Mamie Catlin, Founder of Camp Street Community Ministries Dies

Mamie Catlin, Founder of Camp Street Community Ministries Dies

Residents of the Mount Hope section and people throughout Providence who were in need of food or clothing knew the impact of Mamie Catlin.

She founded Camp Street Community Ministries, in 1985 and provided food through her food bank on Camp Street and clothes to literally tens of thousands over the past three decades.

Catlin was a long time native of the Mount Hope/East Side Neighborhood of Providence.  She and her late husband, Obe W. Catlin were the the owners of Obe’s Variety Stores on Lippitt Street and Pleasant until the early 1970’s.  She was the daughter of John Saggers and Ida Mae Tory Saggers.

Catlin was an active member, a mother and Overseer of United First Born Church of Jesus Christ on Camp Street. The Camp Street Community Ministries located at 190 ½ Camp Street was birthed out of the church, with a donation from the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation and partnership with the Rhode Island Food Bank

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Catlin efforts that started small with an emergency food pantry in her neighborhood. “It started with a bread ministry which later led to food, clothing and housewares for people in the neighborhood. Catlin’s vision of CSCM has grown into a place that gives neighbors more than just weekly rations of food and clothing. It is a place where the act of giving, above all, matters most. CSCM has assisted thousands of people in the Providence community and it was the vision that GOD gave Mrs. Catlin with a Matthew 25 mandate to clothe, feed and help the broken hearted and heal the sick.”

She went to Hope High School and graduated from Rhode Island College in 1984 and received an honorary alumni award in 1994.

Awards & Community Boards:

Wheeler School Community Spirit Award

Urban League of RI, 1999 Humanitarian Award

NAACP Providence Branch

Putting the Neighbor Back In The Hood

Camp Street Community Ministries, Mamie Lee Catlin Award

Providence Newspaper Guild, John Kiffney Award

Rhode Island Foundation, The Alan Shawn Feinstein Community Service Award

JCPenny, Golden Rule Award

City of Providence Civic Recognition Award

United States Post Office Susan B. Anthony Award

Rhode Island Community Food Bank

Milestone Achievement Award                          

Mrs. Catlin is survived by her children: Ida Pearl Catlin; Atlanta, GA, Lillia Catlin St. Claire (Ashley); Providence, RI, Walter Catlin (Adriane); Providence, RI and a host of grandchildren and family.  She is preceded in death by her husband Obe Wesley Catlin, Sr., her siblings Marie Saggers Williams, Janet Saggers, Elizabeth Saggers Stewart, Maude Saggers and son Obe Wesley Catlin, III.

Donations can be made to Camp Street Community Ministries, 190 ½, Providence, RI 02906

A wake will take place at the United First Born Church of Jesus Christ 190 Camp St., Providence, RI 02906 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, August 31, 2015.  Mrs. Catlin’s funeral will take place at Central Congregational Church 296 Angell St., Providence, RI 02906, Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. A viewing at 9 a.m. Arrangements are entrusted to Keefe Funeral Home 5 Higginson Ave, Lincoln, RI 02865.