Diane lived at the Dorothy Day Center. Homeless, she slept on a mat on the floor. Staff at the Dorothy Day Center connected Diane with Housing First, a program that moves people into stable housing and provides the supportive services necessary to maintain that housing. She moved off the floor of the shelter and into a new phase of life.

Because of people such as you, today Diane attends nursing school.

One of the 35,000 people Catholic Charities helps each year, Diane got the services she needed to move out of poverty. Every day, Catholic Charities moves people out of poverty.

And we keep people from sliding into poverty.

Young parents — some as young as 14, 15 and 16 years old — learn how to manage a budget, take parenting classes and get the support they need to complete school and find a job. In fact, 92 percent of parents involved in Parenting Services remain in school and find a job.

Our Senior Care Management program works to keep senior citizens in their homes as long as safely possible. The average annual cost of a nursing home is $70,000. Catholic Charities spends $1,700 per senior per year.

At Northside Child Development Center in North Minneapolis, children age six weeks to 15 years participate in educationally sound, age-appropriate programming before and after school. Children who go through Northside’s early childhood education program score better on their kindergarten readiness tests than their peers. A remarkable achievement made even more noteworthy when you consider the children come from homes with average annual incomes of $8,000 to $14,000.

Because of people such as you, we move people out of poverty and keep others from sliding into poverty.

Catholic Charities also works to change laws that disproportionately and adversely impact the poor. Our mission calls for us to call for justice, to ensure that those in positions of power hear the voices of the poor and disenfranchised.

Because of people such as you, we increased the number of children who have health care.

The Charities Review Council honored Catholic Charities for meeting the Council’s strict accountability standards. Catholic Charities is a member of Catholic Charities USA, one of the largest private networks of social services providers in the country.

Our Housing and Emergency Services division includes food shelves, emergency shelters such as the Dorothy Day Center, transitional and permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. The Family Services division provides services ranging from prenatal care and parenting support to counseling and elderly services. The Children’s Services division includes three programs: Northside Child Development Center, St. Joseph’s Home for Children and Hope Street for Runaway and Homeless Youth. The Office for Social Justice in our Advocacy division calls for justice in the community.

Every day, our staff help people meet their basic needs and move people out of poverty.

Your support helps Catholic Charities serve those most in need. You can change lives.