By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Terry Walsh
“Full circle” is a notion becoming familiar to Terry Walsh, recently picked to take the reins of Catholic Charities Hawaii when its president and chief executive officer Jerry Rauckhorst retires at the end of this year after 20 years of service.
The new job will bring Walsh back to a place he had come to love and had found love — Honolulu — where he attended school and met his wife.
This move is “really full circle,” he said in a July 18 telephone interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
For Walsh, who used to boogie-board the waves of Lake Michigan near his grandparents’ summer house, childhood visits to Hawaii implanted in him the dream to live — and surf — here.
As a youth who went to Catholic schools all his life, Chaminade University of Honolulu provided that opportunity. While there, he gained a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science and was introduced to his wife, Shari Patterson.
During his five years in Hawaii, 1990-1994, he also taught special needs students at Washington Intermediate School in Honolulu and was a counselor for troubled teens at Hale Kipa.
“I have so many family and friends in Hawaii and have gained a respect for the land and culture,” said Walsh, now president and CEO of Catholic Charities West Michigan, headquartered in Grand Rapids.
Coincidentally, Walsh’s daughter Malia will be entering her father’s alma mater Chaminade this fall as a freshman.
“God works in mysterious ways,” Walsh said. “We are very excited to come to Hawaii.”
Moving here with Walsh and his wife are their daughter Malia and son Cheyenne.
The new position realized “this idea that we could end our professional careers in Hawaii.” At age 46 he feels he can give “the next couple of decades” in service to the islands. He will take over as head of Catholic Charities Hawaii Nov. 1.
Walsh already has more than 20 years of experience in national and international social services, bringing to Hawaii intensive nonprofit, refugee, immigration and international experience gleaned from two decades in Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey and Africa. At one point, he served as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees working with the “Lost Boys of Sudan” and their resettlement to the United States.
He also has a master’s of social work, administration major, from the University of Michigan and a master’s of business administration from Michigan State University.
As head of Catholic Charities West Michigan, Walsh is responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction for one of the largest social services agencies in West Michigan. Offering 40 social service programs in 11 regional counties, the organization has a budget of over $15 million, employs 285 individuals and last year touched the lives of more than 24,000 individuals.
The Hawaii position is a step up, Walsh said, in terms of size of operation. Hawaii has more employees and twice the budget, he said.
But it was the organization’s “Catholic character” and “mission focus” that he found compelling. He said that the employees he has met “believe in the mission of social justice and service to all.”
“Catholic Charities Hawaii has accomplished really great work in the areas of homelessness, affordable housing and seniors,” among other fields, he said.
Walsh believes his own experience with refugees and immigrants will be a good fit for the urgent concerns of immigration and homelessness in Hawaii.
“I also think I have the ability to continue the legacy started by Jerry,” he said. “He has a very relational leadership style, which is very important to me.”
He said he comes knowing he doesn’t have all the answers and won’t be able to proceed without listening to local residents.
“I have a deep respect for Hawaii, the local people and culture,” he said. “I have always felt very comfortable in Hawaii.”
Walsh’s Hawaii appointment isn’t the first time Catholic Charities played a part in a “full circle” experience. He was born in Grand Rapids, where he returned to run Catholic Charities, the same Catholic Charities that, he learned several years ago, processed the adoption of his father.
Leslie H. Correa, chairman of Catholic Charities Hawaii board of directors, called Walsh’s credentials a natural fit for the position. “His extensive leadership experience, creative thinking and proven ability to problem-solve and build bridges will serve Hawaii well,” he said in a news release.
In the same release, Ruth Ann Becker, a member of both Catholic Charities board and selection committee, described Walsh as “visionary, passionate about the CCH mission, and energetic in working with others to bring about solutions.”
“Catholic Charities Hawaii has been blessed with two decades of leadership under Jerry Rauckhorst,” she said. “Our challenge was to identify a leader who could build on Jerry’s legacy while enabling Catholic Charities Hawaii to grow and evolve with changing times.”
