Retiring Parish Social Ministry Director Says God’s Plan Is Better, Even When It’s Challenging

On her way to serving as director of Parish Social Ministry for Catholic Charities of Long Island, Paula Malloy reached several crossroads. She wasn’t always sure she was making the right decision, but she went forward, often with trepidation.  

During an interview marking her upcoming retirement on July 31, Malloy pointed out a sign in her office which says: Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone.

“The more I don’t think it’s something I was supposed to do, the more that’s what God is challenging me to do,” she explained. Malloy hasn’t always seen things this clearly, though. 
Like when she was spending countless hours volunteering at her parish of St. Catherine of Sienna in Franklin Square years ago. One of her daughters was about to begin college and Paula had started looking for a part-time position, never thinking she would find one at her home parish.

A week after she told a deacon at St. Catherine’s she was looking for work, he asked her to help him with the Outreach office. She wasn’t sure, worrying about her lack of experience and that she would become too personally involved and emotional to address people’s problems.

After all, she reasoned, her background was in business, both retail and banking. As she began to meet with the people seeking help, she found her life experience, in many cases, equipped her to listen and help them to find solutions. “It was my life experience, not my education, that was important in this job, that and my faith,” Malloy said.

Not long after, Deacon John Fodale confided that he was ill and wanted Malloy to succeed him as Parish Social Ministry coordinator, which she did in September 2008. That summer, not a single client came to the office, giving Malloy ample time to think about how she wanted to run things. She met with PTA leaders, school principals and school psychologists and Chamber of Commerce representatives, each of whom she knew as an active community member.

That Christmas, the Parish Social Ministry office at St. Catherine assisted more than 300 families.

Listening to Malloy describe her beginning as a developer tasked with training and supporting Parish Social Ministry coordinators sounds like another unlikely scenario. At a Day of Prayer in 2013, she asked the retiring developer if she knew who would her replacement would be. Her response was, “I was hoping you were going to do it.” 

The next day, Malloy handed her resume to Jan Jamroz, the Parish Social Ministry director, who hired her the following day. As a developer, Malloy had to confront her fear of public speaking, which turned out to be a strength. At the outset, though, it was very draining. “I gained confidence, and I was encouraged and supported by the staff here,” Malloy said. Her spiritual life and family life were developing as well. “It’s all connected,” she said.

Malloy was named PSM director eight and a half years ago. She and two developers, Elizabeth Ramirez, for Nassau County, and Mary Iapalucci, for Suffolk County, offer trainings and support to PSM coordinators at 110 parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Malloy is hopeful that the size of the department’s small crew will grow in the future.

She is proud that she and her staff have persevered in the good work they have always done. One way is by assuming tasks once performed by other staff members. “They believe in our mission,” Malloy said of her staff. “They just want to help people. They have compassion. The coordinators are the same way.”

Malloy says her biggest accomplishment has been resurrecting the Emergency Relief Fund, which offers one-time help for people in need who approach parish PSM offices after a job loss, an unexpected repair bill or in rental arrears. Payments, which typically average about $2,000, offer giant relief to those applying.

ERF, a longstanding CCLI program, was unfunded for many years. Malloy said she had much convincing to do to get the program running again. Part of her argument was that it has a very tangible and visible benefit that parishioners and others want to support. She credited Danielle Campbell, CCLI’s development and communications director, for drumming up support for the fund during her CFN appearances and through her promotion of the Pizza with a Purpose campaign during Lent in 2024 and 2025. A large anonymous donation also helped greatly. There is also a social justice element that such relief is “part of Catholic social teaching and that we should be doing this,” Malloy notes.

She believes better days are ahead for Parish Social Ministry at Catholic Charities. Now is the time for a person with new ideas and new energy to take over, she said. (Gena McSorley, who has served CCLI as coordinator of Project Independence and Project Veterans Independence and earlier as a parish PSM coordinator, is the new Parish Social Ministry director.)
Malloy is excited to see how her life after Catholic Charities unfolds. “There is something very exciting that God has brewing for me, and I can’t wait for it,” she said. “I have no feelings of fear or worry or concern. I feel like there is a whole plan, and I’ve learned from experience all these years that it’s going to be better than I could have imagined. And when it appears, I probably won’t want to do it.”

Paula has asked that supporters seeking to honor her service at Catholic Charities make a gift to CCLI’s Emergency Relief Fund. For more information, please call (516) 733-7028.