Page 13 - MidWeek - Aug 31, 2022

Organization Celebrates 75 Years Of Charitable Excellence
FROM PAGE 12
carried out its mission of provid- ing social services for the people of the state — regardless of their background or religion — each and every day since 1947.
will have built nearly 700 units on O‘ahu and Maui.
another 75 years,” says Leong Saunders. “I would love to work myself out of job, which means there’s no longer a need for social services, but I think that people will always have a need in dif- ferent periods of their lives for a hand up. That’s something that Catholic Charities has been able to provide for 75 years.”
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“Jesus never questioned any- body about their faith. That was never important,” says Van Tassell. “We see somebody in need, and we serve them. I think it’s about what Saint Francis said, ‘Preach often and use words when necessary.’ Our work speaks for our faith and our faith shapes our work.”
Catholic Charities Hawai‘i’s wide range of programs span kūpuna services (left) to housing for local families (right). PHOTOS COURTESY CATHOLIC CHARITIES HAWAI‘I
Fast-forward to when the pandemic hit and everything — people and entities alike — were forced to evolve. Some struggled to find their place in the current state of the world, but this was nothing new to Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, which had been doing that for 75 years.
Van Tassell adds, “What makes Hawai‘i special is that you don’t have to struggle with the conver- sation about taking care of our kūpuna or taking care of our kei- ki. It’s already there, it’s already part of the dialogue. So, then the question is not where should our values, resources and efforts be placed, it becomes a question of how can we best do this?
Van Tassell, who came on board in 2019, previously worked in the affordable housing sector in Seattle. When he first heard of the opportunity, he made an ef- fort to learn what Hawai‘i is all about, starting with one word in particular.
York women who exemplified their faith by devoting their lives to others, arrived and, thus, Cath- olic Charities Hawai‘i was born.
uals and families to evade home- lessness, as well as assisting those already affected.
“We’ve always looked at what the emerging needs were at the time,” says Leong Saunders. “What we did 75 years ago is not what we’re doing now, and what we did 10 years ago proba- bly looks a little bit different, too. Even though we have our core val- ues, when things change and the needs of the community change, we have to change with it.”
“I looked up the word ‘aloha,’” he says. “I love that it was codi- fied here in the state. That meant a lot to me. I saw the similarities between the spirit of aloha and the values of Catholic social teaching, and the values of this organization fit in so well with that. Our values of dignity for everyone, compas- sion for all and social justice that we work toward, and we do that all with a commitment to excel- lence. All of that fit in very well with my own values as well as, I believe, the values of Hawai‘i.”
“The Maryknoll Sisters’ pri- mary emphasis was putting their faith into action. I think that tra- dition, that legacy, still lives with us today as we see the work we do and the passion that people have,” shares Van Tassell.
“A lot of people were calling us looking for help for rent and utilities because it was already be- coming difficult then,” says An- drade. “When I think about that, I realize it’s been a long time that we’ ve been dealing with home- lessness and housing.”
Through its rental assistance program, Catholic Charities Ha- wai‘i rolled out more than $120 million to thousands of local residents who were financially impacted during the pandemic. They had to double their staff and it was all hands on deck, as Leong Saunders remembers it.
“We all look forward to being together and celebrating as we carve out our path for the next 75 years,” he says. “There’s a lot of hope. If I could summarize it in one word for us, it’s hope. We’re a community of hope sharing hope with others — and will continue to do that.”
While Catholic Charities Ha- wai‘i is proud to offer more than 40 social service programs across the island chain today, this mile- stone serves as the perfect time to honor its humble beginnings.
Going wherever there was a need, the organization put its focus on senior citizens in the ’70s fol- lowing the Older Americans Act. Services included transportation, counseling and case management to ensure that kūpuna were able to live independently and stay engaged with the community. Those years also saw a lot of po- litical unrest, and so the nonprofit created an extensive immigration and refugee program to help those affected adapt to a new life.
“We serve the little niches of the community that are high-risk and that other people aren’t real- ly providing services for,” says Leong Saunders. “But every- thing we do is because the need is there.”
“We all jumped in and partic- ipated, even the executive man- agement team,” she says. “I was answering all of the questions that were coming through our website, and that isn’t something that the VP of philanthropy would normally do. It was a lot of work ... but it felt really good to be a part of it.”
They say if you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Van Tassell and his staff are evidence of that sen- timent, and, given the chance, they probably wouldn’t want to be off the clock anyway, when serving the people of Hawai‘i is what they love to do.
The sisters must have been heaven-sent, as they immediately got to work at local parishes until they secured their first “home,” as vice president of mission inte- gration Tina Andrade puts it, on South Vineyard Street in 1965.
The ’90s brought more spe- cialized programs, including for those affected by domestic violence, babies with complex medical issues, expectant moth- ers with nowhere to go and child welfare. Providing care for these often-overlooked and vulnerable populations is at the heart of what Catholic Charities Hawai‘i is all about.
It all started in 1859 when the Catholic Women’s Guild provid- ed food, clothes and medical aid to immigrant plantation workers. Decades later, the association was reorganized by Bishop James Sweeney, who, after seeing that Hawai‘i was in dire need of so- cial services following World War II, knew just the ones to call. The Maryknoll Sisters, a group of New
“We partnered with parishes who adopted families to take them in and help them get adjusted, and many of them are successful busi- ness owners today, having learned a second language and were re- united with their families,” says Andrade.
“We wanted to make sure there was affordable housing that was safe, dignified and that people could afford to stay in Hawai‘i,” says Andrade, who adds that, in the next year, the organization
Catholic
Charities Hawai‘i’s breadth of programs cover housing and homelessness, ku¯puna, mental health, family and youth, immigration and citizenship, and more. Its office is located at 1822 Ke‘eaumoku St. in Makiki. For more information, call 808-521-4357 or visit:
The ’80s, meanwhile, were centered around helping individ-
“We want to be around for
catholiccharitieshawaii.org
In the latter half of the decade, Catholic Charities Housing De- velopment Corp. was formed, which allowed the organization to build homes from the ground up to provide residents with a stable place to live.
The majority of these programs of the past are still in full swing today (and not one was lost to the pandemic). But the orga- nization is always looking to- ward the future, prepared for whatever may come its way. Proceeds from its 75th anni- versary gala, for example, will benefit senior services, West O‘ahu outreach and foster youth programs.