healing o u r fa mi ly
Dignity of
SELFRELIANCE The heart of our mission
When Sarah and her young daughter walked into to Catholic Charities’ Welcome Center, they were obviously in distress. After fleeing an abusive relationship, they had become
“There is a growing
homeless. Friends and relatives allowed them to couch surf for several months, but that
awareness of the
arrangement had come to an end, and they had to move on. With no money for child
sublime dignity of
care, Sarah became unemployed. What seemed like an endless string of barriers and crises left Sarah penniless and destitute. Do you know what Catholic Charities saw? We saw Sarah in the likeness of God, we saw her dignity and we helped her find it again.
human persons, who stand above all things and whose rights and duties are universal and inviolable. They ought,
By Ashley Everett
20
At Catholic Charities of Kansas CitySt. Joseph (CCKCSJ), we have modeled our services and programs around Catholic social teaching #1 — the life and dignity of the human person. Catholic social teaching affirms that human life is sacred and holds the dignity of the human person as the foundation of a moral vision for society. In fact, dignity is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: We believe every person is precious;
Catholic Key • August/September 2022 • catholickey.org
people are more important than things; and the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. Larry in the Welcome Center got to work. He listened to Sarah’s story to be certain he understood her needs. First, to be stable, Sarah and her daughter needed a safe place to live and food for their next several days. Larry brought Sonia, CCKCSJ Housing Case Manager, in the room and introduced them. They promptly began paperwork to secure
therefore, to have ready access to all that is necessary for living a genuinely human life: for example, food, clothing, housing, … the right to education, and work.” — Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World), Vatican II, 26 (1965)
