Banco Popular supports local mental health with Providence Family Services grant

Banco Popular recently brought to life their motto ‘Together we can make it happen’ by donating $3000 to Providence Family Services’ counseling program.

Providence Family Services (PFS) of Chicago is a not-for-profit sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., and a program of Guerin Outreach Ministries. PFS serves the largely Spanish-speaking and often struggling population in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Providence Family Services was established in 1993 to fill a void and make available affordable bilingual counseling services to area residents. PFS has since grown to include English as a Second Language classes, after-school tutoring and computer classes, parenting classes and citizenship classes.

Banco Popular was founded in Puerto Rico in 1893 and first established in the United States in 1961. Today it operates more than 100 branches across five U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, and Florida.

The Banco Popular Foundation, a wholly employee-funded philanthropic organization, awarded more than $348,800 in grants to 37 organizations across the U.S. in 2008. The Banco Popular Foundation shares the bank’s mission to strengthen the social and economic well-being of the communities it serves. Over the last four years, the Banco Popular Foundation has granted over $1.4 million dollars to grass-roots organizations sponsored by their employees, called DreamMakers.

Banco Popular has serviced Providence Family Services’ banking needs for its entire 15 year existence. This past year, Banco Popular’s Josephine Pacheco, Assistant Vice President/Branch Manager of North Pulaski Branch helped the not-for-profit PFS apply for a grant through the Banco Popular Foundation.

“I chose to submit PFS because of their commitment to build the community, change lives and make a measureable difference. This mirrors a value of the Bank. As a DreamMaker, I am committed to work actively in promoting the social and economic well-being of the community I serve at the branch.”

“What impresses me most is the services Sister Patty and Providence Family Services provide to the community. Their motto, ‘Breaking Boundaries and Creating Hope’ fits well with our mission as a bank to actively promote social and economic well-being of our communities,” Pacheco said.

PFS director Sister Patty Fillenwarth has gratitude and respect for her bank and the support they have provided.

“Banco Popular is a neighborhood bank. They believe in the neighborhood, and they show it by their investment in the neighborhood and in its people. This grant is very significant because it helps us to continue to provide counseling services for the very people who probably comprise a large component of the customers of Banco Popular. Thank you, Banco Popular for putting into practice one of your espoused values—being one with the community,” Sister Patty said.

In addition to the grant money, Banco’s Pacheco also plans to encourage her co-workers to donate some of their time to PFS’ after-school homework help program. And Pacheco herself will be donating time by joining PFS’ advisory board this month.

“I look forward to working with Providence Family Services and Sister Patty. This is the beginning of a new relationship with an old friend,” Pacheco said.

For more information on Providence Family Services, call 773-235-8264 or visit www.GuerinOutreachMinistries.org .