CEO Letter

CEO Column

Dear Friends,

The images of natural disasters on TV show sudden devastation, evoking shock and pity and a natural desire to help. At the same time many in our own community are facing the unnatural disaster of poverty. This slow moving disaster is much quieter. You don’t see it on the nightly news, except perhaps through the occasional dry statistics on unemployment, foreclosure rates, homelessness, hunger and drop out rates. It’s felt more in the quiet desperation and frustration of families struggling hard to make ends meet and not quite making it. Yet this disaster threatens our very community with a poorly educated workforce, increased gang violence, increased rates of illness, and a growing gap between haves and have-nots.

Now imagine what life could be like for these families when they are able to step out of the cycle of poverty. Imagine a community in which everyone has a safe and decent home, where every child has an equal opportunity to succeed in school and isn’t afraid to walk home, where no child or senior goes to bed hungry, where all families have access to affordable quality healthcare including mental health care, and where all workers can make an honest living with pay sufficient to make ends meet.

Catholic Charities is dedicated to resolving the slow-moving tragedies in our midst. The everyday tragedies of workers without jobs, families without homes, children unable to read, individuals unable to get health care, and seniors without food should be at the forefront of our concerns.

When people — right in our own community — lack sufficient access to the basics like food, housing, jobs, education and health care, our faith calls us to act on their behalf regardless of their circumstances.

The time to act is now.

It is time for us to step up — to learn more about the reality of poverty in our midst, to step up and do more to help people help themselves, and to contribute toward cutting poverty in half by 2020.

What can we do?

• Donate! Make an increased contribution to our annual May Appeal.
• Advocate! Call or write our state and local policymakers and tell them    not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.
• Volunteer! Take time to be with people who are trying to change their    own lives for the better.

Imagine the way that life could be for people in our community … and together let’s work to make it a reality.

All the best! Greg