It is a very exciting time at Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas! Over the last several months, we have been putting the final touches on our next iteration of the agency’s strategic plan. I am incredibly grateful for the thoughtful responses from our clients, community partners, parishes and financial supporters through our community survey. This information is helpful as we discern the major priorities for the agency. What we heard was an emphasis in four major areas: food, housing, mental health and social enterprise. In addition, we will continue to address the financial gaps we have recently experienced within our refugee and migrant services.
We have big plans to accept our new Archbishop’s call of synodality, solidarity, and rest assured, are working in many ways to stretch Catholic Charities to do even more in support of the vulnerable within our communities.
Food. I am excited about expanding our reach within our more rural counties, increasing fresh food volume, food partnerships and food programming volunteers. We will spend time evaluating the effectiveness of our Resource Bus services and locations, our current food modalities and look into potential new food delivery opportunities. We are even considering opening up new Family Support Center locations beyond our current eight offices.
Housing. We are focused on eviction prevention through increasing our direct financial assistance for housing and adding more transitional housing sites. It makes zero sense that we would need to evict a family before we can help them remain stably housed! We are looking for development partners to expand our current transitional housing properties and are excited to pump all of our employment and education programming into these housing units.
Mental Health. Catholic Charities serves as a convener of resources in this space. We are planning to host mental health professionals and/or organizations within our Family Support Center offices, increase our training of Mental Health 101 and the Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE), a simulation exercise designed to elevate understanding around the systemic issues of poverty. We hope to be able to arm our parishes and partners with knowledge to direct those in need of mental health services appropriately.
Social Enterprise. It is with great enthusiasm that I share we will be opening a fourth TurnStyles location. Many of you have come to love the merchandise, the ability to donate for a fantastic cause and sharing your volunteerism within our stores. Additionally, we understand that every business must have multiple levers to sustain and grow. This is why Catholic Charities continues to seek new business endeavors to supplement our fundraising and grant writing efforts. We remain committed to looking at new business proposals that promote work for the un- and underemployed, support our environment and offer financial resources back into our programming and the families who need them.
With our new strategic plan will come new projects, expansions and new work. It will take many hands to lessen the load and I thank you in advance for sharing your time, talents and treasure with Catholic Charities. Our team accepts the Holy Spirit’s challenge with zeal, enthusiasm and with your help, a willingness to do even more for those in need. Let’s go!
