Provides quality social services for people living in poverty:
Behavioral Health Therapy - People experiencing poverty are at higher risk for adverse health conditions including mental health. The Behavioral Health Program increases access to therapy and fills service gaps for people living in poverty who are suffering from depression, anxiety, stress or other psychological disorders. The program is State-certified as an outpatient behavioral health clinic and includes bilingual therapists at all sites who provide accessible, culturally competent, high quality mental health services for individuals and families throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
Outreach & Case Management – With the overall goals of helping individuals and families access emergency needs and setting them on the path to self-sufficiency, the bilingual Outreach & Case Management program team provides dignified and compassionate services to the poor and vulnerable throughout southeastern Wisconsin. No one is turned away. The Outreach team works diligently to assess the needs of the client and to ensure those needs are met.
The Pregnancy Support program helps expectant parents develop tools for good decision-making. Pregnant women or new mothers who are at risk of adverse birth outcomes are assigned a case manager who provides education, emotional support, community resources and adoption information when applicable. Coordinators spend the majority of their time in the community, focusing on the areas in southeastern Wisconsin that have shown the highest rates of infant mortality and serving the needs of their clients in a home-based environment until the new mother is comfortable with ending services or the child is around one-year old.
The Catholic Charities Adoption program is a fully licensed Child Placing Agency, and supports Domestic, Independent, Interstate, Stepparent, and Relative adoptions. The program encourages open adoption, and believes that adoption is a lifelong process that involves the needs and interests of the child, the birth parents, and the adoptive parents.
The Supported Parenting program is a family support, home visitation program for parents who have intellectual disabilities and may be engaged in the Child Welfare system. Program staff promote positive parenting and healthy interactions between parent and child. They also help prepare, strengthen, and support families through positive parenting skills as they interact on a day-to-day basis with their children. As both a home and community-based program, staff assist parents at visits for health care, school, or with other agencies to ensure moms and dads understand options and have the confidence to ask questions and make decisions for their children.
Refugee and Immigration Services provides legal services for immigrants and refugee integration services to help low-income immigrants, refugees, and asylees work within immigration laws to escape the crime, violence, poverty and persecution in their country of origin. Attorneys experienced in immigration law help individuals to remain safely in the United States with their families and obtain work authorizations. Staff also provide informational sessions to the immigrant community about new immigration initiatives and changes in the law, and provide integration services, including social programs and classes to prepare for citizenship.
The Adult Day Center provides individualized therapeutic, social, and health services for adults living with conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke, injuries, or cognitive impairments, with the primary goal to remain in their homes. Members benefit from socialization, exercise, therapeutic activities, personal hygiene, health care, and nutritious meals provided by certified nursing assistants in a caring, homelike setting. Family caregivers also receive respite to address their personal and other family needs.
In-Home Support provides home care services to help individuals live independently in clean, safe homes or apartments. Called upon to help an unmet need for individuals struggling with Hoarding Disorder, Catholic Charities has developed a holistic model of intervention for improving the lives of individuals with Hoarding Disorder. The program is designed to improve the safety, well-being, and mental health of individuals with dignity and compassion.
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Builds the capacity of the diocesan Church to act effectively in defense of human life and dignity and the pursuit of justice and peace, accomplished by upholding the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Important to these principles is the formation in Catholic social doctrine, respect life initiatives, and participation in national Catholic programs such as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). This ministry supports individual, parish, and archdiocesan initiatives that promote the dignity of every human person from conception to natural death by conducting parish leadership training and formation in human concerns, social concerns, urban ministry, and pro-life ministries. The ministry also collaborates with other Catholic organizations, interfaith groups, and public, private and governmental sectors to promote the common good.
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Serve members of the Asian and Pacific Islander, Black (African/African American), Hispanic and Native American cultures, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals and their families in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. Working with local leaders and respective advisory bodies, the ministries link these communities to the broader Catholic faith community and their individual faith communities, helping to ensure full integration into Catholic life and formation in the Catholic faith.
Significant outreach to the Hispanic community includes leadership training, engaged couples retreats and marriage encounters in Spanish, Hispanic radio ministry, and community-wide evangelization activities. This ministry offers a series of annual meetings, or encuentros, one each for men, women, youth, and families. There is also support group for families of the incarcerated.
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This ministry evangelizes and builds up the Body of Christ in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by providing an authentic Catholic vision of sacramental marriage as an icon of the love between Christ and His Bride, the Church. Marriage and Family Life prepares couples for the sacrament of marriage, supports and strengthens marriages and families, and provides healing opportunities for those separated or divorced.
The Office of Marriage and Family Life provides ministerial support for individuals and families struggling with illness or other difficulties, and those who are experiencing grief due to the death of a loved one. It also offers formation in the areas of human sexuality and Natural Family Planning. Each year, this office serves more than 5,000 people across the Archdiocese through its educational and formational offerings, initiatives, leadership training, and resource support to lay people, seminarians, and to our priests.
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Serves roughly 4,000 inmates in eight prisons within the archdiocese. Prisoners and their families receive counseling, support, and spiritual guidance from 100 active prison ministers. Those incarcerated remain our brothers and sisters in need of spiritual support, celebration of the Eucharist, reconciliation and scripture study to help them grow in their faith. This ministry also helps inmates develop the skills and spiritual strength required to be reintegrated into their families and the community upon release.
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Serves parishes and other archdiocesan entities by providing resources and support for ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, education, worship and service. This ministry supports a number of local ecumenical and interfaith dialogues and partnerships including relationships with the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA, the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church, Muslim-Catholic Dialogues and Catholic-Jewish Dialogue. This ministry also helps to support activities of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and works in collaboration with the Interfaith Conference and the Wisconsin Council of Churches on issues of mutual concern. In addition, Ecumenical and Interfaith Ministry provides support for local and community-wide programs that enhance ecumenical and interfaith understanding.
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