Catholic Charities' Strategic Plan

Dear Supporter,

Earlier this year, our Leadership Team and Board of Directors kicked off a strategic planning process to identify our priorities. Our approach was inspired by the words of Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est: “The Church is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls….The heart of Jesus sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.” 

Our new strategic plan “Building Roads to Hope,” is focused on helping those we serve to reach sustainable self-sufficiency. The current economic conditions disproportionately affect those we serve, the most vulnerable.

Consumer prices are 17% higher than in 2021
Supplemental Poverty Index of 12.4%, the largest increase since 2010
Doubling of Supplemental Child Poverty Rate
110 million forcibly displaced people around the world due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations; compared to 65 million in 2016
Inflation-adjusted philanthropic giving decreased 11% in 2022

The plan we have put together is summarized by these five strategic goals:

Live out our Catholic Identity, using our gifts to be the hands, heart, and feet of Christ, while providing opportunities for others to join us to do the same.
Serve our most vulnerable neighbors, including the homeless, the working poor, our seniors, refugees, and immigrants on their journey to self-sufficiency by providing faith-based life skills classes, effective case management, community integration through warm hand-offs to our partners, and affordable legal pathways to citizenship.
Protect life and support families: Give every person, from conception through natural death, the best chance at a fulfilling life by equipping families with the support needed to flourish, while enhancing our adoption services.
Nourish and heal the heart, mind, and soul by providing compassionate, affordable, accessible, faith-based counseling services.
Build organizational capacity to serve more people through operational efficiencies and volunteer engagement, while diversifying and expanding our funding streams.

Our main goal is to continue to help families become self-sufficient by focusing extra attention to those in the vulnerable stage.

Many families fall between the cracks at this stage because they no longer qualify for subsidies due to a pay increase… Yet they still do not have enough money to be self-sufficient in one or more areas of housing, healthcare, childcare, food, transportation, and stable work.

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Below, you will see more information on how our plan will work, as well as hear from the people it will impact. I humbly ask for your continued prayers and financial support as we build new roads to hope for our most vulnerable neighbors.

Yours in Christ,

Dan Florin | CEO of Catholic Charities