Ceremony Honors Volunteers
On April 20, a celebration of our volunteers was held at Our Daily Bread Employment Center. We honored the ODBEC volunteers as part of National Volunteer Week, an observance to inspire, recognize and encourage people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. ODBEC certainly has the most inspiring volunteers that [...]
MSPWC Clients Learn the Value of a Firm Handshake
Benevolent Baskets sponsors many activities at My Sister's Place Women's Center. Recently, they hosted Diane Cookson who conducted a workshop on etiquette for success. Benevolent Baskets is a gift basket business that helps formerly homeless women live purposeful lives and make meaningful contributions to the greater good. Benevolent Baskets provides a unique component to recovery [...]
Kitchen Internship Program is a Key to a Future of Independence
Last month, 5 ladies – Kim, Dornese (not pictured), Richie, Cortney and Twanda – received their graduation certificates from the Kitchen Internship Program. Kitchen Coordinator, Jerrie Olds, mentored the ladies through their 13-week internship working in the MSPWC commercial grade kitchen. They are now eligible to take the ServSafe exam to become certified as food [...]
The Power of One
What happens when one person does one thing that impacts the lives of many? This year’s MSPWC Woman of the Year, Monica Bradley, talked about the power of one in her presentation at Bridesmaids’ BINGO. Here are a few examples of how Monica has seen the power of one person’s actions have an impact and [...]
“The reason I’m here is to share the gifts that God has given me”
Anne Shelton It’s hard to match Anne Shelton’s tenure as a volunteer; she’s been a part of the Catholic Charities family for almost 35 years. Anne’s connection with Catholic Charities started in the early 1980s when she began doing volunteer work for the then newly-opened Our Daily Bread, and she later began helping to coordinate [...]
Anna’s House Creates Partnerships with People of Different Abilities
In the spirit of creating a sense of community at Anna’s House, we encourage creative partnerships and volunteer opportunities not only for community members to share their resources with us, but also to help our clients find growth opportunities and ways to build social capital as they continue on the journey to self-sufficiency. To this [...]
Leaving A Legacy
Mary will never forget the day she faced raising two young children on her own, with no place to live, no job and little support from her family or church. After years of threatening, her abusive husband had finally abandoned her. Barely able to see the road through her tears, she returned to Maryland. Eventually [...]
KEN DEMOLL: Serve As He Has Served Us
As a youth minister, it’s always challenging to pass on the idea of service to teenagers. Many teenagers want to serve, but don’t know what to do. Others have the idea that service means shoveling your grandmother’s walk or helping mom bring in the groceries. And those activities “serve” someone, but it’s not the only [...]
STUDENTS MAKE AN IMPACT IN SUMMER 2009
Whether completing service learning hours, high school senior projects or getting involved through other organizations, students are an integral part of our mission and the volunteer base here at Catholic Charities. For each student, the motivation behind their volunteerism may be different, but they all have a great impact on our programs and clients. [...]
Meredith Maroney: My Buddy And Me
Loyola University rising junior, Meredith Maroney, will tell you that some valuable lessons can be learned outside of the classroom. Two to three times a month, she keeps a social appointment with her friend, Julie, who she met through Gallagher Services’ Buddy Program that pairs young adults and teens with a person with a developmental [...]