“Your support translates directly into lives changed”

2022 Catholic Charities Annual Appeal

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This issue of the Sooner Catholic includes several encouraging stories directly from clients, whose names have been changed to protect client confidentiality, who have been positively impacted by your support of Catholic Charities. These examples were chosen to showcase how each Catholic Charities program animates the seven Corporal Works of Mercy. We hope these true stories inspire your continued support as we launch the 2022 Catholic Charities Annual Appeal.

Every year, your Catholic Charities assists those in our community who are without proper shelter, hungry, fearful of their future and desperate. Informed by our Catholic understanding of the Corporal Works of Mercy, Catholic Charities has more than 14 programs to assist families through crisis pregnancy, family counseling, disaster recovery and family support services designed to alleviate poverty. 

Catholic Charities can only do this because of the generosity of thousands of supporters like you, which is why this year’s Annual Appeal theme is, “Christ has no body but yours. No hands no feet on earth but yours.” Through this appeal, you and all our supporters can live out your faith by making possible the daily works of mercy we provide our clients.

Will you help continue Catholic Charities’ 110-year legacy of service to central and western Oklahoma? Your support directly translates into lives changed. Please help others through your support of this year’s Catholic Charities Annual Appeal. May God richly bless your compassion. 

In Christ, 

Patrick J. Raglow
Executive Director


“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” 

The mission of Catholic Charities is based on the following Works of Mercy:

Feed the hungry

Problem – The state has approximately 3,944 unsheltered individuals who are food insecure. 

Solution - Catholic Charities hands out between 200-350 snack packs per month to those in the community who walk through the doors hungry. 
 

Give drink to the thirsty

Problem - Many brothers and sisters in Christ do not have access to clean water and suffer from the lack of this basic necessity.  

Solution - Gifts provide a water station for clients entering the lobby where they can fill up their own canisters as well as provide bottled water to around 40 people per day. 


Visit the imprisoned

Problem - There are more than 2.3 million people incarcerated in the country. Some are “imprisoned” by mental illness and addiction.

Solution – There are several members of the staff and church leaders who visit prisoners, take them gifts and send well wishes from the community. Catholic Charities offers counseling to those “imprisoned” by mental illness and addiction. No one is perfect and without need of forgiveness.


Visit the sick

Problem - Those who are sick are often forgotten or avoided. 

Solution - SSM Health St. Anthony and Cardinal Community House have partnered with Catholic Charities to provide a respite shelter for recently discharged patients who are homeless. This service provides them a place to recuperate, while the case management program allows them to find transitional housing once they are released from respite care.


Bury the dead

Problem – There are some people without the financial means to bury their loved ones.

Solution - Catholic Charities has gifted burial plots for those who did not have the financial means. The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and clarity, as it honors the children of God who are temples of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Charities chapel has also hosted memorial services for clients and for those who have a lost a loved one.


Give alms to the poor

Problem - Financial hardship is the No. 1  reason people come in the doors of Catholic Charities. 

Solution - Catholic Charities provides items such as clothing, cars, furniture, household items and used appliances to families in need. Catholic Charities also provides legal aid, emergency rent and utility assistance and help during natural disasters.


Shelter the homeless

Problem - There are many circumstances that could lead to someone becoming a person without a home. 

Solution - Last year Catholic Charities housed two women per week. Gifts allow us to reach those without homes, affirming their worth and helping them seek peace in the face of many challenges including deposits, utility fees, appliances, furniture and so much more.