Podcasts
Dr. Liwei Hua on “The 2020 talk – how to discuss drugs with your kids”
Jen Thommen talks with Villa Maria Behavioral Health Clinic Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Liwei Hua, MD, about what’s changed since we grew up and how you can adjust your approach to the drug conversation with your kids.
Kelly Anderson discusses “What should I do? The best ways to help someone experiencing homelessness”
Dana Boyer talks with Sarah’s House Program Director Kelly Anderson about invisible homelessness, individuals who ask for money, and how you can make a difference to each of them.
Tim Scherer discusses “What you need to know before a loved one moves into senior care”
Tia Briscoe talks with Caritas House Assisted Living Director Tim Scherer about how you can be sure you select the right place for yourself or someone you love as age challenges the ability to live independently.
Ron Means discusses “Trauma of racism”
Natalie Ramirez talks with Catholic Charities Chief Medical Officer Ronald Means, MD, about racism through a lens of trauma – how systemic physical, mental and emotional violence do mental health damage to those who endure it.
Kids on the corner: Why it’s hard – and crucial – for youth to find (the right) jobs roundtable discussion
Laura Talis talks with Kevin Creamer, Kevin Mason, and friends from the Youth Empowered Society about the critical considerations that can help youth find sustainable work.
Kevin Mason discusses “The impact of poverty on the community”
Dana Boyer talks with My Brother’s Keeper Program Director Kevin Mason, LCPC, about the effects individual and familial poverty have on the larger community and why one person’s poverty matters to others.
Assisted Rehab President Rich Rigali discusses “What’s your plan? Living long and well”
Tia Briscoe talks with Assisted Rehab President Rich Rigali about how you can plan to age in place safely and in the best possible health.
Videos
- Annual Report Video: Baird sisters. Click here to view the video>>
- Mission in Action Award winner Michika Karim. Click here to view the video>>
- The Msgr. Arthur F. Valenzano Joyful Servant Award honoree is Mary Anne O’Donnell. Click here to view the video>>
- Mission in Action Award winner Johanna Miller. Click here to view the video>>
- Annual Report Video: Crystal Nixon-Bishop. Click here to view the video>>
- Mission in Action Award winner Joyce Brunson. Click here to view the video>>
- Bill McCarthy and Carolyn Gutermuth. Click here to view the video>>
- Mission in Action Award winner Edwina Bell. Click here to view the video>>
- Annual Report Video: Karen Scheu. Click here to view the video>>
- Mission in Action Award winner Tamara Williams. Click here to view the video>>
- Anne Lindsey Otenasek Youth Service Award: Bill McCarthy and Vinay Khosla. Click here to view the video>>
- Annual Report Video: Michael Middleton. Click here to view the video>>
Honorees
The Msgr. Arthur F. Valenzano Joyful Servant Award is in memory of the late rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was a member of our Board of Trustees until his passing in September 2015. The recipient embodies the joyful life and spirit of Msgr. Valenzano and his ability to touch the lives of thousands of Marylanders.
This year’s honoree is Mary Anne O’Donnell.
The Distinguished Service Award is given to an individual or group that exemplifies or significantly supports compassionate caregiving and service, has personal commitment to our work, cherishes the Divine within those we serve. This year, we are pleased to recognize long-time supporter of Catholic Charities and especially My Sister’s Place Women’s Center, Carolyn Gutermuth.
The Anne Lindsey Otenasek Youth Service Award goes to a high school or college student or group, in recognition of outstanding volunteer service with Catholic Charities. It is given in memory of Anne Lindsey Otenasek, a passenger lost in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. The award honors and perpetuates her spirit, which was the hallmark of her volunteer work at Gallagher Services. This year, we honor Vinay Khosla for his exceptional volunteer work with Our Daily Bread Employment Center and St. Vincent’s Villa.
Our Mission in Action Award goes to individuals who model our Catholic Charities Commitments in their encounters with others.
They consistently…
…honor and respect the DIGNITY of every person
…encounter each person with COMPASSION
…act with HUMILITY
…reach out to others in a spirit of COLLABORATION
…serve with EXCELLENCE
…act with INTEGRITY
We are grateful for the way that each of our Mission in Action award winners lives out our mission to love, serve, and teach!
- Edwina Bell, St. Elizabeth’s Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Director of Nursing
The resilience of Edwina and her servant leadership in strengthening the nursing team at St. Elizabeth’s to simply do the right thing in a very difficult environment, reflects our mission in action every day.
- Joyce Brunson, St. Vincent’s Villa: Housekeeper
Ms. Joyce goes beyond her job duties and helps the children learn life skills and takes the time to make each of them feel special.
- Michika Karim, Sarah’s House Child Care Center: School-age Lead Teacher
Michika is a teacher the children trust to genuinely love, serve, and teach them. She takes time to tailor learning experiences to fit each child no matter their skill level.
- Johanna Miller, Villa Maria Community Resources: Clinical Supervisor
Anyone who has taken a training taught by Johanna knows her infectious energy inspires and creates welcoming spaces where the dignity of each person is honored.
- Tammy Williams, My Sister’s Place Women’s Center: Case Manager
The compassion and dignity with which she treats both her clients and colleagues is the difference-maker in her success in motivating clients to believe that change is possible.
Photos
Click on the photo to see the video
Stories of Service
Extending one family’s legacy at the Esperanza Center
Lydia Dibos remembers going to the Esperanza Center – then known as the Hispanic Apostolate – on occasional Saturday mornings as a teenager. Her mother, a pediatrician, had organized weekly clinics to serve children with no other access to health care.
One more sign of promise in Cherry Hill – the community’s first bank opens
Over the next several years, JP Morgan Chase plans to open 20 branches and 40 ATMs as part of a broad expansion across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. But none may carry as much promise as the branch that opened its doors in mid-September in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill Town Center.
Support for those helping to slow the pandemic
As Baltimore City hires a corps of more than 300 people to help track and limit the spread of COVID-19 locally, those workers will receive some extra support from a Catholic Charities program.
A bond like few could find
When COVID-19 forced Gallagher Services’ residential sites into quarantine, Hugh Downey was spending his working days in the home of four men supported through the program. The group quickly became like a family.
The vital importance of unrestricted giving
Catholic Charities hosted its first Leadership Breakfast 40 years ago. A simple meal prepared and served by our staff, it lasted only one hour and raised $50,000. Today, the Leadership Breakfast Campaign has grown into the largest source of unrestricted support for the agency’s mission and work, fueling more than 80 programs that serve people of all faiths throughout Maryland.
Thankful for thoughtfulness
When Landsdowne Worship Center offered a bit of love to Caritas House earlier this month, the congregants thought of everything: gift bags for residents, homecooked meals for every shift of employees, and a distribution process that accounted for COVID-19 safety protocols.
What connects the tragic killings of George Floyd and Freddie Gray
William J. McCarthy Jr.
Executive Director
This piece originally appeared in Charities USA Magazine.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer who knelt on his neck for a continuous eight minutes and forty-six seconds while arresting him for the alleged use of a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill. There are no words to express the mixture of outrage and sorrow that this footage elicits. What I feel today, in the months that now separate us from George Floyd’s murder, I can only describe as an aching weariness of the soul. It is an exhaustion at the shameless evil of a system that, since its inception, has been built upon preserving the privilege of a select few through the exclusion, oppression, and murder of people of color.
Click here to read the rest of the story>>
Media Releases
Annual Report
