Where is God leading us? That is a question that many of us pray about for our personal lives, but it is also a question that my staff and I pray about at Catholic Charities. With 150 programs at more than 160 locations throughout Cook and Lake Counties, it is Catholic Charities’ mission to bring compassionate, professional and comprehensive social services to neighborhoods that face multiple challenges. We are constantly taking the pulse of community needs, evaluating our programs, assessing new opportunities and asking for the Holy Spirit to lead us to the places and the people who need us the most. When we decide to open a new office, we do so with love, ensuring that our services genuinely reflect the hope and light of Christ. This year, Catholic Charities is very blessed to expand our services to four more community-based locations. The recent opening of our new regional office at St. Gall Parish brings a variety of programs to this Southwest Side community with a vibrant immigrant history. Parishioners and local residents, who are currently predominately Hispanic, can now have easy access to counseling, senior services, support groups, immigrant services, maternal wellness, legal assistance and other needed programs in a trusted and welcoming environment right in their own parish. In Uptown, Catholic Charities was asked to take over for an agency that could no longer fulfill its obligation with the Chicago Housing Authority. Soon we will be helping public housing residents with “wrap-around” services such as counseling, case management and job training. This space will also enable Catholic Charities to bring our Refugee Resettlement Program into one of the most diverse neighborhoods of the city. At St. Mary of the Angels, we are partnering with the parish to bring counseling, domestic violence services, drug intervention, adoption and HIV/AIDS programs into this thriving West Side community that has a multitude of needs. Catholic Charities is also very excited about our new collaboration with the Sisters of St. Casimir in Marquette Park on the Southwest Side. For 100 years, the sisters have made an immeasurable contribution to the community, founding Holy Cross Hospital (now operated by Sinai Health System), Mother Maria High School (now Catalyst Maria High School), a community center, and many other services. As their numbers decline and the remaining sisters age, they have been remarkable stewards of their institutions, establishing partnerships that have ensured the continuation of their sacred mission. I am so pleased that Catholic Charities has become one of the sisters’ partners. This month we will take over the motherhouse campus, including the beautiful chapel where Venerable Mother Maria Kaupas, foundress of the Sisters of St. Casimir, is buried. The large property will become home to many Catholic Charities programs and hundreds of staff. Homeless and hous-ing programs, teen parenting services, counseling, information and referral, addic-tion services and many more programs will be brought to this location. Soon the large buildings will be brimming with life again, carrying on the sisters tradition to respond to the needs of the time and live the mis-sion of Jesus to care for those most in need. Catholic Charities is truly blessed with wonderful volunteers, board members and donors who make service expansions like these possible. Venerable Mother Maria Kaupas had a simple, yet profound saying that I think also describes Catholic Charities’ philosophy: “Always more, always better, always with love.” As Catholic Charities responds to God’s call in the most desperate communities in the Archdiocese of Chicago, it is our honor to always do more, always strive to do it better, and always serve people with love.