By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor

For more than 40 years, Ronald Gering has worked in a very challenging, yet very necessary, field – providing services to at-risk children and their families.

So when Gering learned that he had been named the 2016 recipient of the Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Award, which is presented to an individual in the Catholic Charities network who exemplifies dedicated service and leadership in the field of children, youth and family services, he quickly redirected the attention from himself and onto the staff of Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton as being most deserving of the prestigious award.

Gering, who is director of the agency’s Children and Family Services, will be presented with the award at the Catholic Charities USA annual gathering Oct. 12 in Boston. Bishop Sullivan was the longtime auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn and was revered throughout the Catholic community and across the nation for his concern for the poor and marginalized.

To be acknowledged on a professional level is overwhelming, said Gering, who lives in New Hope, Pa., with his wife, Connie. Between the couple, they have five children and 12 grandchildren.

“It’s gratifying,” he said, to learn that the good work of the Catholic Charities staff is being recognized as they “work with such important issues day in and day out.”

Offering words of congratulations to Gering, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., said, “In this year when so much attention in the Church is being given to family life, especially children, the Diocese is so proud of Ron Gering as he and Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton are recognized and honored by Catholic Charities USA.”

“A 40-year veteran of providing social services to children and families, Ron is well-deserving of this acknowledgment and award.  As Bishop, I offer him our heartfelt and joyful congratulations!”

“Ron’s compassion and thoughtfulness have inspired scores of employees over the years, creating an atmosphere where going above and beyond is the norm,” said Marlene Lao-Collins, executive director of Catholic Charities Trenton. “The team approach he fostered has enabled us to provide the highest level of care to children and families who are among the most at-risk in our community.”

For Gering, it was the experience of having previously worked in a correctional facility that inspired him to want to help address the critical needs of the “most-vulnerable children and families.”

Gering had just graduated from Miami University in Ohio with a master’s degree in clinical psychology when he began working in a correctional facility, where “day after day,” he heard numerous stories of how the adults had endured abuse and violence during their childhoods. In witnessing their anguish, Gering promised that if an opportunity to work with abused children ever manifested, he would take it.

Gering, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, is a licensed professional counselor and a nationally certified counselor. He found his opportunity in 1975 when Catholic Charities opened a unique program that addressed ways to help abused and neglected children remain safely in their homes with their families. He joined the staff as clinical director for the Family Growth Program and, throughout his tenure, has provided clinical and administrative leadership, overseeing the creation of innovative programs that have since positively impacted thousands of lives.

Today, in his role at Catholic Charities, he manages approximately 20 programs and a staff of more than 200. Together, they strive to meet the critical needs of the most-vulnerable children and families in central New Jersey, operating with an annual budget of $10 million.

The scope of the programs he oversees throughout the four-county Diocese includes the two shelters in Burlington and Ocean counties that assist domestic violence victims and their children. In Monmouth and Mercer counties, there are a variety of treatment programs available for children who are victims of abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.

In Mercer County, Gering also oversees El Centro in inner-city Trenton, which provides resources to the Spanish-speaking community such as job training, English as a Second Language, parenting classes and immigration services. He noted with pride about El Centro’s receiving Catholic Charities USA’s prestigious Family Strengthening Award.

Another Mercer County program Gering mentioned is the Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, an around-the-clock, seven-days-a-week crisis-intervention program for families.

“Our programs are always filled,” he said, noting that the clients seeking Catholic Charities services arrive through referrals by the state child protection services and the courts. He added that the number of people in need of services far outweighs the “resources we have to meet them.”

Through his work in advocating for children, Gering said that the most important thing he has learned is developing relationships with the people he serves.

“No matter what else we do, we need to relate to one another,” he said.

The hardest part of the job, he said, is “when I look into the eyes of a kid who is filled with fear and sadness.”

“I, along with the rest of the Catholic Charities staff, are working to change that,” Gering said, adding that what he finds most rewarding about his work are “those moments when we see that we have made changes that impact the life of a child. That’s the biggest payoff of our work.”