position that you're at now as CEO and kind of like what led you to to you know to the organization and the job you have now?

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Well, like I said, I had uh practiced law for a number of years, moved into the not into the nonprofit side of uh the organizations, and worked in various C suite level uh capacities throughout. So chief operating officer, CFO, uh executive director. Um then this opportunity arose back in 2022. Uh I interviewed um and uh it just felt like a calling. You know, this was uh an opportunity for me that uh I really wanted. Uh I grew up on Long Island, lived here for a number of years, moved to New Jersey back in in '97. Um, but it was so important to me that uh my family agreed to move back to Long Island because that was part of the deal. Had to be on Long Island to uh work for Catholic charities of Long Island. So we uh we did that, and uh, you know, it's been a great experience ever since. It's a terrific organization. Uh the mission uh is true to form. You know, really we really do provide uh care with dignity uh to give folks life with hope. Uh we stand by that motto, and uh it's amazing to see day in, day out, working with folks that are so driven, so client-centered, um, and uh really just caring about their work and the people that they serve. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 4:06

Yeah, and you know, I think you know, what you guys do, you know, is just tremendous impact. You know, it's really um you know, grassroots driven. I mean, the impact you make on so many people's lives. Um, but I think people will be surprised about how you know large Catholic Charters of Long Island is Yeah, our scope is very broad.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

We uh operate ten uh various ministries or program services throughout the island. So Nassau, Suffolk County, uh East uh uh Elmont to the East End, and um you know we'll we'll operate 50 various sites throughout addiction treatment services, mental health clinics, uh homes for developmentally disabled. Um we are the largest provider of affordable housing for senior citizens on Long Island. We operate 16 different sites across uh across Nassau and Suffolk County. Uh so we really do have our hands in a lot of things. Uh we've got about 450 employees. Um we uh we have about 250 volunteers uh at any given moment who uh really do a lot of great work for us. And um, you know, we're we're a uh mid-sized uh charitable organization, so our revenues roughly $45 million. Um and you know what we what we um what we bring up into the organization stays on Long Island, right? We're very focused on um contracting with local vendors when we need uh you know rent rents on Long Island uh if we don't own the properties, uh, you know, and we really do take care to uh you know every dollar that uh is given to us, we spend on Long Island with Long Islanders, and it's it's very important.

SPEAKER_04 5:56

Yeah, and I and I think that's you know such an important takeaway, too, is you know, nothing against you know the big national nonprofits that you might see on TV to you know give on this website or call this 1-800 number. Um this you know is donations that you get and contributions go right back to support Long Islanders, and that's such an important part. Right. Agreed.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

Yeah, we're serving our community. We really are.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

And Bill, talk a little bit about you know, kind of like the board's role and you know, kind of how you even got you know into that in that spot and kind of what led you to you know work so closely with the organization.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Sure. Um so I I think I was mainly inspired by my children to get involved because it I I remember both of them giving up spring break weeks to do Habitat for Humanity projects. And I'm you know, now the kids are out of the house, what am I doing, right? And I I as you had mentioned, I've been in the banking business mainly here on Long Island for the last 35 years or so. And there's some fulfillment about doing a good job, but not the fulfillment you really need. And and I thought that human services is really one way of getting it, Catholicism being very close to my heart to begin with. Um so I got introduced to a few people that were at Catholic charities. It was a no-brainer for me to want to be involved. Uh they agreed to take me onto the board back in 2017, and it's it's been a really eye-opening experience. I think just to add to some of the things Mike was saying, not only are we providing all those services in the scope that goes again, the the the size of the island, but it's the most vulnerable Long Islanders, it's seniors, it's getting meals on wheels with, it might be the only visitors they get that week, it's veterans uh needed needing housing, it's developmentally disabled adults, it's people in the throes of addiction, it's maternity services, it's immigration services, which is such a hot button now because there are many people legally in the system that don't know where to turn, where a place they can turn to get assistance. So I think what led me here was trying to get a piece of that doing good. And um Mike also touched on this earlier. When you see the people on the front lines of Catholic charities delivering services, it's a mission for these people. It's not a job. And it it's so great to see that happening. We take a lot of tours to bring potential donors or potential board members on, and it's it's it's one of the best days of the year because you go around and you see these people getting services and people providing services and really doing God's work, not for themselves, for other people, and the church really reaching out into the communities for helping the most vulnerable. And I will say just to answer your question on the board, um, we have a very engaged and committed board, and uh I I couldn't be happier with the support that we get. You know, we've we've had issues come up where we need people to get on phone calls uh you know at a pretty pretty rapid pace, and people are very, very willing to arrange their schedules to meet and chat and and be proactive and give ideas. And we've got a a myriad of professionals. So we've got attorneys, we've got human resource people, and we've got people from the healthcare field, people from the banking field. So it's a it's a well-rounded board as well, and that's been very fulfilling. I've learned a lot from my fellow board members over the past couple of years as well.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

Yeah, no, that's uh that's always great when you when you know you have such a supportive board that can provide you know uh that to the organization. And you know, I know you mentioned you know seniors and and some of the more vulnerable that are in you know our communities. Um, you know, and I know Sal and the Family Foundation, they do a tremendous amount of work in giving back and supporting as well. Um, I know recently they actually had a whole um floral, they did they donated because they also own Family Florist uh in Deer Park and uh they teamed up with um the volunteers and the seniors at Spangle Drive Senior Center in North Babylon, did a whole day of creating floral arrangements that they then donated to um Good Shepherd Hospice and another organization. Uh so that was a way to kind of like you know get involved in the community. I know that was a good event you guys did. Yes, it was great, it was very, very well received. Yeah, that worked out, that worked out nice. And um, but that kind of goes to like you know, I've been I've been doing some reading, and I think it might have been uh Wall Street Journal. It was some publication, you know, about a year ago, put put out an article and talked about the loneliness epidemic that is like sweeping the country. And you know, you have a lot of people that you know are by themselves and they really just don't have an outlet to be engaged or to get involved in things, they really know how. Um so I think what you guys are are doing uh to be able to provide those outlets for people are really important. Yeah. Um, you want to talk a little bit about maybe some of the programs you have for seniors and and some of the activities or initiatives that you might have around that? Sure, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Yeah, yeah. So uh one of the programs that Bill mentioned was Meals on Wheels, right? So we are a Meals on Wheels provider in both Nassau and Suffolk County. Uh so that means that uh we are delivering hot meals uh to seniors five days a week. Last year we did about 180,000 meals. Um and uh you know we may our drivers may be the only person that these folks come into contact with day in, day out, right? They're they're seniors, they're generally homebound, uh, their families may have moved off of the island. So really it's the only uh wellness check that uh these seniors might get on a regular basis. Uh for those able enough, we have uh senior programs, which uh we operate three of in Nassau County, um at uh in West Hempstead, Oceanside, and um I'm blanking on the third. Yeah, that's right. I'm headed there tomorrow. I should know that. They'll be a quizzitable geography. So uh, you know, and the and the seniors there get out and they're um socially engaged, they're active. Uh, you know, we'll always have Banggo because you know we are a Catholic organization, but um they'll they'll uh we'll be sure that that everybody gets a uh balanced lunch. They uh do other social activities, we'll do field trips uh when we're able to. So it really is a good opportunity to get the seniors out and uh active and participate, um, keep the brains working and all. And uh the great the response is great. We get tremendous uh daily uh response from from the senior citizens in those those areas.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

And there's an uh a multiplier there because I think either you or Danielle were were telling me about a story where someone was missing from the senior center recently, and the other seniors went and made sure the person was okay and brought them back to the center. So so there's a little bit of branching out that happens as well as a result of this. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Exactly. And it's a lively group, at least the ones I've seen. Well, the bingo can get very uh competitive. Competitive, yeah, that's for sure. Um and you know, I I'd like to also kind of learn a little bit more about um, you know, the on the mental health services side, um, what you guys do there, what type of programming you have, and how that yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Also uh, you know, with respect to the uh the isolation and and all, there are folks that are really suffering with it, mental illness, uh especially post-pandemic. And uh we see a lot of that. So uh last year our uh mental health clinics were quite busy. There's about a 6% increase year over year. And uh, you know, it we're we're dealing with all sorts of um challenges. People come to us and and there's a lot of crossover right between the addiction and the mental illness these days. And it's uh um, you know, the work that we do is important because folks really do need attention and uh you know we're able to provide it uh usually free of charge. So uh you know it it really is uh it's a lot. We have a uh clinic in Bayshore, Medford. We also have an a residential um uh uh uh facility in Bayshore as well for those that need uh more higher level of uh care. So uh it's it's an important ministry, it's an important program uh because folks really are uh you know really are dealing with a lot of serious uh a lot of serious mental illnesses at this time.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

Yeah, and I think you know just taking that first step to you know seek the help and the support is important.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Absolutely. You want to be available when there is that um uh effort to reach out and ask for help, and we try to do that across the board.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

And you know, none of this is is uh possible, you know, to be able to deliver these amazing services that you provide, you know, without uh being able to get contributions and creating relationships in the business community. Um you have any yeah, I think you have an upcoming event coming up. Uh you want to talk a little about your annual fundraiser?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Sure, we do. Uh it's actually next Wednesday, which is the 13th, I believe. It's our Caritas Dinner, which is our our main fundraiser of the year, uh where we typically honor people, and we've got Joe Fennessey and his daughter Carol, who are going to be the honorees this year. Um and Joe is a I think a Deloitte partner, a retired Deloitte partner who's been uh been very good to us and has done a lot of good things. His daughter Carol is uh running CYO now, Catholic Youth Organization, and and I know I've heard her say this, which has made her a favorite of mine. She wants to put Catholic back in CYO. So we're honoring them on uh next Wednesday uh at the Heritage Club at Betpage. And again, that's our primary fundraiser for the year. We do a golf outing as well in the fall, uh Mutton Town Club, it's generally in October. But this is coming up, and we'll have 250 people, Mike.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

Yeah, at least it's a nice event, it's a great venue. Um and tickets are still available. So if you want, please check out our website. It's Catholiccharities.cc. And uh we'll happy we'll be happy to accommodate and answer any questions.

SPEAKER_04 16:08

Yeah, that's uh that's great. And um, you know, um sponsorships, tickets, you know, a whole variety of opportunities. So even if you can't be there, oh you have obligations that night, please, you know, you can certainly look to make a contribution to support the organization. True. And um I know Sal, you've been you've been extremely busy with a lot of different community engagement activities that that you and the foundation have been doing. Um so I know for Easter, you know, Easter is a big you know time for you. And uh, you know, you second year in a row, uh you supported Little Flower Children Family Services with an event there, um, donating a lot of good stuff for the kids for Easter. Um and then I know um, you know, let's talk a little bit about the vocational scholarship that you have. Um curious how that came about and you know what, you know, kind of what are the components of it, and and if somebody's interested in applying, how do they do that?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

The vocational uh scholarship is um with the Sons of Italy in Deer Park, the Constantino Bermudi Lodge uh in Deer Park. Uh you can go on their website, sons of italyli.com. Um, and it's for uh anyone who's going to a trade school. And uh it's a scholarship uh in honor of my mother who passed uh in October 24. And um, you know, to try to uh um you know, a lot of sometimes uh kids who graduate high school they they don't want to go to college. Maybe college isn't the path for them. Um I was uh a friend of mine um has a foundation called the Ryan Anthony Foundation, and he's been on the show, and um he has uh you know uh monthly meetings where he mentors um students who either are still in high school or um of uh graduated high school and who want to go into the trades. And that's um the the trades now are uh they're they're needed, you know. There's uh hardly anyone going into the trades. So that's why we kind of came up with that uh scholarship.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

Yeah, that's a major uh a major issue kind of force, you know, that's that's out there right now amongst Long Island businesses, you know, is you know hire hiring and you know qualified workers. And it's not just you know um the high-end you know uh engineers, but it's also manufacturing line, it's welders, it's electricians, it's plumbers, that we need all of these industries in order to keep Long Island moving forward, not just with development, but manufacturing as well. And um oftentimes you'll see you know surveys from executives, and they and the number one issue right now facing them is not necessarily taxes, not necessarily the regulatory environment, it's it's the hiring and workforce development. Um so uh you know that's great that you have that and you know being able to help you know identify students that kind of like want to go into those career paths because it's much needed.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 18:58

Yeah, that's that's great. And um, I know one of the things I think it would be surprising when you mentioned affordable or senior housing. Um how many, you know, talk a little bit about your senior housing program. Um is there an application problem?

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Like how does how does that whole process work? Yeah. So uh like I said earlier, we uh operate 16 housing apartment complexes throughout the island, and uh there are about 1,300, nearly 1,400 units um that we lease. Uh it's a sliding scale, it's based on um income and it's subsidized. So uh it's very reasonable. Um the housing uh the complexes that I've toured are uh immaculate. They're really uh very nice. And you know, I don't want to necessarily toot our own horn, but it's it's a great uh spot for seniors who want to stay on Long Island. Uh they're usually close to transportation or uh you know other uh supermarket stores, et cetera. So uh and and we also do run shuttle buses to most of those locations. So uh there are uh there are waiting lists, so uh applications early are are encouraged. Uh anyone 62 and over can apply. And um, you know, the the waiting lists might be two or three years. So if you have a senior in mind uh and they're thinking about uh downsizing but don't want to relocate off the island, uh this might be a good fit for them. And if somebody's interested in learning more, they website they can find contacts there. Also, our website, yeah, we're happy to speak to anybody who uh who wants more information on our housing.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

And you know, I think one of the one of the big drivers, you know, that we're looking to put forward is is really like engaging you know the youth today in supporting like the Long Island non-for-profit community and kind of creating that continuation for perhaps of their involvement in high school uh and you know the activities they're involved with there, and and kind of had it, you know, building that bridge you know into you know involvement in the organization. Um, I know you guys have so many different programs and opportunities, and you recently had an event, I think, at St. John's High School. Um talk a little about some of the events and engagement that you have with you know our younger generation.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Sure. So uh the recent event that you're speaking about, Anthony, was a mental health day, right, for the students at uh St. John the Baptist High School, where uh they uh were open to having our panel of experts, you know, our directors of these various ministries come in and speak to the students about their mental health concerns uh and just different uh you know, get feedback, ideas, techniques on how to deal with uh different things that they might be uh facing in their in their lives. Uh so that That was very well received by uh administration teachers and students uh this week, Friday. Uh we're also uh doing the same with the Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville. Uh same thing. Uh Mental Health Day. Uh you know, we'll we'll have a walk in the morning and then some similar programming throughout the day. Uh you know, we're fortunate because we do get to work with a lot of the Catholic high schools throughout, Catholic high schools and Catholic elementary schools throughout the island, just in terms of uh various service projects and and such that they'll do in order to help our our ministries, our programs along. So uh, you know, we're fortunate in that regard. And we are starting to work more with the public schools too. You know, they see the see the value in volunteerism and philanthropy and helping others. So um, you know, we're our organization fortunately is uh able to take advantage of a lot of those opportunities that present themselves from the uh the public schools as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Yeah, and I think speaking to your point, Anthony, we are also trying to build that continuum. So, Danielle Campbell, who are who is our director of of uh development and communications, has done a great job getting into the elementary schools and coordinating with St. John the Baptist and Kellenberg and Trinity for all these programs. I think now what we're gonna start to look for is maybe some of the campus ministries at the colleges, and then try and tap into that young professional. Maybe we have a junior board at some point. So the the point that that you're that you're making, we're we're addressing and we're we're trying to work our way through it to to again build that continuum to get make sure people know who Catholic Charities is from the earliest ages and continue involvement. And maybe CYO is one of those groups that we do more outreach with now that uh the relationship with Carol. So it is a it is a big issue to make sure we've got the engagement of that of that uh demographic for sure.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Yeah, the interest is CYO actually an interesting relationship to cultivate. You know, actually I I omitted that, but Carol and her team have been very supportive of Catholic charities just in terms of uh around Mother's Day, which is coming up, and uh and other times when uh they will do things like uh provide cards and gifts around Christmas and all. So yeah, we uh we really are in a in a good place as as far as that goes. Um and the other thing that that came up, and I'll I'll uh I'll refer to our situation, we are always hiring. So uh that can also uh that information can be found on our website as well. So if you have a you know a recent high school graduate, college graduate, uh send them our way. We're uh always interested in talking to people about what they can do at Catholic Charities, and we have plenty of room and opportunity uh for that as well. Oh, that's great. And what is the uh website again?

SPEAKER_04 24:47

It's catholiccharities.cc. Excellent. Um so you know, we have a few minutes left, but you know, I kind of just want to hear you know a little bit more about, you know, I know we kind of touched on you know a lot of the programs that you have, but is there anything kind of you know, if you can just you know have a takeaway and and talk about, you know, maybe if there's an example of you know somebody or family that you know might have been positively impacted by the program or um you know a program that we might not have touched on that you want to kind of take a deeper dive into, um, you know, the floor is yours to kind of you know be able to put that out there and and talk a little bit more about you know about that. And then, you know, again, I think it would be helpful people to kind of feel that and see it and be able to, you know, have that connection, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:36

Well, uh, with respect to our mental health clinics, I can tell you about uh one of our um directors there who received a telephone call on a late night uh but it went through to her cell phone. She took it, and it was someone who was uh contemplating suicide, and she was able to stay on the phone with that person and really get them to the point where um they weren't thinking about that any longer. So it was real uh, you know, a uh uh real uh kudos to her for being um available and also being able to get that person in a place where um they weren't thinking about doing themselves harm. Um, you know, that is uh is kind of commonplace with the work that we do, right? Um our folks are uh always ready to go that extra mile, you know, do do ever whatever is necessary to uh to help out, particularly when uh it really is a life or death situation.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

Yeah. Yeah. I mean that's um and to be have that availability, you know, is you know, this isn't a uh, oh, you know, nine to five, five o'clock, up five oh one, the the phone is turned off and you know, call me tomorrow. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

So so true. These these folks, like I said earlier, uh are so committed uh to their clients or their patients or the the the residents um that they never do that. I mean they always want to go the uh the extra step in order to make sure that uh they're doing what's best for um that that client or resident or patient, like Bill said. It really is a it's a calling for these folks. Um they are they are so mission-driven and uh it's amazing to see. And um it's terrific to to witness in person day after day.

SPEAKER_04 27:26

And Bill, you know, I I'm I'm always you know talking and advocating for you know Long Island companies and and and business leaders, you know, to really get involved and giving back and have social and corporate responsibility. Um and Catholic Charities of Long Island is a great vehicle to do that. Just from your perspective, you know, being such a you know longtime person in banking and finance and being around Long Island business, talk a little about why this could be like a really good opportunity, you know, for companies to get engaged.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Oh, it it it totally agree with you, Anthony. It's it's it's an it's an organization that you don't know we're there, but we're we're out there every day helping tens of thousands of people every year get food. And and and and like we always like to say, we've got great stories, we just need more people to hear it. And I think the things like today is is a great example of people hearing a little bit more, maybe they'll be curious. So thank you for the for the opportunity. Thank you for joining us. You know, thank you, Sal. And uh I think that the more people hear, the more they they would be liked to be part of this, and it's a great entree for the for the uh business community to go out and do something good to support an organization that's got 400 Long Island employees and 200 uh volunteers and does a lot of good every single day. Just one side note on the on the mental health and and addiction services side. I probably get more exposure to those ministries uh in this role than than the others. And the people are just incredible. They're they're just incredible. I I I sit on phone calls with them and I'm I'm amazed at how they react to things, how they operate, how they get into how how they get into a mode of how do we help these people, how do we how do we move this forward. Um and that's just that's just two of the ministries. And it's like that when I go on the tour. So it's a great organization. If if if um if if a business is out there and wants to reach a little bit more into helping the vulnerable people of Long Island, we're a great vehicle for it, as you said.

SPEAKER_04 29:20

Great, yeah, that's that's incredible. So you can visit them on the website. Um Mangano Family Foundation um has their website at Mangano Mangano Family Foundation.com. Um also will let you know that uh if you're on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, um, iHeartRadio, uh the Mangano Family Foundation show is now podcast streaming on those platforms, so be sure to check it out. Sal, any parting words?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Thank you very much for joining us, gentlemen. Um it's very interesting and very informative. So thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Thank you, thanks for the invitation. Thank you.