: ♪ hello and bff -- did you know that across this nation there are nearly 200 catholic diocese east and arched accs, and almost all of them there are wonderful charities. in seven cisco cover charities has a long history in a great record of service. more than 100 years and with his predecessor organizations, within 150 years. of answering the call to help our neighbors in need. at only when their unexcited needs in emergencies and

disasters but daily facing up to the chronic systemic difficulties in which so many in our community, families and individuals, young and old alike can find themselves trapped. catholic charities of separate cisco believes in strengthening families, reducing poverty, helping the young to develop, helping the old to age with dignity, assisting the hungry, the homeless, and the ill. welcoming refugees and immigrants and nicking this a better, safer, stronger community. to date we are talking with the chief executive officer. from her we will find out what are today's challenges, where is our community hurting and how can we be of service to it to learn about catholic charities to find out how we can help in its effort to please rejoin us after this brief break.

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hello, i want to introduce our guest today. she is the chief executive officer of catholic charities of san francisco. that would have the name right? >> yes you do. >> it is connected with the -- it serves the three counties that we cover if i'm correct, san francisco? san mateo and marin county. it is a big organization and you are the fairly new ceo and ischemic once you tell us a little bit more about your career in this job? >> it is a comprehensive agency for sure i was raised in the

bay area and san francisco came to the united states as a child, like many other immigrants who we serve toda and raised here, went to school here and eventually went to the northwest to do my law school degree in the portland area, where i made a career in executive leadership in law. now i am here. >> i read some of this, you work in higher education in a legal capacity. did you teach as well? >> very limited but i did serve as the dean of the law school for concordia university portland, the law schools in boise, idaho. >> you are in undergrad? also local -- stick overmuch a local in that regard, i still have family in the bay area father, mother, others. >> wonderful, so you the chief executive officer of catholic charities in the archdiocese of san francisco. i looked the various websites to see what you have, i see 5

identified as areas, maybe you want to tell us a little bit about those? >> certainly, we serve the homeless in various ways. we serve aging adults and disabled adults. we serve refugee and immigrant individuals as well as children. in homelessness area we serve an immense amount of beautiful to me beautiful human beings who need shelter, you need love, and need detection from what is happening on the streets. we have mentally -- many homeless mothers and babies in our community as well as other centers that we have. in our aging and support services we have older adults who come to our centers to be among friends and to feel nurtured, companionship. they are just amazing, amazing people who just need to be with

community and need to be cared for instead of being at home, lonely or without food or safe surroundings. the children that we serve throughout our various programs in the area, they are children who perhaps do not have the same opportunity as the more privileged in our society, who perhaps do not have the beginnings of a great education or the opportunity to access excellent education, they come to us for that access to provide them with academic nurturing as well as food security and health security at the various sites we have. then of course we have residential programs. >> x plane is to me, that is housing for the homeless? >> the residential programs that we have our specifically for children who have been traumatized and one way or another. perhaps in the court systems and the various jurisdictions will place them with us at one of our sites.

the, we also as i mentioned have a large population of homelessness that we, homeless individuals that we serve, that is among the largest of the programs. refugee and immigrant services are in high demand right now. we serve over 4000 people in a given year. immigrants who truly are in need whether they are daca recipients or folks who need legal services in other ways, particularly right now with a tremendous division, these populations are in great need of our support and our assistance. >> from time to time, in the socioeconomic picture, most developed populations seem to change after an influenza

academic books epidemic. yesterday, immigrants, homeless people, there is large populations of such people in san francisco in this area. >> that is exactly right. but i say is we actually serve the whole stream of ages, from 0 to 101, we have one aging adult who is literally 101 years old, she has been coming to one of our centers for about 20 years. we celebrate her life and we celebrate her, on the contributions that she makes to the other elders in our community, she also salaries us, for giving her the companionship that she deserves. >> i see that and to carry out these tasks, these complex tasks, miss have a cadre of paid employees can but you also have a think a large cohort of skilled professional occupations. stick absolutely we have over

4000 employees, over 4000 volunteers exceeds. so close to 600 employees who i call angels by the way [ laughter ] constantly did these are people who give so much of themselves on a daily basis, some of whom have been working for us for over 30 years, some us of course who truly, truly give more than what a job description normally suggests. our volunteers the same. true angels in our community who value the sense of service to those around them, their neighbors, brothers and sisters. >> that's wonderful, let me ask a quick question, maybe will settle it in the next segment but how do the people who need charities find the charities? how do you announce that we are here and we are available and hear how does that work? is it called marketing or relations? >> i think it is called all of that, plus voices and spreading the word.

we have been here 110 years but more than ever it is very important that people know that we are here. you know through their parishes and by the way we serve catholics and non-catholics but stated that has be said clearly, your services are for catholics. >> and non-catholics. >> excuse me. stick out wheat serve everyone of all faiths in some of our ladies are not catholic, they are all faiths, different ethnic and racial identities as well as well as sexual orientation identities. >> is good to know, we will take a break now and we come back we will talk further about catholic charities today.

hello and welcome back, we are speaking of with the chief executive officer of catholic charities and the archdiocese

of symphysis go. you know, in the recent disasters that you have seen floods down south and the fires in california, when you look to see where you can make a donation, we can help among the prime candidates for giving your donation is catholic charities in these areas, catholic charities, my impression in all areas in this country is that they are sort of prime, sterling veteran proven purveyors of charity and works is that correct? you have good standing in the fourth or pick community? >> absolutely, and in the human services committee, exactly. we are accredited just recently expedited accreditation of accreditation suggesting that we are a national model for

human services throughout our 3 counties for sure. we have provided a saint mentioned loss of services for children and homeless, and aging adults, and refugees but we also provide services to populations that you may not think are vulnerable but are. >> tell us about that if you are a model for this kind of work there would be some innovation involved on your part right? >> yes, exactly, the innovation comes with empowerment of children and starts with the empowerment of children, our cyo camp which populates during the summer and during the school year, welcomes children of all social economic classes and communities throughout the bay area, providing them with

enrichment programs and developing programs at our camp. they come from catholic schools and public schools throughout the region, again not necessarily just under serve populations but also of different social economic classes. the children are vulnerable carless of when they come from. the lust for strength and empowerment as a child and as a human being. >> i read some statistics about that, how many thousands of children take part, how many of hours they do in the year of recreational activity, sports activity, learning, all kinds of interesting things. >> our cyo athletics which also is an athletic observing about 13,000 children throughout the region is an example of that. >> it stands for catholic youth organization right? i grew up in the east bay i was

in cyo in the 1950s, sure. >> right, right, very good organization. so you are considered a model because you hit the right notes as a charitable organization, low overhead, good disbursement two >> very little red, operate in a very thin margin, we do receive some government contracts with those government contracts are not normally sufficient to cover all of our expenses, absolutely. then we have some private donations but what i'm seeking in the next 5 years for sure and certainly in the short run is more partnerships from corporations and business, given the big divide between wealth and poor, i think the end of fact that one may drive the other, we think we are all accountable and hope that businesses and corporations take some of that accountability. >> i want to hear more about this, you have like the 5 your plans?

in this regard? >> we are currently reproducing our most current strategic plan, absolutely. that is a very big part of it. the opportunity to partner with businesses and help them become more accountable >> i'm not an economist or sociologist so i have the biggest appreciation of our condition but it seems like there is a huge bundle of wealth and success in this area right where our archdiocese's. lots of corporations are doing very well, lots of people doing very well but any people not doing well in descending in the middle class and in a very fragile position but that is my understanding of things. does that jive with what catholic charities sees? >> it is a corporate responsibility, it is more important than ever, that wealth particularly from large business is driving the class to the poor part of our spectrum. we have an increasing amount of

poverty and the poverty that i'm talking about, not just the homeless that you see on the street but they are teachers, librarians, others who traditionally were middle-class and now are being driven to lower. >> you know, i see newspaper stories, highest media home price in the country, this area, was population of minor children in san francisco, the hundred most popular cities, so a strange situation. you feel that catholic charities could appeal to the people that have the money and the people that had put it, that understand what an investment in the community to be, you can tell them what kind of return on their investment they would get, strengthening the community? >> absolutely, just like a taxpayer pays taxes last night i would believe that a voluntary corporate responsibility, social responsibility is essential. corporations can take part in

this investment in our community because it does affect them and it may affect some of their employees and families if our community is not thriving in the way it should be because the poor are getting poorer. i believe that corporations can investment take ownership in some of our programs, not just getting financially but perhaps investing in the structure or the organizational structures of this program, creative, ideas, with their own resources, whether it is marketing or volunteering. >> they should be able to, they are innovative, creative, and great markers. i would listen to you if i owned one of those comedies. we will take a brief break and be back in a minute to talk more about catholic charities in the archdiocese.

welcome back, we're talking about catholic charities today and you just told us about a plan, a vision of engaging bay area corporations, businesses, entrepreneurs in this catholic charities. so they have talent, they have creativity, innovative skills, i'm sure they could be of help. i'm not a businessman myself

but i went to your website, there were massive amounts of good information on the return on investment of catholic charities, the impact of your programs, it seems like he spent a good deal of time and expertise studying the impact of your programs, assessing what works and figuring out what does not work. it was quite impressive these things that you do. >> thank you, thank you we do have a tremendous amount of return on those investments will give you examples. when a mother is homeless and comes to one of our shelters, delivers her baby, the last thing you want is to put her back on the street with a baby right? the investment or the return on investment is that we empower that woman by providing her with the resources perhaps the access to training and workforce, she otherwise would not have, at the same time nurturing the child so that child has a good beginning, the baby has a good beginning. if the whole family is taken care of in that way, with health and food security,

shelter, education including workforce development that person can empower herself to become sustainable. that is our investment in the future of our community. not just an investment in the child or that mother. >> i mean to say the typical attitude i think of a charitable mind, and present is i will give a big donation and subtlety gave it but it seems like you're talking about and understanding that i have a relationship, i'm not any burnable position in a moment they goodness but i have a relationship with the people that are vulnerable. something that i have to reconfigure in my own mind perhaps. >> it is something we all have to reconfigure. we can all be vulnerable at some point in our lives, no matter how rich or poor. therefore we need to have empathy for those around us who perhaps are very vulnerable today including the ceos of major corporations, they will someday agent be lonely.

the more empathy that they have to date for those who are in need or calling out further assistance in some way, the better they will be as well in their future and their children will be. >> that makes a lot of sense. let me quote you something that i saw and a newspaper article where you said that as the ceo of catholic charities, you want to rebrand catholic charities and persuade people that they are joining a cause not just helping others. let me quote this you. "we had to demonstrate the new has been in catholic charities is not just for the poor but for themselves, their children, and the community as well." that is your statement, is it? >> that is an example of what i hope others would understand. it is a cause, it is a cause we must all hold very tight and perform on. regardless of where we are and our personal status or position

in careers, it is a cost to help those who have less than us or who are more vulnerable. we need to unite as a community that is part of the cosby the divisions that exist today are too extreme and are bringing us further apart and causing those harms constantly. >> the divisions are political i think. the main ones i see on the front page every day, lyrical divisions is that right? >> suggest there more than political, perhaps political divisions are causing the division on a daily basis for everyone right? the division includes not wanting to help folks because of the color or because of where they were born, or possibly because of where they are sleeping today, when we return we should be uniting with those individuals and having the empathy required from all of us as human beings,

to bring them along with us. >> i think you're just about quoting jesus christ himself when he says do this, and this, and this for the lease of your brethren and they are your brethren. if you did not do it for them, you did not do it for me. >> that is exactly right. if you did not do it for them, you did not do it for me. >> you said you want to persuade the broader community such as catholics and christians, but others to take part in this effort. >> that is correct, they have to take part in this effort and join this cause. again so that they do it for all. it will affect them personally. they will affect from a business perspective, the communities, stability, when there aren't as many vulnerable people on the street, it affects business, it affects a

coffee shop, if a homeless person is living right outside her door. stick to the health of our community and a cure is not a shift that person somewhere else but to empower that homeless person to do the best that he or she can. steve exactly just like you are empowering the mother with the baby so that she can or cannot coffee shop instead of having to sleep outside. stick a virtue, we see dramatic representations over the ill health of our community every day. so we have about 100 left, let me ask you to give our viewers some action items, what can they do? >> they can join our cause and reach out to us, find a way to partner with us to help us is these communities that are vulnerable in some that are less vulnerable than others, yes, but of the communities that we support. again that is ages 0 2/100 right? someday it will affect them personally if it is not affecting them now.

it probably is true that it is affecting them and they don't realize it is much >> things for opening our eyes and visiting with us, it has a very nice talking with you. we welcome you to mosaic and thank you for being here. thank you for watching.

live from the bay area studios, this is kpix 5 news. firefighter crews had their handfuls as illegal fourth of july fireworks lit up the sky across the bay area sparking several fires. >> celebratory fires came dangerously close to an oakland teen when a stray bullet flies through her bedroom ceiling. business is getting the okay to open in santa clarita county are being excited, the mixed messages as the county reopening plan gets put on