Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.

Homeless prevention programs offered at several of Catholic Charities’ community service centers that typically include case management and financial assistance such as: rental assistance; security deposits; emergency eviction prevention; and motel vouchers, all subject to availability of funding. These services help prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless and enable them to regain stability in their current housing. Eviction prevention assists at-risk individuals and families to stay in their homes, preventing further disruption to the lives of children, especially those in extreme poverty.

Catholic Charities' 18 strategically located community centers provide emergency assistance as well as supportive services that remove barriers to self-sufficiency and wholeness. Programs and services are tailored for the unique circumstances of the people who are served professionally, compassionately, in multiple languages, regardless of their background.

Catholic Charities’ community centers, 13 of which are located in Los Angeles, are a first point of help for people in great need. The centers offer emergency and supportive services aimed at breaking the cycles of poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, and violence in society by laying the social foundations for long-term stability. Most of the centers go beyond basic needs, such as food, clothing, rental and utilities assistance, to provide educational classes and life-changing services, including: ESL; financial literacy; tutoring; adult education; GED; parenting workshops; job coaching; homeless prevention; senior support; and linkages to other sources of community support.

The agency puts emphasis on both case management and advocacy in an effort to help clients achieve social stability and financial independence. Of the total low-income population served by the community centers last year, more than half were women.

The shelter programs of Catholic Charities are aimed at ending homelessness and stabilizing clients’ lives through housing, employment and supportive services. They are designed to move clients from “in crisis” situations to safe and stable housing. Of Catholic Charities’ eight emergency and transitional residence/housing programs, four are solely for women and women with children. Languille Emergency Shelter, Hawkes Residence, Farley House and Angel Guardian Home, all part of Good Shepherd Center, a program of Catholic Charities, are located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. McGill Street House, a collaborative with the City of Pomona, is located in Covina. A homeless shelter for families, Elizabeth Ann Seton Residence and a shelter for single adult men and women, Project Achieve, are located in San Pedro. Angel’s Flight, in Los Angeles, provides shelter for homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth 10 to 17 years old.

The literacy programs for adults are offered at most of the agency’s community centers. Several volunteer-driven literacy projects include one-on-one tutoring for basic English language, math and basic computer classes for both adults and youth. Similarly, life skills training, parenting classes, and support groups for women and the elderly are held to encourage our clients and to help improve their self-esteem.

Financial empowerment and workforce readiness programs are also offered to adults and youth, 19 or older, through case management, employability and basic skills assessment, employment plan development, job referrals, job coaching, employment search skills development, and life skills workshops. These activities empower clients to become self-sufficient and to achieve economic security.

The School-Readiness projects at Guadalupe Community Services Center in the San Fernando Valley and at El Santo Nino Community Services Center in central Los Angeles prepare children for Kindergarten by teaching essential cognitive, language and social skills. Additionally, the Neighborhood Learning Center, also at Guadalupe Community Center, provides homework assistance and tutorial/remedial interventions to at-risk school-aged children, between the ages of six and 12, who are from poor, minority families. A pre-school, a collaborative project with a local academy, is offered to children, between the ages of two to five, at Guadalupe Community Center.

Youth also receive after-school care through the Adeste Child Care program and the Tutoring and Mentoring program for middle school and high school students.

Youth Employment Services gives paid job experience and mentorships to teens from the most depressed neighborhoods in Los Angeles. These jobs not only provide income for the teens, but also offer exposure to mainstream culture. Such exposure teaches mainstream cultural norms, work life values and essential skills that can help the teens to obtain better employment or pursue a college education. Many of these paid jobs are in the banking industry and medical field and all jobs are chosen to give participants exposure to an array of careers. Furthermore, by improving the financial health of families and pockets in the community, the financial outlook and opportunities for the entire community can be enhanced.

CYO offers basketball, golf, soccer, volleyball, cheer & song and track & field for boys and girls in the third through eighth grades. Youngsters actively participate in the program, learning life-long values and challenging themselves on their paths of personal growth. Throughout its history, thousands of youth, who might not otherwise have had access to organized sports, have had fun, built confidence and learned the values of discipline, goal setting and inner strength. Playing sports through CYO changes the course of many lives and creates healthier communities.

Senior programs such as the Older Adult Services and Intervention System (OASIS) program and the Gatekeeper Project are offered at some of the centers to help elderly citizens through food delivery, utility and transportation assistance, and case management services enabling them to remain independent and avoid premature institutionalization.

The Immigration Services of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. (CCLA) provides support and advocacy to individuals and families, helping them to legalize their residency status and become naturalized citizens. The primary objective is to reunite families by legalizing persons residing in the United States without lawful immigration status, and by assisting in the lawful immigration of family members to the United States. The program is structured to encourage economic independence in immigrant families, assimilation into the broader culture and a commitment to giving back to society.