LACKAWANNA — OLV Charities appoints Riley Lochhead as director of the new Catholic Parenting Initiative.
The Catholic Parenting Initiative is a five-year grant funded program that will collaboratively partner with the Diocese of Buffalo and engage directly with families of parishes throughout the diocese’s new Road to Renewal Parish Family Model. The Catholic Parenting Initiative will provide resources, programs and formational experiences that will strengthen ministries and supports, and give parish faith communities confidence to walk alongside parents and caregivers as they share their faith and values with their children.
In her role, Lochhead will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the five-year program to meet the requirements of the Catholic Parenting Initiative grant. The program will train, mentor, equip and accompany 35 to 45 parishes within eight diocesan Families of Parishes. She will also develop programming, provide support to program leaders, and coach parents and caregivers to share the faith with their children.
Lochhead previously served as campus minister for Hilbert College. She also functioned as an Echo Parish Apprentice through the University of Notre Dame’s Echo Graduate Service Program.
Lochhead earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from Boston College and a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame.
OLV Charities is one of 125 congregations and organizations across the nation that received grants through the Christian Parenting initiative. Reflecting the diversity of Christianity in the United States, the organizations that received grant funding are affiliated with mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox Christian and Pentecostal faith communities. Many of the organizations are rooted in Black church, Hispanic and Asian Christian traditions.