A Message From Our Executive Director

Dear Friend,

Thank you for visiting our website, I hope you will find the pages informative and helpful.

Many new and exciting activities are taking place at Catholic Charities which I would like to share with you:

Community Health Initiative – the poor and less fortunate often do not have access to quality health care, nutritious organic foods, counseling services, and affordable housing. In partnership with La Semilla Food Center, Southwest Family Guidance Center, Amanecer, and Catholic Charities USA, our new community health initiative seek to provide our neighbors in need with these necessities so they can live more prosperous, secure, and healthy lives.

Expanded Legal Services – with a large retirement community in southern New Mexico, our legal services staff will be providing pro bono or low-cost elder law legal services to individuals and families. Services will also include guardianship rights, estate planning and probate, and family law.

Support for Scholars – unfortunately, there are over 600 homeless high school students in Dona Ana County in any given year. Their homelessness is a result of the current opioid crisis, parent deportations, poverty, sheer neglect, or the death of a parent or caregiver. Catholic Charities supports homeless high school students in partnership with Las Cruces Public School District’s Project Link, The New America School Las Cruces Charter High School, and Families & Youth Innovation Plus. Direct assistance includes temporary shelter in hotels, food, clothing, and footwear, medical care including counseling services, school supplies, haircuts, and personal hygiene products. For homeless high school seniors who graduate, Catholic Charities provides free scholarships to either Dona Ana Community College or New Mexico State University.

El Manatial Hogar – the orphanage, which is located in Ciudad Juárez, provides residential shelter and loving care to children and young adults who are physically and developmentally disabled. Catholic Charities supports El Manantial Hogar through grant writing and by providing funds for medicine, medical supplies and equipment, and for its daily operations.

I invite you to invest in the work Catholic Charities is doing in the community by volunteering, attending an event, or donating to one of our many programs.

In closing, our southern New Mexico service area, unfortunately, has some of the highest poverty rates in our state and the nation. We have seen firsthand the impact individual interventions both large and small can have on a disadvantaged person’s life. Please consider making a difference today.

Life is a pilgrimage to better know ourselves, our neighbors, and God. Let’s walk together on the journey.

Kenneth J. Ferrone
Executive Director

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