Catholic Community Services turns 60
SALT LAKE CITY — Catholic Community Services of Utah (CCS) celebrated the 60th anniversary of their founding by honoring four of their collaborating agencies. CCS is a ministry of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. It serves the needs of the poor, troubled, and oppressed in the community, and helps them solve life’s problems, encouraging them to become self-sufficient and healthy.
At the agency’s Annual Awards Dinner Oct. 25 at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, CCS recognized the work of Intermountain Healthcare, the Northern Utah Building Committee, Volunteers of America, and Ivory Homes.
Founded by Bishop Duane G. Hunt in 1947, CCS (then called Catholic Charities) was created to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in Salt Lake City and Northern Utah. In the past, CCS also has served people in Central Utah and Ogden out of field offices in Ogden and Price.
The 2007 Awards Dinner also allowed the agency to celebrate its new location on 300 South in Salt Lake City, where rehabilitation services for both women and men, a refugee resettlement program, counselling services, and administrative offices are all located under one roof, for the first time in its history.
With Masters of Ceremonies Pamela Atkinson, advocate for the poor, and KSL Television’s Tom Kirkland, the event differed from it’s predecessors. Lacking its familiar auction, the evening was a celebration of collaboration between agencies, the growth of CCS, and a simple appeal for philanthropic support.
Special guests included Bishop John C. Wester of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, President Thomas S. Monson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Francis; Diocesan Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald; and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who offered the invocation for the evening.
Encouraging dinner guests to be generous to CCS expecting nothing in return, Atkinson urged them to think of the money they donate as "theIRS... the (money you don’t want to go to the) IRS."
Atkinson related a few facts about Catholic Community Services – that it serves 210,268 meals a year at the St. Vincent Resource Center in Salt Lake City; it offers day shelter services to 324 clients each month through its Marillac House program for women and children and St. Mary’s Program for men; almost 12,000 people made use of the shower facilities at the Weigand Center last year; and 105 men and women received substance abuse counselling. Each year CCS resettles more than 400 refugees from foreign countries, and last year they provided emergency services to 22,181 individuals and families. In addition, the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank and Social Services Center in Ogden served 1,747 people through their food distribution center and rental assistance program.
In his remarks Bishop Wester welcomed representatives of each of the organizations being honored as well as representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also recognized the work of Diocesan Vicar General Msgr. J. Terence Fitzgerald, calling him, "a remarkable man and a great priest."
We are living in a difficult and challenging world, the bishop said, "and I am grateful for Maggie St. Claire and her staff and all those who work on behalf of the poor.
"I just want to offer a brief word of thanks to all of you who have done so much," he said. "...We project a certain look – a look of Christ, of love, and of compassion. They are the many things that CCS is about. All the services they offer give our Church the look of Christ... All of you who give of your time, talent, and treasure are reflecting the face of Christ to the rest of society. Not only are you giving to the poor, but you are accepting God into your hearts, so that when people see us they see God.
"And I’ll tell you, you all look great!"
Honored this year were Intermountain Healthcare, for their generous gift of a building and remodeling funds, and the Northern Utah Building Committee for its support for the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank and Social Services Center. Volunteers of America were honored for their services to people who would otherwise die on the streets from exposure and addiction. Ivory Homes received the Creative Corporate Award for urging their employees, contractors, and subcontractors to give generously to the community.
Maggie St. Claire, executive director of CCS, said, "poverty affects us all, but we can help shape the world we live in... At times the need seems overwhelming, but we must challenge the darkness and say, ‘This is unacceptable.’
"Thank you all for recognizing the need," St. Claire said.
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