Greetings from Fr. John

Dear Friends,

I love the work I am doing here as the President and CEO of Catholic Charities. As I grow more and more acquainted with our programs and services, one of the things that has stunned me – particularly in this time of economic hardship – is the number of ways that Catholic Charities helps people find jobs.

Nowadays, everyone is talking about jobs in the media, in politics and in the places we meet day to day. There’s a reason for that: employment is absolutely vital to the health and success of a family, to social mobility and to real and enduring hope for the future.

In the struggle to end poverty in our community, we all have a job to do. I know I certainly do. I remember one morning the news shows were covering the up and down swings of the stock market. I wasn’t too worried about my own tiny stock portfolio, but I did ask myself, how will this affect Catholic Charities? How will this affect the people who support Catholic Charities and care about the mission? What about the growing number of people who turn to us for help? How can I ensure our staff have the resources they need?

I realized Catholic Charities has to be in the business of saying YES.

It starts with me. When my program managers have a need, I want to try my best to say yes whenever I can. That’s because when people who are struggling come to our doors, it is critical that our staff can say, Yes, I can help you.

It is time for us to start saying yes more and dreaming about how we can better serve our brothers and sisters. I hope that you, too, as someone who cares about Catholic Charities and our work, will keep saying yes in your support of our efforts. I am truly grateful for the dedicated and incredible network of people who have made the Catholic Charities mission possible for more than 80 years.

And I am truly blessed to say that this is my job.

May God bless you!