Partner with us

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pt 4:10). 

As First Peter beautifully reminds us, everyone has something to give and to receive. We witness this each day at Catholic Charities when we receive the transformational gifts of love, gratitude and divine encounter that those we serve bestow upon us.

As senior director of Mission Engagement, I would like to personally invite you to this magnificent exchange of giving and receiving by joining Catholic Charities’ mission of mercy. Mission Engagement invites partners to intentionally experience our work through transformative witness and encounter in opportunities of service. We partner with parishes, schools, corporations, Catholic Charities’ regional and junior boards and individual volunteers to provide meaningful opportunities in service and prayer that affirm the dignity of all and address the needs of our neighbors on the margins.

When I first came to Catholic Charities last year, I was amazed and inspired by its scale. Through a comprehensive array of programs, Catholic Charities has the privilege to serve thousands of people each day — adding up to millions of helping connections annually. That is how we’ve grown to be among the 50 largest human services providers in the country and the largest in our region.

As such, Catholic Charities is the cornerstone of the social safety net in Cook and Lake counties. Our mission, rooted in our Catholic faith tradition and Jesus’ Gospel message to love and serve one another, calls us to care for anyone in need regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender or citizenship.

With this great mission and scale comes great obligation. Not only must we prepare to serve those we know will come to our doors each day, but when crises arise, we must be ready to step up and do even more. Throughout our 100-year-plus history, we have cared for the most vulnerable through day-to-day struggles and through every major economic, health and social crisis of the last century.

Catholic Charities could not do the powerful, life-giving work that it does without our partners. After the COVID-19 pandemic began — when our resources were stretched to the max — donors, parishioners, mission board members and volunteers masked up and stepped up to help meet the overwhelming needs. Today, as greater Chicago has welcomed over 36,000 new migrant arrivals, the love and solidarity of our parish partners and faith community have helped us serve more than 19,000 asylum seekers.

Each week, when we serve hot meals to those experiencing hunger in locations across the archdiocese, it is longtime and new volunteers, young professionals and parish partners who are preparing and compassionately serving the meals — sitting, speaking and connecting with our neighbors in mutuality and care. It is volunteers who ensure the smooth operation and personal touch of our food pantries, clothing rooms, diaper program, home-delivered meals and so much more.  

As a relative newcomer to Catholic Charities, I have been in awe of the dedication of our teams. Their diligence in living out our values emboldens our mission to treat all who come to us with respect, dignity and “courageous compassion.” Through the services provided at Charities, we are truly accompanying people on their journey, walking at their side with intentionality, vulnerability, humility and authenticity.

In this journey shared, we are accountable to one another. We invite partners to our mission — to this accountability to neighbor. In our invitation to serve, we are not merely asking volunteers to stock food pantry shelves (as critical as that is), but to more deeply understand the economic landscape of our region and to broaden their own understanding of our responsibility to the Gospel and each of our respective small roles in welcoming God’s kingdom on earth. Those we partner with in service are as much transformed as the individuals and families they encounter and accompany.

Please consider joining Catholic Charities as a volunteer, a member of one of our regional mission boards or junior board, or as a partner in prayer or with your school group or corporate team. We are greatly in need of your gifts — and eager to share the gifts of service with you.