Catholic Charities continues providing care, creating hope

CLICK HERE to read the Catholic Charities 2022 Impact Report. 

Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri (CCCNMO) isn’t just known for creating hope.

It has been witnessed resuscitating hope where it was thought to be permanently lost.

“We Catholics stand on faith, hope and love, pillars set in place by the God who is the center of our existence,” said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight.

“God’s Kingdom is revealed in beautiful and often unexpected ways when we combine and focus our best efforts, with his assistance, on areas of great need, beginning with the people who live closest to us,” he said.

That has been an operating principle for CCCNMO, the social services arm of the Jefferson City diocese, since the agency’s founding in 2011.

Catholic Charities has helped thousands of people throughout these 38 counties, “accompanying them in mind, body and spirit, with compassionate social services, valuing each person served by honoring their inherent dignity and respectfully caring for them, regardless of faith, culture or situation,” the agency’s recently released impact report for 2022 states.

“Whether our neighbors traveled across the globe or across the street to meet with our caseworkers, program coordinator, interns or volunteers, the encounters we’ve experienced in 2022 have shaped our communities in beautiful ways,” the report continues. “We have navigated everything from helping a neighbor find food security and help with chronic diseases to resettling after a decade in a refugee camp and family reunification amidst navigating the immigration progress.”

The impact report sets forth helpful statistics to shed some light the scope and depth of services CCCNMO provided in its 11th year.

For instance, it points to:

• 1,095 active volunteers who performed 25,000 hours of service in 2022;
• collaboration with over 150 partner agencies and organizations;
• the resettling of 228 refugees and people with special immigrant visa status into safe, welcoming communities;
• helping 151 refugees find full-time employment and partnering with more than 300 community sponsors to help people through the resettling process;
• provided more than 2,500 immigration legal consultations, helping 416 people in filing applications, petitions or motions, with an impact on over 1,600 people in households in this diocese;
• enrolled 1,577 members in the Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Jefferson City, bringing 4,063 households a step closer to food security;
• sent nearly 300,000 pounds of food home to food-pantry clients;
• launched the first round of a parish ambassador program, with 74 parish ambassadors;
• and nearly 2,000 contributions having been made to CCCNMO.

“Behind each of these numbers” the authors point out, “are real people, real families with real needs and experiences — people, families and needs that we are blessed to serve with your support.”

“At Catholic Charities, we always treat ‘cases’ as individuals, looking at any avenues, resources and community support that can make sure families in situations like these have what they need,” David Mazimano, acting director for case management operations in the Catholic Charities Refugee Services program, states in the report.

Some of those stories are being shared in articles, along with a special center section and insert in this week’s edition of The Catholic Missourian, in upcoming Catholic Charities social media posts  and online at cccnmo.diojeffcity.org.

Catholics throughout the diocese are encouraged to make a sacrificial gift or pledge to CCCNMO sometime during Lent, in addition to their regular, sacrificial support of their own parish.