Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Catholic Charities on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 263
We talk with Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas about serving 31 counties with rent help, food boxes, hygiene kits, and rural outreach that removes barriers and restores dignity. Partnerships, volunteers, and donors help the team expand space, respond to SNAP shifts, and make sure no one feels alone during the holidays.
• Serving 31 counties across north central and northwest Kansas
• Everyone is welcome regardless of faith or background
• Preventing eviction with rent and utility support
• Food boxes, diapers, and hygiene kits to stretch budgets
• Collaboration with Salvation Army, Shepherd’s Crossing, and Breadbasket
• Monthly outreach to 29 rural communities to reduce access barriers
• Responding to SNAP changes with flexible, donor-funded aid
• Expansion plans in Manhattan and potential sites in Concordia and Colby
• Twenty staff and 50–60 volunteers powering thrift, logistics, and distributions
• A holiday wish that no one feels alone and everyone feels seen
Plantrophy today is brought to you by the Greater Man Hat Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the TFTF Twitter the Hour and heard on News Radio KMAF. We returned with the TFTF Twitter the Hour on News Radio KMAN. Our discussion today. We have the executive director joining us via Zoom from Salina. Megan Robo welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_00:Good morning, Gabe. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, we're delighted to have you here. And uh and uh, you know, Catholic Charities has you know, I used to live in Salina and I actually received uh some therapy uh through Catholic Charities. Gosh 35 years ago or so.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, I know that's amazing. Well, I'm so glad that the Catholic Charities was here to help you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was. And and it's uh, you know, and I'm not Catholic, but you know, it was so helpful for me. It helped me understand a lot of things that I had uh kind of shoveled off in my past life that led to some depression issues, and uh it was uh it was really a life-changing entity. So I'm uh always uh very grateful to uh share the Catholic charity's uh message, uh especially here on the GMCF community hour.
SPEAKER_00:So well, that is awesome. And you nailed the most important message that I have is that uh many people think that you have to be Catholic to come to Catholic charities, and you absolutely don't. So I always tell people if you don't remember anything else that I say, remember that everyone is welcome here.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. That point is noted and good for the clarification. So well, let's talk a little bit about, you know, you've clarified the fact that you don't have to be Catholic, but let's talk a little bit just about, you know, an overreaching perspective of what Catholic charities can offer for you for the for the people in the community.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. So we are Catholic charities of northern Kansas serving 31 counties in north central and northwest Kansas. So Manhattan is uh the Riley County is as far east as we go, but we serve all the way to the Colorado border and all the way north to the Nebraska border. So anybody in that territory is eligible for our services. Um, and those consist of financial and housing assistance. So we are seeing a lot of um rent assistance payments, utility payments, um, and notable in the Manhattan community that we partner with the other agencies there. We're in constant contact with um Salvation Army, Shepherd's Crossing, pulling our resources together to make sure that those community members are really taken care of when it comes to keeping their housing stable. And in addition to that, we are doing a seeing a lot of need and doing a lot of work with personal care and basic needs. And for us, that means uh supplemental emergency food boxes for people that need a little extra food in the pantry, um, a hygiene kit that includes laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, personal hygiene, uh razors, toilet paper, all of those things to provide cleanliness, health, and dignity for our neighbors, um, as well as diapers for families with kiddos that are needing some extra support with that. And again, shout out to our community partners. Um, we do a lot of referring back and forth with the breadbasket, who has a beautiful facility there in Manhattan. Um, but our resources, again, aren't meant to compete with other agencies, really just pull together to make sure that families in need have have what they need, especially this time of year when um the weather is colder and uh we've been dealing with a lot of external uh factors that have impacted some families as far as food assistance goes. So we just want to keep everybody afloat.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Well, that's a that's a a good 30-second elevator speech.
SPEAKER_00:There could be more, but I think we'll stick to that right now.
SPEAKER_01:Well done in Ivy. So, you know, there's obviously every community, and you know, you're talking 31 counties. And the needs are different in every county and in every city. You know, there's there's uh such a uh a dynamic difference in rural communities, um counties that have, you know, cities like Colina and Manhattan, and still, you know, they have very rural interests in those communities as well. You've got small towns, you got towns that are growing and towns that aren't.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And you've got people that are struggling in one way or another. So let's talk a little bit about uh, you know, some of the community needs that you are witnessing through Catholic charities and how you're addressing them.
SPEAKER_00:So um two of those, you nailed it. Every community looks a little different. So we try to flex our resources to help meet those needs. So again, here in Celina, out in Have in Manhattan, we are blessed with wonderful collaborative partners and resources. Um, and so we do a lot of referring to those other resources. But again, the biggest needs are really just that financial assistance to help prevent evictions and um those basic needs that people have, needing food, needing hygiene items, things that will stretch a budget and help help maintain that human dignity. In some of our rural communities surrounding all of us, um, they are not blessed with as many of those other collaborative resources just by the nature of the size of the town. So we um travel to 29 rural communities across our 31 County Service Area on a monthly basis to bring resources to the community. In some cases, we are one of the few resources that uh travels to that community to help support and augment what resources are already there. So we will travel to those communities monthly. And in some places, you know, we're serving 30 families a month. Some places it might be four families a month, but we are committed to showing up for people and making sure that um lack of access or transportation barriers are not an issue when it comes to having their basic human needs met.
SPEAKER_01:How many people do you think you serve in a typical year's time?
SPEAKER_00:In a typical year, we serve um just over 8,000 individual people, and that um equals out to about 3,500 households. Um and again, that's across our 31 county region. And I always throw in there too, um, we have two thrift stores that uh operate out of Salina and Hayes, and we don't count our thrift store customers, so I think we actually are probably closer to nine or 10,000 people. Um, but again, I will shout out to the budget shop in Manhattan. They are our thrift store partner and help help meet all of those wonderful needs that um the community has there.
SPEAKER_01:They're delightful down there at the budget shop.
SPEAKER_00:They are.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit about um down the road because every organization is dealing with uh, you know, various issues. You know, there's um a lot of well, let's just say interest in uh how we're progressing with, you know, some of the the government uh changes that have uh occurred, and I know that that's impacting a tremendous amount of individuals that um extended the need dramatically for a lot of individuals.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:How has that how has that impact um the priorities that you have at Catholic charities?
SPEAKER_00:That isn't a great question. And I think what we saw um with the recent uh pause in the SNAP benefits for sure, um our agency is not federally funded. So we have had a lot of flexibility to adapt to increased needs. So during that period, um, especially when the SNAP benefits were kind of in limbo, we really saw an increase in people needing food assistance or needing rent assistance, any kind of assistance that could help stretch their families' budget. So, first and foremost, um, obviously nobody can predict the future, but what we saw even during that time is that our um main program pillars of meeting those basic needs will always remain. And we have incredible supporters that ensure that no matter what's going on, we're always able to respond and hopefully say yes to helping in in even a small way for some of those impacted families. Um, but for us, it's really about just making sure that we are um at the capacity with the resources and the staff and just the physical space that we need uh to continue to meet that growing demand. So, for example, in Manhattan, we office over at 212 South 4th Street, and um our landlord is wonderful, and there is an open space next door to us. And so we're hoping here in the next couple of months that that will be uh ready for us to expand into as well as some more warehousing space for physical materials that we are distributing. As we've seen a great increase, especially in the Manhattan community. So, again, we're very blessed to be able to do that and to continue to expand and respond as necessary, and um, looking again at those physical expansions as well as potential opportunities to create physical presence in the community of Concordia, the community of Colby, looking at our entire 31 county service area and figuring out how we can get everybody within those 31 counties within at least 60 minutes of a Catholic charity so that they can get to us and at least have someone to talk to about those um issues that they're facing so we can help get them connected with all the resources that are available to them. So it's really just about expanding and stepping up to meet the moment. And um, we have been very blessed so far to be able to do that. Thanks to a lot of wonderful generosity. And um again, shout out to the Manhattan community. We love being a part of Grow Green Day every year. Always look forward to that. And that is one key source that really helps us to continue to sustain and grow, um, especially in in the Riley County area.
SPEAKER_01:You know, there's so many aspects and so many different um arenas that you cover. Mm-hmm. You have to have, and and and I don't know if you know these numbers, you know, the the number of staff that you have, and also the number of volunteers.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:Substantial, I would imagine.
SPEAKER_00:We have 20 staff that cover our 31 county regions. So we have three full-time staff in Manhattan, uh, four full-time staff in Hayes, and the rest, including our administrative staff, are here in Celina. Um, I have not checked our most recent volunteer numbers in a while, and I need to, uh, but we have, I think, between 50 and 60 regular full-time volunteers, and they are coming in to operate um our thrift stores, sort donations, build food boxes, build hygiene kits. We have amazing people that go around and pick up banana boxes for us so that we don't have to be out of the office doing that. Uh, we have local volunteers in almost all of our outreach locations who will meet our staff member um at the parking lot where distribution is being held so they can also participate in that mission of serving their neighbors. So it takes so many people to do this work well. And um, shout out to all of our volunteers and um also our just our amazing staff who shows up every day with a heart to serve and true care for people and empathy for what they're going through.
SPEAKER_01:What would be your Christmas wish?
SPEAKER_00:Um, that every family does um and every person, I shouldn't say family, that no one feels alone at Christmas time. I think a big, you know, our our our mission is that we're doing all of these things uh to serve people. But what I realize the most important piece of our mission is just being present, being there, being a listening ear. You alluded to this when uh you said you received services from Catholic charities many years ago. It's it's really important for someone to feel like they have a support system. And for people who maybe don't have that traditional family support system, we want them to know that our door is always open and that we are here to make sure that they have somebody that cares about um their success and their ability to thrive in this world.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I know, you know, with um with the holidays, there's always, you know, uh and a greater need, it seems, you know. There's, you know, cold weather issues, there's a lot of things that obviously come into play. But uh there's um a lot of wonderful things that organizations like Catholic Charities do for our community, and you have such uh overreaching outreach that it's uh it's comforting to know that organizations like what you are are there to help.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thank you. And again, it's an honor to represent our team in this work, and we can't do it without all of our amazing community partners like the Community Foundation.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Merry Christmas to you. Happy New Year, best wishes in uh the holiday season. We're 10 days away from Christmas.
SPEAKER_00:I know, I can't believe it. It's that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Are y'all you got your gifts all done?
SPEAKER_00:I just bought some last night, so I we're getting there.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah. I know how that goes, but I'm a man, I'm used to that.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a last-minute shopper.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. There you go. Megan Roll is her name. She's with Catholic charities based in Salina, but has uh organizations and uh operatives here in Manhattan and uh 31 counties in Kansas. So we appreciate uh her joining us, we assume today from Salina. Carla Johnson is stepping in next. Uh she's with Salvation Army, she is blamed out. Really? I mean, I think so it is. I've never seen her unblamed out. So well, is that a word? It is today. Yeah, Megan says it or uh Gwen says it's a word. So that's what we're going with. We'll be back with Carla Johnson next on the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio KMAM.