Include Us! It’s Easier than You Think!
Charleen Katra Inclusion leads to belonging: a human need. Come learn strategies to make your catechetical ministry more effective so that all learners (ADHD, autism, etc.) feel they belong! Charleen Katra is the Executive Director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD). Prior to beginning her current position in 2019, she served as an Associate Director in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. For over twenty years her primary responsibility was directing the Ministry with Persons with Disabilities. Charleen is the co-author of The Adaptive Teacher: Faith-Based Strategies to Reach and Teach Learners with Disabilities (Loyola Press, 2019) and the author of How to Talk to Children about People with Disabilities (Twenty-Third Publications, 2019). Charleen's books are available from Loyola Press (https://www.loyolapress.com/search/?keyword=charleen+katra) and Twenty-Third Publications, as well as Amazon.com. NCPD Website: https://ncpd.org ![]()
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Charleen Katra from NCCL on Vimeo. |
Seeing through God’s Eyes in Ministry to Children with Differing Abilities
Sharon Urbaniak This presentation will share ways to minister to children with special needs and their families utilizing an intergenerational program, God’s Family, which has won two awards. Learn about the format of the monthly program and the successful outcomes it has achieved. The key component is seeing each child, parent and sibling through our Lord’s loving eyes. Sharon Urbaniak began her call to minister to people with disabilities with her own brother, Tommy. As a teen, she spent 7 years volunteering with special needs children. She has managed a group home for 22 young adults with mental illness and a home for 10 seniors with developmental disabilities. She served for 18 years as an Associate Director of Lifelong Faith Formation for the Diocese of Buffalo, leading the Diocesan Disabilities Action Team. She created the intergenerational program, God’s Family which received the NCCL New Wineskins award and the Sr Mary Angela Shaughnessy Award. She is in her 10th year as Faith Formation Director at Saint Bernadette Parish in Orchard Park, NY. For more information about God's Family program contact Sharon at sharonu@saintbopny.org, Song: god has made us a family song My Picture Missal Flip Book and Mass Picture Cards: https://store.loyolapress.com/my-picture-missal-and-mass-picture-cards_2 ![]()
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Sharon Urbaniak from NCCL on Vimeo. |