MISSION STATEMENT
Inspired by Christ's call to serve, our mission is to serve those in need, to advocate for justice and to call upon others to do the same.
VISION STATEMENT
Catholic Charities shall strive to be one social ministry, in valued relationship with parishes, while walking together with our poorest and most vulnerable sisters and brothers.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES AND CARING
Catholic Charities and caring go hand in hand. As a human service agency dedicated to meeting specific needs of the family of God, we help the archdiocese respond lovingly to the Gospel imperative to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick.
Our services are directed to children, teens, adults, older adults, couples, parishes, and the broader community. Our role is to help the people who come to us to heal the hurts that are disrupting their lives and utilize their innate strengths to face life's challenges.
Services are open to people in need in the 10-county Milwaukee archdiocese without regard to religion, ethnic, racial or economic background. Most clients come on their own initiative; others are referred by priests, doctors, relatives, friends or other community agencies.
HISTORY OF CATHOLIC CHARITIES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE
The Catholic Social Welfare Bureau was established in 1920 under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to help coordinate and standardize the Church’s social service efforts in southeastern Wisconsin. In its early years, the agency focused on adoption and child welfare services. Family counseling and home-maker services for people with disabilities and the frail elderly were added during the 1950s and 1960s to meet expanding community needs. In 1965 the agency changed its name to Catholic Social Services, reflecting the trend of that time period.
Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, program initiatives including: outreach programs to minority populations, refugee resettlement services, child abuse prevention and parenting programs and the addition of specific ministries to the aging
and persons with disabilities were established.
The 1990s brought about the development of multiple specialty programs and new collaborations for social service ministries with parishes in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Three adult day service centers for frail older adults were opened. School based counseling programs and additional family-service programs were developed. In the spring of 1997 the agency changed its name again to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Inc. to reflect its long-standing affiliation with Catholic Charities USA, one of the nation’s largest, private networks of people helping people.
The first new program of the millennium, Legal Services for Immigrants, began in 2000. Today, Catholic Charities embraces A Way of Caring as a signature statement for its programs and services, a reflection of its vision in planning and initiatives, and its response to the changing needs within parishes and communities of the ten-county Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Last year, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee helped more than 30,000 people through thirty-two specific social service programs in eighteen offices located throughout the ten counties of southeastern Wisconsin. The programs and services offered by Catholic Charities are available to anyone in need regardless of race, creed, color, country of origin or financial circumstances.
With the beginning of 2002 came the agency’s focus on current ministries and a major structural reorganization within the agency itself. For much of our 80+ year history, the agency was compartmentalized through Regional Offices, with some services specific only to a particular region. In a better way to address the ever-changing needs of diverse populations throughout the ten counties of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, all services are now guided under specific ministries, rather than running independently from region to region.
All services are now managed under the umbrella of the following ministries:
Click on the name of a ministry to go to a description.
CHILD WELFARE MINISTRIES
Catholic Charities is a State Licensed Child Welfare Agency providing adoptive parent studies, child placement supervision and adoption search services. Catholic Charities works with independent, interstate and international child placements as well as traditional agency adoptive placements. Stepparent and relative adoption services are also provided.
Counseling and supported parenting services are provided for birthparents, primarily unmarried, who face decision-making around an unplanned pregnancy. The counseling focuses on permanency planning for their child(ren). Pre-adoptive infant care is available for birthparents during this planning process.
Pre-Natal Care Coordination planning and monitoring for at-risk Medical Assistance/Healthy Start eligible pregnant women helps those eligible pregnant women to have healthier babies.
FAMILY & CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
Services which focus upon parents increasing their parent nurturing skills and child development knowledge are offered in a variety of formats to better meet the needs of individual families. They include individual home visits, one-time group education experiences, and 10 – 12 week series of classes for parents and their children. 
Additional services for preschool and elementary school age children help them learn healthy life skills through participation in Catholic Charities’ KIDS CAN (child abuse prevention) age-appropriate curriculum provided at local public, private, and parochial preschools and elementary schools.
School-based student counseling and health nurse services are provided by Catholic Charities staff in partnership with several Archdiocesan Catholic Parish Elementary and Middle Schools. Services assist families in order to maximize and achieve their children’s full education potential.
HOPE & HEALING MINISTRIES
Counseling helps people to understand their personal needs, focus on the cause of their problems and determine ways to resolve or cope with those problems. Catholic Charities is a State Certified Outpatient Mental Health Facility providing outpatient counseling for individuals, families, children and couples. Third party payers, Medicare, Medical Assistance, and Badger Care are accepted as well as private, self-pay. Fees are on a sliding scale based on an individual’s ability to pay.
Family Mediation services and an educational transparenting service with pre- and post-divorce parents focus on the lessening of contested issues of custody, physical placement and/or visitation of minor children. Families are referred to these services by the offices of Family Court Commissioners.
OLDER ADULT MINISTRIES
Catholic Charities offers a wide range of care options for older adults who require some assistance in order to continue to live safely within the community, rather than in a nursing home or attendant care facility. Adult day centers provide partial and full day care for seniors enabling their caregivers to attend to their employment and other family responsibilities. The adult day centers also function as resource centers for families and caregivers of older adults providing information on aging needs as well as educational opportunities and support for caregivers.
Catholic Charities also offers in-home support services that enable older adults to continue to live independently in their own homes. Brief respite care services and a ‘social model’ day care center are also available to help support older adults living in the community. Assessment and referral services are provided as needed.
Catholic Charities’ Ministry On Aging provides services to older adults, information and referral information
to the families of older adults, parish consultation and collaboration on aging issues, community education, an annual Conference on Aging, and intergenerational volunteer opportunities.
PERSONS OF DIVERSE CULTURES MINISTRIES
Catholic Charities serves many cultures through this ministry that assists immigrant and refugee populations to assimilate and participate in the life of their new communities as well as providing outreach to individuals and families who experience barriers to full community life.
Catholic Charities provides outreach to a population (primarily Hispanic) with basic needs and little or no income.
Legal services for immigrants provides legal defense for low-income immigrants while Catholic Charities’ migrant and refugee services seek to provide homes, employment and other supportive services for refugees.
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES MINISTRIES
Adults with developmental disabilities are supported by Catholic Charities through its person-centered philosophy of care to live safely and fully within the community. Residential support is provided to adults with disabilities in both group homes and supportive living apartments. Case management and supportive in-home services are also available through Catholic Charities for adults with disabilities, their families and guardians.
SOCIAL MINISTRIES
Catholic Charities recognizes the value and contribution that existing parish Human Concerns Committees provide to communities. Catholic Charities, through its Parish Social Ministry efforts, believes that working collaboratively with parishes furthers the reach and impact of both the parish and Catholic Charities. Therefore, Catholic Charities is collaborating with parishes to effectively implement Catholic Social Teaching in the desire to serve the needy live the Gospel and become ever more faith-filled communities by assisting parishioners in concrete works of charity, justice and peace.
Catholic Charities’ Companion Families service works to link low-income and vulnerable families with parish “companion” families, thus offering support and hope to those most affected by poverty and racism. Parish families are also linked with adults with developmental disabilities in order to provide them with a circle of friendship and socialization for parish worship, activities and gatherings.
SUPPORT SERVICES MINISTRIES
Catholic Charities’ support services provide the organization’s administrative, financial, human, quality assurance, communications, resource development, information systems, and facilities management functions.
Catholic Charities' Primary Offices
Fond du Lac
191 S. Main St.
(920) 923-2550
Kenosha
6202 - 25th Ave.
(262) 658-2088
Milwaukee
2021 N. 60th St.
(414) 771-2881
Racine
2711 - 19th St.
(262) 637-8888
Sheboygan
503 W. Wisconsin Ave.
(920) 458-5726
Waukesha
741 N. Grand Ave.
(262) 547-2463 | 
