Charities USA Summer 2020

During catastrophes access to the White House, federal agencies and Congressional offices becomes a key component to the Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) Social Policy team’s efforts at informing the national discussion regarding resources provided through legislation for frontline services and support for individuals and families. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic/shutdown, CCUSA’s Social Policy…

If responding to natural disasters wasn’t complicated enough, COVID-19 places new challenges in the disaster response work Catholic Charities accomplishes.  As agencies try to navigate an already complicated disaster process, it becomes even more challenging when the process includes new terms like “social distancing,” new equipment such as masks, shields, and gloves, and new strategies…

During this unprecedented time in our country, our federal partner AmeriCorps made the decision to allow national service members to break from their traditional service duties and support COVID-19 response efforts in their communities. Through CCUSA’s five AmeriCorps programs, 28 AmeriCorps members provided almost 5,000 hours of COVID-19 response efforts, serving over 25,000 individuals since…

Following a disaster, impacted communities typically gather together to pray: for help and hope, survivors and victims, resiliency and recovery. But that wasn’t possible after the coronavirus hit, as church doors were shuttered to help prevent spread of the disease. At the same time, parish programs were cancelled and volunteers found themselves isolating at home,…

In the rapidly changing reality of COVID-19, the Most Reverend Robert W. McElroy, bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, called upon the Board of Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego at their meeting March 12, 2020, to address the increasing needs of vulnerable populations. The bishop reminded the group that almost 100 years ago,…

Diocese of Springfield in Illinois creates program to offer mental health solutions in midst of coronavirus For the past seven years Eleanor has suffered from dementia and her daughter Jenny has faithfully visited her in the nursing home where she lives. When the nursing home closed its doors to the public because of safety concerns…

Spending a Tuesday night painstakingly negotiating with vendors to secure several thousand pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for our skilled nursing facilities after the last order was waylaid somewhere in the Far East… Witnessing the tsunami of emotions facing our residents, staff and family members, while doing our best to remain calm, collected and…

Fresh from new director training at Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) headquarters in mid-February, I was reenergized to tackle my goals of elevating the Catholic Charities of Tennessee’s profile and increasing fundraising. Three weeks in March 2020 accelerated all that. On March 3, at 12:38 a.m., a tornado with wind speeds up to 165 mph ripped…