Program Director: Riley Emer
OLV Charities recently received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to develop its Catholic Parenting Initiative, a program designed to help parents and caregivers pass their faith onto their children.
To take on this project, Riley Emer joined the OLV team. She has worked for a few Catholic organizations before coming to Lackawanna. She earned a Bachelor's degree at Boston College and a Master's degree at the University of Notre Dame.
Q: How do you think your background prepared you for this role?
RE: I have been a Catholic all my life and my faith has always been important to me, ever since I can remember. I have memories of my parents teaching me prayers, being excited to receive a rosary from my grandparents and looking forward to the change in liturgical seasons. As a newly married woman, with dreams of starting my own family, the question of how to raise children who will grow up to love the Faith is something I think about often.
Q: Can you explain your role?
RE: As the director of the Catholic Parenting Initiative, I oversee all operations, planning, and implementation of resources. I have a wonderful team of ministerial professionals who assist me with the design work, as well as a program consultant and a research and evaluation consultant. The grant period is five years and that gives us ample time to learn and grow. We will be partnering with between 30 and 40 local parishes to strengthen and support the good work they do in mentoring parents as they raise their children in the Faith.
Q: What is the goal of the program?
RE: The goal is to create opportunities for parents to encounter God, to grow in their relationship with Him, to empower them to pass on the Catholic faith to their children, and to help them to create a Catholic culture in their homes. It’s our hope to build long-lasting relationships and create thriving parishes where all people feel like they belong. It is these relationships (first with Jesus, then with others who seek Him) that transform us, as opposed to simply acquiring knowledge, taking classes, or seeing the sacraments as something to check off on a list.
How do you plan on reaching that goal?
RE: Lots of prayer, discernment, conversation and listening! I feel strongly that this process will look different for each parish and family because each is unique, beautiful, and possesses different strengths and weaknesses. It is important to me that we listen to the needs and desires of our parents and caregivers so the resources we are offering serve them well and meet them wherever they are on their journey.
For more information, contact Riley at (716) 828-9633 or [email protected]
