Every social worker discovers poverty lurking somewhere in the background of every case.
Catholic Charities agencies and affiliates, which make up one of the largest networks of social service providers in the country, began in 1727 when the Ursuline Sisters arrived in New Orleans from France to set up an orphanage that would become the first formal Catholic Charity in the United States. Catholic Charities now operates more than 2,500 service sites in 54 states and territories providing care to children, the aged, the disabled, and the ill.
The history of Catholic Charities mirrors the history of social services in the United States, where thousands of governmental and non-profit agencies provide a wide variety of services to millions of divergent constituents. Wherever society saw a need, it fashioned a well-meaning response. Child abuse, domestic violence, untreated mental health issues, drug addiction, and homelessness were treated as separate and distinct issues.
However, in 2013, Pope Francis refocused the work of Catholic Charities:
“In fidelity to the Gospel, and in response to the urgent needs of the present time, we are called to reach out to those who find themselves in the existential peripheries of our societies and to show particular solidarity with the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters: the poor, the disabled, the unborn and the sick, migrants and refugees, the elderly and the young who lack employment.”
-Pope Francis (10/4/13, WCC)
In 2014, Catholic Charities answered the Pope’s call to be of service to the poor and vulnerable by serving over 9 million clients, regardless of their religious, social, or economic backgrounds.
Recognizing that helping the poor reach their full potential required a holistic approach Catholic Charities began to focus on five areas of need:
HUNGER: 49 million people live in food insecure households that could run out of food at any moment.
HOUSING: 222,000 people were homeless in the U.S. for at least one night in 2013.
HEALTH: 6.7 million people still do not have health insurance in the U.S.
EDUCATION: 1.3 million students drop out of high school yearly.
FAMILY ECONOMIC SECURITY: Every day there are approximately 30 million people at immediate risk of falling into poverty.
This new focus integrates a wide variety of services to the poorest of the poor from food pantries and street outreach to the homeless, to foreclosure prevention support, medical clinics, mental health services, job training, and financial literacy programs.
With the urging of Pope Francis, poverty is now seen as the unifying theme of all Catholic charitable endeavors. By focusing on poverty and its causes, Catholic Charities believes it has finally begun to treat society's disease rather than simply allay its symptoms.
