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Ways We Help

Services & Programs - An Overview

Ways We Help

We work every day to reach out, provide hope and rebuild lives. We do this by providing compassionate and quality social services that help individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency.

 

To learn more about these services or individual programs, click any of the links below.

As of January 2022, Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri offers the current 17 programs and services:

Our Service Philosophy - A Holistic Approach

With our holistic, family strengthening approach, an effort is made to look at the individual’s total situation. Our approach aims to get at the roots of problems and assist the individual or family with attaining and sustaining self-sufficiency.

For example, an individual may come to a food pantry for a donation of food however a closer investigation shows that lack of food is often only a small piece of the overall picture. The underlying root cause for hardship may be that an individual needs a GED in order to qualify for a better job and earn more income. Or perhaps a history of addiction leads to bad decisions. Sometimes there are other problems within the family structure that serve as a painful roadblock to the individual moving forward in the right direction. Three bags of groceries may temporarily stop hunger but they will not address the totality of complex issues that individuals may face. We seek to address those issues.

Focusing on strengths

Each of us is a combination of strengths and weaknesses. In the past, helping agencies have focused primarily on problems, deficiencies, and needs. However, recent research suggests that the greatest progress may be achieved by focusing on the individual’s strengths. Focusing on the negative reinforces low expectations and creates dependencies. It is reasonable then for us to use another approach that focuses on the positive, on resilience and protective factors, assets, and strengths that communicate and reinforce a sense of hope, and that establish expectations for success reasonably within an individual’s capacities. This approach promotes empowerment and independence. It sets in motion forces for improvement and self-sufficiency.

Partnering with the community

Family strengthening is about community partnership. This collaboration represents an improvement. In recent years, professionals in the area of organizational development documented the existence of a so-called “silo effect.” It was noted that within large organizations, operational units or departments could function independently each other, as if operating inside of “silos.” These departments would fail to communicate with each other despite sometimes being located next door. Applying this concept to social services, agencies can work as independent and isolated organizations. These siloed organizations could fail to collaborate with other agencies within the community that offer similar or supportive services. This inefficiency led to urgent improvement and establishing community partnerships as the new normal.

These partnerships are especially critical in the rural parts of our diocese where our Catholic parishes have forged very strong relationships with other agencies and churches—much of their charity work is done through community organizations and ministerial alliances. Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri wants to continue this strong commitment to community cooperation as this collaboration undoubtedly permits it to do more effective work on behalf of the vulnerable.

Catholic Charities is also proud to offer financial counseling services through wholly-owned subsidiary Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Ozarks (CCCS).

CCCS services are offered by Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri as part of an effort to restore financial wellness in addition to physical and spiritual health.

Please click on the link below to be directed to the CCCS website for information, intake or service.