Publicity around the cancellation of federal funds that helped Catholic Charities care for unaccompanied migrant children has prompted a Jacksonville law firm to give the nonprofit another $100,000.
“We’re blessed to be able to give,” Seth Pajcic, an attorney at Pajcic & Pajcic, said April 16, adding he hoped others would donate to help continue services for a population he said was particularly vulnerable.
“There are still unaccompanied children,” said Pajcc, whose family firm has donated to the nonprofit previously.
Funding to help migrant youths has become a more visible topic as Americans have reacted to a Miami Herald report on the canceling of an $11 million federal contract for Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami to house immigrant children who don’t have adult caregivers.
That report referenced “rising tensions between the administration and American Catholics over President Donald Trump’s heated criticism of the Vatican’s first American pope, Leo XIV,” although Catholic Charities offices had also experienced funding cuts for refugee services before the current pope was installed.
The nonprofit’s Jacksonville bureau has lost $4 million in federal money, said Eileen Seuter, regional director for Catholic Charities in Northeast Florida. She said the group still provides limited help for about 60 clients through other funds.
Pajcic said the money seems small compared to the billions being spent on efforts like the war in Iran, but it’s important for people who support Catholic Charities’ work to help where they can.
“We don’t have the capacity to replace that,” he said of the canceled $11 million, but added: “We’re going to do our part.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville lawyers give Catholic Charities $100,000 to ease fed cuts
Reporting by Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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