Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas is in the midst of building the next version of a three-year strategic plan. A survey was recently administered to a combination of roughly 300 community partners, volunteers, donors and parish staff to gain feedback about the organization and how community needs are being addressed through programming and services.

Lauren Solidum, President & CEO, is incredibly grateful for the thoughtful insights that were generated due to the survey.

The Catholic Charities Team is eager to begin the envisioning process. We are equally excited to take several current program to the next level, continuing the success of the foundation that has been laid. Those program advances include:

Expansion of the asset development programs: Kansas Loan Pool Project, Family Financial Transformations™, Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA), Kids Summer Food and Cents@Work.

Creation of a “workforce arm” designed to expand the St. Rita Program and to strengthen current efforts in employment placement and retention.

Capacity building for the adoption and pregnancy support programs based on the knowledge that in order to truly disrupt broken systems like foster care, kids must be removed from the system, and families who step up to make the selfless choice to adopt, be effectively supported.

Entrepreneurship opportunities that allow Catholic Charities to close the gap on issues like affordable housing, transportation and childcare.

Catholic Charities will not take on all of this alone. “We are committed to engaging critical path partners to ensure we remain focused on our core competencies,” says Solidum. “We will strengthen our approach by building networks of programming across the 21-counties in which we serve. Our rural communities will feel prioritized and our parishes will feel confident in our ability to holistically serve those in need.”