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| About Us
Catholic Charities is one of the Twin Cities' largest private providers of social services, working to strengthen families and reduce poverty in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. With a diverse range of programs, Catholic Charities helps tens of thousands of people annually, regardless of faith.
Catholic Charities has been honored by the Charities Review Council for meeting the Council's strict accountability standards, demonstrating responsibility, integrity and transparency as a non-profit organization. Catholic Charities is a member of Catholic Charities USA, one of the largest private networks of social services providers in the country.
Following is a sampling of how Catholic Charities programs make a difference in the
lives of men, women and children in need.
Children's Services
- St. Joseph’s Home for Children provides a comprehensive array of mental health services to nearly 2,000 children each year. In 2007, 100% of youth in Residential Treatment improved their math and reading scores.
- Hope Street Outreach provided basic needs, referrals to shelters and support to 1,460 homeless youth on the streets.
- Northside Child Development Center provided Early Childhood Education and school readiness to 162 children in North Minneapolis. It was the fourth consecutive year in which the test scores of Northside kindergartners ranked higher than their peers.
Housing and Emergency Services
- Catholic Charities’ programs in the metropolitan area provided more than 1.1 million meals to men, women and children in need.
- Catholic Charities’ three food shelves saw a 14% increase in the number of visits and distributed 6% more food than the previous year.
- The Housing & Emergency Services division has 13 shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing programs, which make 1,152 sleeping spaces available every night.
- 95 men graduated from the Pay-for-Stay shelter program and achieved greater stability as they moved into next-step housing.
- Employment is vital to moving out of poverty. Branch III Employment Services assisted with 455 resumes and 8,369 job searches.
- The Housing First initiative helped 120 long-term homeless individuals move into stable, supportive housing since it was first implemented in April 2005.
- The St. Paul Residence opened in fall 2007 and provides 60 housing units for long-term homeless individuals.
Family Services
- Parenting Services offered families support and education during 406 home visits to promote positive parenting and family stability.
- In 2007, Prenatal Services’ 90th year of service, the program assisted with the delivery of 352 babies, whose average birth weight was a healthy 7.3 pounds.
- Senior Care Management supported 500 elderly individuals, helping them live as independently as possible in their community.
- Since 1963, Catholic Charities has provided counseling services on a sliding-fee scale to individuals and families in need of support. Sixty-three percent of new counseling clients report having inadequate or no insurance for mental health needs.
- Migration and Refugee Services provided job-seeking skills and job placement for 108 refugees through the Refugees in Search of Employment (RISE) program to help them become economically self-sufficient.
Advocacy
- The Office for Social Justice advocates for economic justice issues. In 2007, 125 parishes and nearly 2,300 individual members participated in the advocacy efforts of the Office for Social Justice.
- Issue action teams presented nearly 20 educational forums on health care, immigration and housing to parishes in 2007.
Employees and Volunteers
- In 2007, Catholic Charities employed more than 500 staff members. In addition, approximately 11,000 volunteers provided more than 161,700 volunteer hours with a value of roughly $3 million in saved salary costs.
Figures reflect Catholic Charities’ 2007 fiscal year, from July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007
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