Catholic Charities has the enviable role of being the Church’s face-to-face presence in the lives of our diocese’s neediest. What some may see as obligations or inconveniences, we see as opportunities: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the afflicted. Our challenge is to provide the diverse financial, material and geographical resources to accomplish those objectives.

Across 11 counties of northern Illinois, our staff and volunteers direct their attention and skills to service. Our mission statement tells of the self-worth inherent in each person and directs us to help individuals attain “... a degree of independence consonant with their human dignity.” It says nothing about creating dependencies, or helping out because it makes us feel good. Rather, we work to serve the common good with compassion, dignity and respect. That means acting, not pitying; achieving goals rather than saddling people with low expectations.

Our programs are practical:

â–º Adoption Services and Adolescent Outreach address the best placement and care for children, and children having children. Catholic Charities pairs married couples with birth parents, and teen-aged parents looking for better ways to raise a child.

â–º Counseling. We serve students in parochial elementary schools, couples in need of marriage advice, recovering abortion patients, and the recently widowed. Our counselors have seen the issues and help individuals and families with the healing process.

â–º Refugee Resettlement services. More than 18 million people around the world live in legitimate fear for their lives because of their religious or political beliefs. Each year we re-settle into our diocese only 350 of the 70,000 who come to the United States. They are welcome here. They study our language and culture, and become part of the fabric of our communities.

â–º Long-term Care Ombudsman. For more than 25 years we have advocated for those in long-term care facilities that face the uncertainties of life outside of their homes. We will not forget those who gave so much of their lives to others and now need someone to remember them.

â–º Immigration services. Our staff provides needed essential services to which immigrants are legally entitled.

â–º St. Elizabeth Catholic Community Center. A century of caring has not dimmed our enthusiasm for service. Whatever the need, St. Elizabeth’s remembers Jesus’ mandate to love our neighbors as ourselves.

â–º Emergency Assistance. Sometimes a little help is needed with rent, gas, food or utilities. We can offer a small amount that provides an incentive or soft landing, and we link those in need with community contacts that move people away from despair to hope.

People are hurting: the chronically unemployed, the homeless or abandoned, victims of crime. A lot of community and faith-based organizations work to address those needs. We belong to United Ways and Chambers of Commerce throughout the diocese.. We work with other agencies, local government disaster recovery teams, and community health councils. And we lead community coalitions and neighborhood betterment teams.

We are Catholic Charities. Pray for us. Your support makes us partners in service to others.