An Open Letter to the Community
How Catholic Charities is responding to an extended economic recession.
Dear Friends, Supporters and Neighbors,
Our society is in a difficult moment in time. In the District, unemployment is nearing 10 percent. Thousands of families have no choice but to wait on a list for affordable housing options. The cost of living remains high while wages are stagnant – or dropping.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington has been meeting an incredible demand across our region as a result of the prolonged and severe recession. We are serving many families who have never had to ask for help before while continuing to serve our most vulnerable neighbors.
Although our financial position is strengthened by maintaining diverse funding streams, like many nonprofits we are seeing a decline in revenue – from charitable gifts to government funding. After months of careful deliberation, the Board of Directors and leadership of Catholic Charities have taken the following steps to answer our short-term challenges while positioning Catholic Charities to remain viable and strong for our clients in the future:
- Consolidation and modification of programs
- Consolidation of program locations and facilities
- Reduction of select program operation hours and workforce
- No cost of living increases for all staff
- Hiring freezes of non-vital positions
We chose programs for reduction or modification with the following criteria: stepping back where others could conceivably step in, maintaining programs that closely followed the unique mission of the Church, protecting the programs serving the most vulnerable and ensuring we maintained a presence in every jurisdiction.
Even with these principles, there are no easy or simple answers. Across the agency, 39 staff positions were eliminated out of a workforce of more than 950 people. The good reputation of Catholic Charities comes from the love and passion our staff bring to their jobs every day and it is their work that breathes life into our mission. Certainly, we as an agency will be working to do all we can to help our staff transition to their next step, including internal placements whenever possible.
One of two significant program changes is the relocation of the Prince George’s Center from Forestville to Lanham, where it will share a location with several Catholic Charities programs. Locating several programs in one site will save thousands of dollars in facilities’ costs while still allowing us to offer a myriad of services. The Parish Partners Program will continue to work with local Catholic parishes to help those who come to the church in need access critical services provided by numerous Catholic Charities’ programs.
The second program change involves moving the St. Clements Center to Lexington Park in St. Mary’s County, where the Community Development Corporation will lease office space to the Center at no cost, offering us tremendous financial savings and the opportunity to provide greater holistic services.
Despite these reductions, our services continue to set benchmarks for excellence and we are pushing forward with our most pressing initiatives. Construction of our St. Martin’s permanent supportive housing project continues on-time and on-budget. Next August, we will complete 178 units of housing for families who work hard, but struggle to find reasonably priced, quality housing in a safe neighborhood.
At our Spanish Catholic Center Dental Clinic, we have been able to serve 1,000 more new patients this year alone, simply by hiring one dentist and one hygienist. At the Southern Maryland Food Bank, incredible community partnerships have helped us distribute more than 377,000 pounds of food through April – 24 percent more than the food given for all of last year.
It is my sincere belief that we have made the wisest, and not simply the easiest, decisions to meet our short term budget demands and remain financially strong in the future. Thank you for your support and understanding through a difficult time for all of us. Together, we will emerge from this stronger and in a better position to serve and empower our neighbors who are most in need.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Orzechowski
President and CEO
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington