CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE

Active agingactive aging programs at catholic charities serves as the facilitators of americorps seniors retired senior volunteer program (rsvp). The program operates in counties in south central and southeastern minnesota, including: blue earth, brown, dodge, faribault, fillmore, freeborn, goodhue, houston, jackson, le sueur, martin, mower, nicollet, olmsted, rice, steele, wabasha, waseca, watonwan and winona.working at the grassroots level, partnering with not for profit agencies, americorps seniors rsvp engages adults age 55 and over to volunteer their life experiences and skills in meeting the needs of their neighbors in their local communities through volunteer service. This service is completed through a network of collaborative agencies such as human service organizations, senior centers, non-profit transportation providers, schools and food banks who receive support with recruitment, referral, retention and recognition for volunteers serving them.americorps seniors volunteers provide critical services, including: food delivery, transportation, companionship, food pantry support, leading health and wellness programs, tutoring in elementary schools and home repair/building. From july 1, 2023 through july 1, 2024 there were 1,325 volunteers actively serving in 160 locations, giving 135,355 hours of their time to fill needs in southern mn. As the aging population rises, so too does the need for services focused on helping them to remain independent, which is what the majority of our work supports. The above number includes 260 new volunteers and 4 new partner sites. Older adults in our program continue to show resilience as they work to connect and serve in their communities and the nonprofits in those communities value the contributions these volunteers offer.active aging programs also provides health and wellness opportunities and experiences that are changing lives. The programs are evidence-based and have proven outcomes to help build peoples' confidence in managing their health conditions, increase physical activity levels and reduce health care costs. The overall goal of these programs is to improve the quality of life and help people live independently longer. These programs are offered throughout southern minnesota. Just over 1,500 participants were served by health and wellness classes from july1, 2023 to june 30, 2024. During this time period, 5 new exercise classes were started. The volunteer income tax assistance (vita) program transitioned from catholic charities as the grantee to winona volunteer services this past tax season. Wvs built a new facility, including a permanent site for the vita program, making them a logical sponsor moving forward. We continue to support the volunteers through americorps seniors.in this past year, americorps volunteers and active aging programs staff have conducted 10 financial classes. These are done through partnerships with olmsted country women's shelter and st. Vincent de paul. We have also been able to hold several two hour seminars for older adults, centering on avoiding scams and elder financial fraud. Through these programs, 65 people were served.in an effort to expand the mediapps services, this program will now come under active aging. Our hope is to utilize americorps seniors volunteers to provide education and guidance in navigating the patient assistance programs with pharmaceutical companies with a goal of enrolling older adults throughout our area. Americorps seniors funding for 2025-27 has been applied for and pending, including the addition of work done through mediapps.

Child & family servicesparenting support:catholic charities supports confident pregnancies and stable beginnings for children. We help women and men thoughtfully decide between parenting or adoption so they can confidently pursue the best plan for themselves and their babies. Catholic charities helps expectant parents to make a parenting plan, provides parenting education and access to baby items. We provide free portable cribs so infants have a safe place to sleep, free infant car seats for those that cannot afford baby supplies, and offer diaper banks in five communities across the diocese. We provide one-time financial assistance for new and expectant parents in need of rent or utility assistance, which is largely funded through our annual baby bottle campaign. In fiscal year 2024, we supported 646 new and expectant parents.adoptionour adoption program is the longest-standing program at catholic charities. We primarily offer domestic infant adoption and are licensed by the state of minnesota. Our mission is to find homes for children who need a loving, stable family. Catholic charities provides pregnancy counseling and decision making support to expectant parents. We provide guidance in selecting and meeting an adoptive family, determining how much openness they want, and making a plan for the hospital time and their future. We have a cooperative agreement with holt international to offer home studies and post placement supervision for international adoptions. Our social workers complete assessments, home studies, and education for couples wanting to adopt a child. We are members of the national council for adoption and bravelove. Our services continue through the lifespan for all members of the adoption constellation by offering ongoing support, adoption day celebrations, intermediary services, and post-adoption search and reunion services. In fiscal year 2024, we served eleven families in our adoption program and assisted 32 individuals with post adoption support.onward & upwardcatholic charities' onward and upward program supports low income single parents as they pursue a degree in the healthcare field. There are three components to the onward and upward program: mentoring, scholarships, and emergency financial assistance. Single parents who are accepted into the onward and upward program are paired with a catholic charities social worker to receive mentoring. These monthly meetings are based on the needs of each student, and cover topics such as resources, goal setting, budgeting, time management, self care and identifying the student's learning styles. Students also receive a monthly scholarship to help with non-academic needs, and may apply for emergency financial assistance as needed for unexpected expenses. Emergency financial assistance is most often used for car repairs, utilities, textbooks, and medical bills. The goal is to lift families out of poverty and into self sufficiency through supporting education. Our most recent graduates begin earning an average of $20 more per hour after graduating with their new degree! Onward and upward supports 10-12 families at a time.home study and post release servicescatholic charities received a new grant through the united states conference of catholic bishops in spring 2024 to offer home study and post release services to unaccompanied migrant children. When unaccompanied children are apprehended at the us/mexico border and a sponsor can be identified, the children are released to the sponsor's care. Depending on the nature of the relationship between sponsor and child, a home study may be required. Catholic charities social workers provide home studies to assess the suitability and safety of a potential sponsor before a child is released from shelter care. Our social workers also provide post release services to help sponsors enroll the children in school, obtain medical and mental health care, understand their legal rights within immigration, pursue guardianship, access community resources, obtain substance use treatment, and assist in the adjustment of the sponsor and child. We have served 37 youth, between the ages of 4 and 18, since may 2024.adult advocacythe mission of the adult advocacy program is to provide person centered services that improve wellbeing and prevent harm for the individuals we serve. The program offers both court appointed and non-court appointed services. Court appointed services are ordered and supervised by the court at all times. Non-court appointed services follow formal directions by the individuals served. Services offered by the program are guardianship, conservatorship, power of attorney, trustee, personal representative of the estate, health care agent and supported decision maker. Staff are guided by the professional standards of the national guardianship association. Individuals served may have developmental disabilities, serious and persistent mental illness, chemical and/or drug dependence, physical impairment, cognitive impairment, or complex medical diagnoses, whom are unable to make decisions for their wellbeing or care any longer. The individuals served live in a variety of settings including residential group homes, corporate foster care, skilled nursing care centers, assisted living facilities and independent living settings depending on what is the least restrictive housing to support their individual needs. Specific examples of services provided to clients through the adult advocacy program include attending medical appointments; giving legal consent for treatments, medications and procedures; finding better suited placement or living arrangements for clients when needed; shopping with and for clients; coordinating the sale of real estate or other valuable items on behalf of clients, managing finances, assisting in locating and obtaining entitled services (such as social security medicare, medicaid and/or veterans benefits) and employment; and overall coordination of services to ensure that the highest quality of care possible is offered to each client. We strive to advocate, promote independence and pursue the least restrictive setting for our clients. The program is structured with a program director, program coordinator, 3 case managers and an accounting assistant. A total of 99 individuals were served. 38 of those individuals were under both guardianship and conservatorship; 6 were under conservatorship only, 52 were under guardianship only. We were the personal representative for 1 individual, and only the special needs trust trustee for 2 individuals. We are contracted to serve clients through fillmore, goodhue, olmsted, steele and winona counties. 10 of our clients are private pay. We are serving most of our clients in the winona and surrounding area, but depending on their needs and the availability of appropriate placement, we also serve in greater minnesota. Individuals served ranged in age from 19 to 88. Family & individual counselingthe family and individual counseling services program continues to serve clients across the southern tier of minnesota as well as employee assistance clients from greater minnesota and into wisconsin. Counseling services are provided by trained and licensed professionals. Insurance is accepted and often covers the cost of services, but a sliding fee scale based on household income and family size is available for people who do not have insurance coverage. During this reporting cycle, individuals, couples and families were provided counseling services. Parish social ministriesthe parish social ministry (psm) program exists to promote awareness, education, and action on behalf of catholic social teaching in parishes, schools, and local agencies. "the church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the sacraments and the word . . . The church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of god, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity. These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable" (god is love - pope benedict xvi). These words from pope benedict tell of the need to put our faith into action, and this is the primary work of the psm program.the psm program this past year was comprised of a team of two, which included the director of psm and a regional psm coordinator in the worthington deanery. The diocesan social concerns committee, established in 2013, helps plot the direction of the work of psm.mediappsmediapps helps to improve the health and well-being of low-income uninsured or underinsured individuals in our service area by helping obtain needed prescription medications they cannot afford on their own. Emergency assistance provided 256 prescriptions to 108 unique individuals, for a total of $39,654. Patient assistance assisted 115 unduplicated individuals with 499 prescriptions, for a savings of $950,388.