About Us -

Our Mission, Our Values

Our ministry was founded in 2004 and is chartered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to be a provider of social, legal, and economic assistance to people in need in southern New Mexico regardless of their faith, belief, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, or cultural background. The agency has an office in Las Cruces and Roswell.

Our Values

Catholic Charities works to help meet the basic needs of individuals and families, address the root causes of poverty, eliminate oppression, and build a more just and compassionate society.

Our Mission

The mission of Catholic Charities is to serve the poor and create opportunity and hope by offering direct and legal assistance to people in need, advocating for human dignity and justice, and calling all people of goodwill to do the same.

To fulfill our mission, we partner with the community to provide:

Pro bono and low-cost legal services for immigrants and migrant workers, and many free services for Special Immigrant Juveniles and individuals who are victims of crime including domestic violence.
Financial assistance to the homeless and families living in poverty throughout southern New Mexico.
Interdenominational initiatives to help strengthen families and marriages, reduce high school drop-out rates as well as teenage pregnancies.
Financial literacy programs and financial alternatives to predatory lending companies.
Economic development and training initiatives to reduce poverty and help women and the disadvantaged start their businesses.

Our Services

Catholic Charities employs twelve (12) individuals including an executive director, community organizers, an immigration attorney, U.S. Department of Justice accredited representatives, a victim advocate, three paralegals, two receptionists, and a student intern. We are the only nonprofit organization in our service area that offers a defense of deportation and legal representation for asylum seekers. We also work with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and nonprofit partners to expose and combat human trafficking in our border community. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Catholic Charities has provided $500,000 in direct assistance to those in need.

Our Service Area

The organization’s service area is approximately 55,000 square miles with a target population of 542,086 which includes the ten (10) southern counties of New Mexico. Poverty rates in southern New Mexico are some of the highest in the state and nation. For example, 27% of Luna County residents and 25% of Dona Ana County residents live at or beneath the federal poverty line.