Associated Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Baltimore cares for more than 160,000 people and serves over a quarter million meals every year to those who are hungry. Eighty programs offer a diverse array of services in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Harford, Howard, Carroll, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Washington, and Garrett Counties of Maryland. The agency cares for children and families, people who are poor and disadvantaged, seniors, and those who have developmental disabilities. The goal of the organization is to improve lives by offering meaningful help and hope so that every person can realize her or his full potential.

Catholic Charities is the leading private provider of human services in Maryland, widely known for creative and compassionate caregiving and for developing programs aimed at self-sufficiency. Ninety cents of every dollar goes to direct service.

Mission

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s mission is threefold:“To
# provide healing and care to those in need at programs for vulnerable children and adults throughout Maryland,
# educate people to social awareness and motivate them to act, and
# advocate for public policy that ensures a just society. “

ervices

Catholic Charities provides services to people of all faiths. The general groups for whom services are offered include:
* children
* poor
* developmentally disabled
* elderlyThe services provided include:
* adoptions
* advocacy
* behavioral health services
* crisis intervention
* employment placement
* employment preparedness training
* family support services
* food and meals
* Head Start programs (for pre-school children)
* immigration legal services
* residential treatment centers
* senior housing
* senior support services
* shelter (for men, women, children, and families)
* special education
* treatment foster care

Donors

Associated Catholic Charities has a strong history of responsible financial stewardship (more than 90% of operating revenues go towards providing services [http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2007/520/591/2007-520591538-03bc7c91-9.pdf] ). Donations are still very important to the organization and account for 10% of operating income. The organization provides services to people of all faiths, and the approximately 20,000 active donors also come from all faiths.

Volunteers

The agency has permanent staff of about 2,000, but relies on more than 10,000 volunteers each year to help provide services for more than 160,000 people. Volunteers come from all faiths, races, and age groups. As tough economic times drive up the demand for services, and government funding decreases, the need for additional volunteers will continue to rise.

Geography

Associated Catholic Charities provides services within the geographic boundaries of the Archdiocese of Baltimore–Baltimore City and Baltimore, Harford, Howard, Carroll, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Washington, and Garrett Counties of Maryland. Most donors, volunteers, employees and clients come from the same area, though quite a few come from outside the Archdiocese.

History

Catholic Charities began with the establishment of the Catholic Church in America. John Carroll, the first Bishop of Baltimore, declared in 1792 that one-third of all parish revenues should go to “the relief of the poor.”In the mid-1800s, services focused on caring for orphaned immigrant children. The first program, St. Vincent’s Orphanage, opened in 1856. Over the next century, numerous homes for such children were established by the Archdiocese, as Baltimore became the point of entry for more 19th century immigrants than any other U.S. city outside of New York.

In 1923, the Archdiocese incorporated all of the children’s orphanages under a new “Bureau of Catholic Charities” and the care of disadvantaged people became the specialized mission of Catholic Charities, which continues today. Over the next century, the orphanage focus changed as the need for treating neglected and abused children and those with emotional disabilities became greater. As a result, St. Vincent’s Center and Villa Maria opened in Dulaney Valley in the 1960s.

Catholic Charities became innovators in developing programs for people with developmental disabilities through the establishment of the Francis X. Gallagher Center in the 1970s. Also located in Dulaney Valley, both the residential and day programs have grown and now have multiple locations.In the following decade, the Agency expanded to include programs for poor, homeless, and unemployed people. Our Daily Bread, a daily hot meal program, opened its doors in 1981 and has never missed a day of service since. Our Daily Bread has become Catholic Charities’ most well-known program, involving thousands of volunteers from around the region. These kind individuals take poverty to heart and respond by providing and serving the vast majority of the nearly quarter million meals each year. As the necessity arose, additional programs opened to serve the related needs of the homeless men (Christopher Place Employment Academy) and women (My Sister’s Place).

Continuing its tremendous growth of services in the 1980s, Catholic Charities began evolving into one of Baltimore’s largest providers of services for seniors. The first of 18 affordable, independent living apartment communities for seniors, Basilica Place, opened in 1980. The Agency also transformed the Jenkins Memorial Home into what is today the Jenkins Senior Living Community, a beautiful campus that includes two independent senior living apartment buildings (St. Joachim House and DePaul House), St. Ann Adult Day Services, Caritas House Assisted Living, and St. Elizabeth Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.In June 2007, Catholic Charities undertook its most ambitions effort to date with the opening of Our Daily Bread Employment Center. It is Baltimore’s comprehensive resource center for people who need not only food, but assistance and guidance to achieve long-term employment and housing. An array of services in one location shifts the focus from primarily dining to achieving self sufficiency.Over many years, Catholic Charities’ programs and services have evolved in tandem with the needs and challenges faced by the most vulnerable people in our society. The one constant is that the work of the Agency is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus that encourages all to serve the “least of our brethren”—people of all faiths, ages, and races.

References

990 Form (Guidestar) [http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2007/520/591/2007-520591538-03bc7c91-9.pdf]

See also

* Catholic Charities
* Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami
* Roman Catholicism in the United States

External links

* Associated Catholic Charities home page: [http://www.catholiccharities-md.org]
* GuideStar charity evaluations: [http://www.guidestar.org/]
* Baltimore archdiocese: [http://www.archbalt.org/]