Dignity of Self-Reliance: the heart of our mission

By Ashley Everett

When Sarah and her young daughter walked into to Catholic Charities’ Welcome Center,they were obviously in distress. After fleeing an abusive relationship, they had becomehomeless. Friends and relatives allowed them to couch surf for several months, but thatarrangement had come to an end, and they had to move on. With no money for childcare, Sarah became unemployed. What seemed like an endless string of barriers andcrises left Sarah penniless and destitute. Do you know what Catholic Charities saw? Wesaw Sarah in the likeness of God, we saw her dignity and we helped her find it again.

At Catholic Charities of Kansas City- St. Joseph (CCKCSJ), we have modeled our services and programs around Catholic social teaching #1 — the life and dignity of the human person. Catholic social teaching affirms that human life is sacred and holds the dignity of the human person as the foundation of a moral vision for society. In fact, dignity is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: We believe every person is precious; people are more important than things; and the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

Larry in the Welcome Center got to work. He listened to Sarah’s story to be certain he understood her needs. First, to be stable, Sarah and her daughter needed a safe place to live and food for their next several days. Larry brought Sonia, CCKCSJ Housing Case Manager, in the room and introduced them. They promptly began paperwork to secure housing. Larry also recognized that Sarah needed to speak with a professional to feel safe and heal past trauma, so he contacted a counselor partner he has in the community. Larry brought in Kendal, Children and Family Services Specialist, who enrolled Sarah and her toddler in CCKCSJ’s Social Butterflies Program. There, Sarah would get help with diapers, parenting education and getting her daughter ready for school.

So much happened in just one visit. Sarah came to us with fear and little hope. When Sarah left, she had a bag full of food and hygiene items, an appointment to her first counseling session, as well as appointments with CCKCSJ’s Housing Services and Children and Family Services. Most importantly, she walked out with hope and a plan to regain the dignity of self-reliance.

Families come to us in crisis, they have nowhere to live, they cannot feed their families, they have no one to aid them. Our first step is to stabilize them, remove them from the emergency they are experiencing. What happens next makes CCKCSJ and the services and programs offered here truly life-changing. We offer families many wraparound services to break the generational poverty they are experiencing. After they are given food or emergency assistance to meet the immediate crisis encompassing them, our other programs wrap around them and help them stabilize. If families have a need we cannot address, we call our professional partners in the community who can. We have skilled, compassionate case managers in all four of our pillars of care: Emergency Assistance, Housing, Children and Family, and Employment Services. Trust is formed, relationships are made, plans and goals are identified and hope is restored.

Jesus is the good news to the poor. As His followers, may we recognize the call to be the same. How will you join us in our mission to end poverty and uphold human dignity?

Catholic social teaching principles have significant impact

Human dignity is the central principle of Catholic social teaching. Subsidiarity and solidarity flow from human dignity. These three principles work together to define the common good.

Human dignity isthe prime principle ofCatholic social teaching.It recognizes that manis made in God’s imageand likeness. It is thisthat makes every humanlife sacred.

Solidarity flows from human dignity in that it “consists in the very fact that in God and with God I love even persons I do not like or even know.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 18)

Subsidiarity flows from human dignity in that it recognizes “in the persona subject who is always capable of giving something to others.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 57.)

Members of the SSVF team reach out to people living in KC homeless camps, spreading hope and resources that CCKCSJ can offer. Photos by James Madril, Veterans Workforce Specialist.