To s e rv e a n d to l i f t
‘GO OUT TO THE WORLD …’ with Catholic Charities
By Susan Walker
APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE live in the 27 counties of our diocese. An average of 14 percent of them live in poverty, while thousands more teeter on the brink each month. It’s a huge number of people. Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph is charged with serving all of them — regardless of life circumstance, place of residence or faith tradition. That means we are called to be present and provide needed services across 6,000 square miles.
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Catholic Key • June/July 2022 • catholickey.org
This is not an easy task — at-risk families don’t all live on the same block, or in the same zip code. Of course, there are pockets of poverty in our diocese — neighborhoods that have a high concentration of vulnerable residents. There are also the “hidden” at-risk individuals living in stable, mid-income neighborhoods — quite often, silently struggling due to loss of a job or a serious medical diagnosis. Families who reside in rural communities have different needs — and different resources available — than those who live in suburban or urban core areas. Catholic Charities’ permanent offices in Kansas City and St. Joseph were chosen to locate the agency in the areas where
