Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego (CCDSD)

Open Arms:The Refugee Resettlement Program provides wrap around case management services, including reception and placement, cultural orientation, cash assistance, preventive health screening, health education, employment services, and social services. The services are for newly arrived refugees, asylees, Cuban/Haitian parolees, foreign-born victims of human trafficking, and special immigrant visa holders from Afghanistan and Iraq. Programs include Reception & Placement, Match Grant, San Diego Newcomers Project, Safe Passages Program (for unaccompanied minors), Afghan Support and Investment Program (housing), and Catholic Charities Migrant Shelters. From July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, the refugee resettlement program provided shelter and wrap around services to 151,013 clients in San Diego and Imperial County, 163 clients for reception and placement services, and 2,571 clients for the San Diego Newcomers Project. From July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, the Afghan Support and Investment Program provided housing support services to 6,094 unique clients (51,720 clients in aggregate from July 2022 to June 2023) and 1,333 households in Northern and Southern California for up to 12 months per household. During this period, 6,080 unique clients received monthly rental assistance (99.8%), 845 received one-time deposit assistance (13.8%), 1,217 received basic furnishing assistance (20%) and 593 received other related assistance such as late fees, utility payments, and rental application fees (9.7%).The Immigrant Services Program provides low-cost, high quality immigration services that enable eligible immigrants and refugees to obtain legal status and immigration benefits, regardless of background. Immigrant Services provides affirmative and defensive legal assistance, providing representations before the Immigration Court and Los Angeles Asylum Office, and works regularly with USCIS. The Removal Defense Team assisted 28 new removal defense clients, and the Affirmative Team provided 2,897 affirmative cases, including 302 temporary protective services.

Family, Youth, Children and Community Services:Our Cal-Fresh Healthy Living Program (formerly SNAP-Ed) supports healthy and active lifestyles by teaching individuals and families in San Diego and Imperial Counties about good nutrition, leveraging Cal-Fresh benefits, and being physically active. Our program is passionate about making healthy choices, the easy choice in our communities. Cal-Fresh seeks to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for Cal-Fresh Food (SNAP, also known as Food Stamps) will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Our Cal-Fresh program provides behaviorally focused, evidence-based, nutritional, and physical activity education classes to low-income individuals in the community. We partner with our sister-agency programs and other local organizations and champions to provide these services, as well as build collaboration and leadership toward healthy community initiatives. During FY2022-2023, we provided direct nutrition education to 849 individuals and provided indirect nutrition education to 4,820 individuals. Cal-Fresh Food (SNAP, also known as Food Stamps) is an entitlement program that provides monthly benefits to assist low-income households in purchasing the food they need to maintain adequate nutritional levels. In general, these benefits are for any food or food product intended for human consumption. Our Cal-Fresh Food staff assists with application submissions, provides outreach to the community, and advocates for community members who may qualify for this self-sufficiency program. During FY2022-2023, we assisted with 1,201 applications submitted. Distribution Network+ (EFDN+) to help deliver food to those in need in a safe, effective, and reliable manner that complies with COVID-19 social distancing requirements. We have identified parish partners throughout the Diocese of San Diego to operate weekly drive-thru food pantries and home-delivered food packages. Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego works with local food banks to provide food for those in need. During FY2022-2023 EFDN+ included 13 distribution sites and assisted 6,958 households and 23,228 individuals. During FY2022-2023, the EFDN+ program distributed 385,062 pounds of food, which translates into 320,885 meals. Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego is a participant of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), which is a seasonal program that runs in phases according to the availability of funds. The Emergency Food and Shelter Program began in 1983 with a $50 million federal appropriation. The program was created by Congress to help meet the needs of hungry and homeless people throughout the United States and its territories by allocating federal funds for the provision of food and shelter. Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego participates in the Hotel/Motel Voucher program as well as Emergency Food. During FY2022-2023, we were able to provide 157 nights of shelter and Hotel/Motel Vouchers to 12 individuals. Regarding emergency food, we received $10,954 worth of emergency food, which was used for the EFDN+ food assistance program.Catholic Charities has provided counseling services to pregnant women since the early 1970s, and services to prospective adoptive parents since the 1980s. Catholic Charities became a state-licensed adoption agency in 1984, and over 450 infants have been placed for adoption through the program. Although Catholic Charities no longer recruits adoptive families or places children in adoptive homes, we honor our history by providing Post-Adoption Services to all adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents who have been involved in an adoption through our agency. Respect for clients, and the values of mercy and justice, are continuously at the core of all practices of Catholic Charities Post Adoption Services. The Corporate Board of Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego, has passed a resolution to close the Catholic Charities Adoption Program and to surrender the Adoptions License in June 2023.

Homeless Services:Homeless Services mission is to provide a safe, supportive environment and opportunities for men and women with few or no resources to gather, begin, and continue self-help efforts. Homeless Mens Services provides interim shelter and case management for men experiencing homelessness, day laborers, and farm workers. La Posada de Guadalupe is in North San Diego County, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is in Imperial County, City of Calexico. Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, La Posada served 215 unique unhoused men and 43 farmworkers/laborers. Our Lady of Guadalupe served a total of 109 unique men. Due to the poor condition of the building, OLG ceased operation on June 30, 2023. Womens Homeless Services provides a continuum of services for women experiencing homelessness in San Diego County. The programs are grouped together under the name of Rachels Programs, and consist of Rachels Womens Center, a drop-in day center for unhoused women and Rachels Night Shelter, a 35-bed night shelter, and two independent living homes. Rachels Women Center includes a mobile outreach component. Rachels program network expanded to include Rachels Promise, a 40-bed interim womens shelter, on July 27, 2022. The San Diego Rachels Programs continuum promotes safety and stability by moving women from homelessness to shelter, and ultimately into housing by providing case management and recovery support. These programs served a total of 807 unique women during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Most of the 807 women were served by more than one program in the continuum. Individual program totals are Rachels Women Center served 734 unique women, Rachels Night Shelter served 151 unique women and Rachels Promise served 168 unique women. The independent living homes, Casa Maria and House of Rachel, served an additional 8 residents. In Imperial County, Catholic Charities operated House of Hope, a 24-bed shelter for unhoused women and children. This program served 32 unique individuals, 17 adults and 15 children between July 1 - December 31, 2022. On February 15, 2023, Catholic Charities opened a Day Center for people who are unhoused. This program is in El Centro and served 462 people between February 5 - June 30, 2023.Catholic Charities 9th & F Street Apartments, L.P. (the Partnership) also known as Leahs Residence provides 23 units of permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless and living with at least one special need. One unit is set aside for the on-site property manager. A Service Coordinator provides an average of 200 support service contacts per month for these residents. Between July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023, this program served 27 households with a combined total of 31 unique individuals.