Where charity and love prevail

Legatus members are no strangers to the world of philanthropy. Many lend their time and financial support to various charitable causes near to their hearts. 

For many causes that provide direct service to people, the concept of “charity toward all” is their cornerstone. Among those who take up this mantle are Legatus members who embrace the call to serve others through their leadership roles within Catholic Charities.

Mercy at work in SE Michigan

Paul Propson became CEO of Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan four years ago. Having grown up Catholic in southeast Michigan, it was an opportunity to serve the Catholic community that had done so much for Propson and his family. 

“As Archbishop Allen Vigneron says, ‘Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan is the arm for the works of mercy of the Church in Detroit,’” Propson said. “And as Pope Benedict taught in Deus Caritas Est, one of the three duties Christ gave to the Church is to care for the poor.”

For almost a century, Catholic Charities in Detroit has been helping mothers make an adoption plan and assisting adoptive parents as they make a forever home for a child. Propson is often approached by people who tell him that they were adopted through Catholic Charities. He has also heard from a woman who thanks Catholic Charities for helping her choose life for the child she had adopted through the organization. 

“We still do this important work,” affirmed Propson, a member of Legatus’ Detroit Chapter. “We have greatly expanded our pro-life efforts recently through our Project Hope program, which provides material support and counseling for pregnant moms and mothers of small children.” 

In addition, Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan has joined the Respect Life office of the Archdiocese of Detroit to create and grow the Walking with Moms in Need initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As Propson explains, this initiative encourages the archdiocese to create a welcoming culture of life in each Catholic parish, offering assistance to moms in need. 

“This involves material assistance, crisis pregnancy centers, Catholic health systems, housing assistance, and every kind of help, especially the many kindnesses that one parishioner can offer to another,” Propson said. 

The concept of respecting the life of those individuals who Catholic Charities serve is at the forefront of Propson’s role. Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan also has initiatives like the Adult Day Services Program, which provides care and companionship to older people with dementia or other health conditions. 

“We help homeless individuals find housing. We assist people with drug and alcohol addiction through substance use counseling and drop-in centers. We provide housing and help for refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries,” Propson elaborated. “In all these ways, we protect life where it is most vulnerable…. 

“God loves all human life, no matter how weak or despised,” he continued. “It is our responsibility as Jesus’ followers to take action to protect the lives of our brothers and sisters as well as total strangers because nobody is a stranger to God.”

Claiming the ‘unclaimed’ in southern Louisiana

Kim Boudreaux, CEO of the Catholic Charities of Acadiana in Louisiana and a member of Legatus’ Lafayette-Acadiana Chapter, has enjoyed the privilege of serving God’s poor since taking on the role in 2005, a week after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. 

One of Boudreaux’s many undertakings is organizing burials for deceased individuals who have gone “unclaimed.” 

“A former client of Catholic Charities named Brian passed away in 2009 and went unclaimed. I assumed he had been buried by his family but learned six months after his death that he was still at the morgue and remained unclaimed,” Boudreaux recalled. 

“Once I began asking questions, I learned that there was no process to bury those in our community who went unclaimed. I asked if they would allow me to claim every person who had been left unclaimed. I felt it was important that each person was claimed by name and offered the dignity of a proper burial,” she said. “It took the next three years to complete the paperwork, but in 2012 we hosted the first burial of the unclaimed, and we interred 137 people, including fetuses.” 

The diocesan cathedral agreed to host an annual funeral, allocated a portion of their cemetery for the unclaimed, and also constructed a columbarium for them. A Mass and burial of the unclaimed is now held annually on All Souls Day, and more than 500 unclaimed people have been interred to date.

“Our faith compels us to respect the dignity of all human life, from conception through natural death. We often focus on the important issues related to the right to life and can easily forget about the threats to the dignity of life in other vulnerable stages of life,” Boudreaux said. “We have a duty to protect, honor, and respect the lives of those among us, especially the most vulnerable. In a way, it is a measure of the authenticity of our faith.” 

Catholic Charities of Acadiana also feeds the hungry and shelters the homeless among many other critical services. “We serve hundreds of people each day through our humble doors,” said Boudreaux. “We consider these corporal works of mercy a form of evangelization, as we bear witness to the mercy of Christ to those who may have never heard the good news.” 

Disaster and food relief in eastern North Carolina

Serving the needs of individuals from conception to natural death has been the mission of Sue Ann Glower, a member of the Raleigh Chapter in North Carolina. Glower has been on the board of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh since 2018 and has served as chair since 2022. 

“Our three main programs are designed with the dignity of each individual we serve in mind and fully embracing the concept of respecting life,” Glower explained. “Through our disaster services program, we offer disaster case management that accompanies families along their path to recovery. Beyond providing financial assistance, we look to address barriers in a family’s path to ensure sustained success as they work to rebuild their lives. This personal touch is critical after families have endured such a traumatic experience.”

Food pantry services ensure families and individuals can make healthy meals, even to accommodate health conditions and cooking limitations of the families they are assisting, respecting their dignity. They also are in the early stages of launching the Nourishing our Neighbors Campaign, which aims to serve the needy in underserved and remote communities.

“We will open a kitchen and market which will leverage volunteer labor and donated food to provide families the opportunity to purchase healthy groceries at affordable prices,” Glower said. Revenues will be reinvested in the program to ensure sustainability.

Glower points to the staff at the Catholic Charities in Raleigh as ones who set an incredible example of fostering a welcoming environment to provide help, create hope, and serve all in their community. 

“We often hear stories from families that Catholic Charities was the first organization to take the time and really listen to them. We listen because we want to do more than provide just a hand-out, we want to work with families to provide a hand-up that sets them on a path to success,” Glower said.