For Roenice González-Caraballo, becoming St. Philip Neri’s executive director of community outreach and engagement is a sort of homecoming.

“All my sacraments are from St. Philip Neri, and it is where I began my ministry within the Archdiocese at a very young age. That was really the appeal [of the position], really like coming home,” she told The Good Newsroom in a telephone interview.

González-Caraballo grew up in the Bronx neighborhood, which is also home to the parish that celebrated its 125^th anniversary earlier this year.

“It’s my home parish, I live in the neighborhood, it’s where I grew up. That’s where my faith was fostered that was the church my parents attended when they arrived in this country,” she said.

Currently the registrar at St. Joseph’s Seminary and College and in Yonkers, a position she has held since 2017, González-Caraballo started her career at St. Philip Neri School.

“Straight out of college I started as a liaison for the parish to the school, then taught middle school religion, while serving as a youth minister at both parish and school,” she said.

That experience acting as a liaison should serve González-Caraballo well in her new role, which she described as “bridging the gap between the school, the parish community, and all of the resources that we will have available here, such as Catholic Charities and the Sisters of Life.”

“It’s to bring these communities together as one community. The school, the parish, bridging these groups of people and making sure that all of the resources get to those who need them…  along with opening it up to the larger community,” she said.

The parish, the school, and new housing being built and operated by Catholic Homes New York, a Catholic Charities of New York partner, are becoming part of a pilot project on the Grand Concourse, the St. Philip Neri Catholic Education and Family Center. The initiative allows for more effective support to the community by multiple archdiocesan ministries, so that families can access an array of services they need in a coordinated manner, representatives said. 

Measuring success over her first year will be simple for González-Caraballo. “The parish and school community will be enmeshed, and if people know our name, in our community, and within the neighborhood,” she said. “If you say our name in the pizza shop or the bodega, they’ll know who we are and the work we are doing.”