Press Release: Celebrating 100 Years of Service on April 21

Fort Wayne, IN - Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend (CCFWSB) will be celebrating 100 years of serving people in need at their 100th Anniversary Gala on April 21, 2022.

In 1922, Bishop Herman Alerding and a group of lay people established Associated Catholic Charities in response to the needs of the community in the aftermath of WWI. Providing financial assistance to a few hundred people in those early years has since grown to serve almost 16,000 individuals in 14 counties with 20 different programs.

“Our Gala theme - Legacy of Hope - honors the women and men who, since our founding, have provided needed services and a sense of hope to more than 750,000 people throughout our diocese,” says Dan Florin, CEO of CCFWSB. “We are proud to have helped people in need of all faiths and backgrounds for the past 100 years. We invite anyone who has benefited from our services or has contributed to our mission to attend this celebration.”

CCFWSB began an adoption program preceding the Great Depression. After WWII, the agency provided counseling services. In 1975, CCFWSB answered the call to help Vietnamese refugees resettle in Fort Wayne. The agency began offering legal immigration services in 2001 and became fully accredited by the Department of Justice in 2020. Fast forward to today, CCFWSB is helping Afghan refugees rebuild their life.

Historically known in the community for helping families grow through adoption as well as resettling refugees, CCFWSB focuses services in four main areas: stability services, clinical services, migration services, and pro-life services. All programs aid clients in their journey to emotional, economic, and educational self-sufficiency. That means doing anything from supporting the vulnerable with something as straightforward as a providing a warm coat to teaching a new job skill to the complexity of rebuilding an entire life.

“The problems we see are complex,” says Florin, “but through God’s grace, we are the agency that has risen to the call time and time again.”

Tickets are on sale until April 11 at www.ccfwsb.org/gala or call 260-422-5625.

About the Event:
When: April 21, 2022 / Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Fort Wayne Country Club
Attire: Black-tie optional
Speaker: Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR, is a priest with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal based in the Bronx, New York. He is the founder of Corazon Puro, an organization dedicated to forming youth. He hosts the EWTN television shows Icons and Clic con Corazon Puro in Spanish. Fr. Agustino was one of the friars who founded Catholic Underground, an apostolate of the Friars of Renewal, and the Casa Guadalupe (women) and JPLL (men) houses of discernment. He is internationally sought to address topics such as the Church’s teachings about human sexuality, vocational discernment, and missionary discipleship.

For more information, contact Nicole Kurut, CCFWSB Mission Advancement Manager, at nkurut@ccfwsb.org