Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago began in 1917, when a group of Catholic businessmen petitioned Cardinal Mundelein to create a Catholic charity to centralize resources in order to relieve the burden of Catholic parishes that were struggling to meet the needs of the poor in their communities. Their vision was a central fundraising mechanism for archdiocesan charities, which would solicit donations and distribute funds. The organization was chartered in January 1918, and Cardinal Mundelein addressed its 200 board members at its first annual meeting in April of the following year, reporting on the success of the agency in serving the poor:
“During the past 12 months, 50,000 people in this city and diocese have contributed their money, their time and their services that we might efficiently carry out these works of mercy, that we might feed the hungry, nurse the sick, protect the orphan, shelter the homeless and help the poor in our midst.”
Contents |
[edit] The National Organization
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago is the largest in a nationwide network of faith-based social service providers that form Catholic Charities. Together they form the largest private network of social service providers in the United States. More than 1,400 agencies, institutions, and organizations make up the Catholic Charities network, which provides services to nearly 10 million people in need each year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. The network also seeks to lobby government bodies for social change.
[edit] The Beginning: Early Services Provided
During the Depression, the agency feed the hungry and cared for orphans and children of unwed mothers as well as the mothers. The former administrative building at 126 North Desplaines Street was not only a residence for priests, but also a shelter for homeless men. Suppers for the hungry and homeless were served out of 721 North LaSalle, now Catholic Charities’ St. Vincent Center, the other main administrative building and then the site of St. Vincent's Hospital and Orphanage.
By 1945, Catholic Charities oversaw 48 different aid programs. This included:
- job training
- foster care
- maternity care for unwed mothers
- day care
- care for the aged and the sick
- emergency food and shelter
- counseling.
[edit] Services Today
Over the course of many decades, the agency has opened offices and established community service centers in neighborhoods with the greatest poverty, where the agency is able to respond to those most in need where they live. A comprehensive array of social services addresses not only immediate basic human needs, but also critical social and economic barriers in people’s lives so that all may achieve the goal of economic and emotional self-sufficiency.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago functions today as the largest private non-profit social service agency in the Midwest, and the largest Catholic Charities of any diocese or archdiocese in the country. We offer more than 168 programs at 157 locations across Cook and Lake counties. Our programs are organized into six divisions based on the services they provide.
Catholic Charities’ daily work with the poor and vulnerable enables us to see first-hand the different levels of need that exist in society. We are often the first to address any new threads of discord, injustice or poverty. As a result, we are constantly developing new, creative and collaborative ways to address emerging needs. We are considered a model for our ability to adapt our high quality care to the needs of the community.
[edit] The Goal of Self Sufficiency
Increasingly, the individuals and families that Catholic Charities serves have many different needs: The most immediate and pressing are those needs that would bee seen as basic: food and shelter. To address the other, deeper layers of needs, Catholic Charities asks the important question: “Why do they have this need?” Do they need budget counseling, access to education, job training, or addiction recovery? Are there mental or emotional health issues? Are they experiencing abuse of some kind so that they are physically in danger? Is there a language barrier that leaves them disenfranchised?
We provide individuals and families with wrap-around services that address the many levels of need with which they come seeking help. It is far more crucial in the long run to address these underlying needs; without addressing them the person is far more likely to need help again. The ultimate goal of providing wrap-around services is self-sufficiency, so that the person or family receives the help they need to live a fulfilling and independent life with dignity.
[edit] Staff and Volunteers
In the beginning, nearly all the work of Catholic Charities was accomplished by volunteers. To this day, volunteers are extremely critical to the work of Catholic Charities. Thousands of volunteers provide invaluable assistance to Catholic Charities.
Catholic Charities also employs nearly 2,500 individuals, regardless of race or religion, and both religious and lay, although predominantly lay. Employees range in age from 18 to 85. The average age of an employee is 40. Many Catholic Charities staff members have worked for the agency for more than 15 years. They are social workers, dedicated and compassionate aides, experienced and well-educated administrators and program directors—all people considered to be experts in their fields. These employees who care directly for people in need have the privilege, and the burden, of greeting people who may be clinging by a thread to their families, their jobs, their lives.
[edit] International Collaboration
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has reached beyond our national borders as well. In 1999, they came to an agreement with Caritas of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, this was in response to a call by the Pope to incresae the reach of the organization. Thi was one of the first times Catholic Charities of Chicago had extended itself internationally and into another culture.
The agreement entailed both agencies to collaborate in their services to Mexican immigrants, seniors in both countries, and to promote understanding between staffs. It also allowed for Mexican children ready for adoption to enter America, as well as bringing Mexican government officials to discuss opportunites for them in the U.S.
They have also worked with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Bucharest in Romania, when they sought advice and cousel on construction of a new medical facility.
[edit] Local Presence
Catholic Charities develops its presence in communities across the Archdiocese of Chicago wherever needs dictate. They open homeless shelters in communities that are experiencing homelessness for the first time, and add bilingual staff, that speak Spanish, in neighborhoods that are becoming predominantly Hispanic. As differing factors change, so do they change in the width and depth of their respone.
One of the greatest difficulties their clients encounter is the inability to obtain the adequate response to the magnitude of a given situation. Sometimes part of this inability stems from the lack of accessible services in a community, therefore Catholic Charities continually strives to ensure that their food, clothing and crisis-assistance services are available in every major pocket of poverty throughout the entire archdiocese. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other archdiocesan groups share the same mission.
