Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) launched People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a traveling storytelling museum celebrating the power of Christian service, in New York City March 25 through March 27. CCUSA kicked off the initiative with a national premiere followed by the People of Hope Museum’s first two days of public operation.
At the premiere, CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Bill Gangluff introduced the purpose and particulars of the museum to an audience of Catholic Charities leaders from around the country, media members, supporters and other special guests.
“The conviction that all people have dignity and deserve mercy, respect, love and compassion and that we should embrace opportunities for encounter and service animates the museum,” Robinson said. “That disposition of other-centeredness is contagious. It inspires and radiates hope, which is exactly our aspiration for the People of Hope Museum.”
Housed in a digitally outfitted semi-truck, the People of Hope Museum features 42 original, authentic video stories told by Catholic Charities staff and volunteers from agencies around the country. In these brief, powerful videos, the storytellers share moving first-person accounts of what it means to serve someone in need in their darkest moment. Nine of these videos were screened at the premiere. Two of the storytellers, Peter Greenland from Catholic Charities of Philadelphia and Mary Pettrow from Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton, reflected on their own service experiences during a conversation with SiriusXM Catholic Channel host Katie Prejean McGrady, who served as emcee for the premiere.
“Someone may be on the street. They’re begging, and they’ll ask for cash,” said Greenland, who manages a shelter for men experiencing homelessness. “You may not have cash. But you can walk them to the store, get them something to eat. And just that act of kindness can change their whole outlook, even for just that day.”
The premiere also included an insightful and inspiring panel discussion on the importance of empathy. Moderated by award-winning podcast host and journalist Pablo Torre, Robinson participated in the panel alongside Chairman of Special Olympics Timothy Shriver and Georgetown University psychologist and neuroscientist Abigail Marsh. Their fascinating discussion can be viewed in full on the People of Hope Museum website.
Near the conclusion of the premiere event, Most Rev. James T. Ruggieri, the bishop of the Diocese of Portland who serves as the episcopal liaison on CCUSA’s board of directors, offered a blessing and his own reflection on the power and potential of the People of Hope Museum.
“The People of Hope Museum does more than present stories. It reveals something true about the human person,” Bishop Ruggieri said. “Poverty does not take away the dignity of the human person nor does it erase the capacity for creativity, resilience or hope. But it can restrict the space in which that hope is lived and expressed. When life becomes a constant concern for what is necessary, the horizon can narrow. And yet, what we see repeatedly and what this museum makes visible is that hope remains. It remains in perseverance. It remains in trust. It remains in the quiet determination of individuals to continue forward, often with great courage.”
The morning after the premiere, the People of Hope Museum debuted just north of Union Square in New York City. During the museum’s ribbon cutting, Robinson was joined J. Antonio Fernández, CEO of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York; The Very Rev. Patrick J. Keating, deputy CEO of Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens; and Jamar Carr, one of the storytellers featured in the museum and a substance abuse counselor at Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens. Fr. Keating blessed the museum before its doors opened to the first visitors of its three-year national tour.
Beyond the powerful stories of neighbors helping neighbors, the People of Hope Museum contains:
- An interactive poverty simulation of stepping into another person’s life, making difficult choices and experiencing the realities of living on the margins;
- A learning library featuring curated 2- to 4-minute audio segments from seminal books on poverty, social isolation, bridgebuilding, and community action, including by best-selling authors Arthur Brooks, Matthew Desmond, Robert Putnam, and others;
- National and state data illustrating the scope of need and the vital role of social services organizations across the country; and
- A recording studio that allows attendees to share their own stories of hope and service.
Following its two-day stay in New York City, the museum continued on to its next stop in the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey. From March to December 2026, the museum will progress through 21 states, from Texas to Ohio and from Maine to Florida, mostly in the eastern half of the United States. It will then tour the western states in 2027. In the first half of 2028, the museum will visit communities that were missed or would like a repeat visit.
The People of Hope Museum is made possible thanks to a 2024 grant of nearly $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through an invitational round of its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life. To learn more about the museum and to sign up to receive alerts about when it will be near you, visit PeopleofHope.US. To join the hundreds of thousands of people across the United States who serve their neighbors in need as volunteers every year, find your local Catholic Charities agency today.
About Catholic Charities USA
Founded in 1910, CCUSA is a national membership organization that supports and represents 169 Catholic Charities agencies across the United States and in five territories. Collectively, the Catholic Charities network each year serves more than 16 million vulnerable people, regardless of their faith or background, through food and nutrition programs, affordable housing, disaster relief and a variety of other humanitarian services.
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