Catholic Charities Hawaii head Robert Van Tassell, center, with Catholic Charities Hawaii board secretary Vernon Wong and Catholic Charities vice president of philanthropy Mary Leong Saunders in December 2019. (Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities Hawaii)
‘The word of the moment seems to be surge. So we did see a surge in our donations to kind of match the need.’
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Robert “Rob” Van Tassell became the new president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities Hawaii this past fall. Van Tassell is originally from Washington State and has more than two decades of experience working first in the private sector and then for the Catholic Church in affordable housing. He left his job as vice president of Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington to take his role here in the islands.
Van Tassell and his wife of 31-years, Michelle, relocated to Kuliouou in November 2019. They have three grown daughters who live on the Mainland.
The Hawaii Catholic Herald spoke to Van Tassell on the phone on Aug. 28 about the work of Catholic Charities Hawaii and the effects of COVID-19 on the social services agency, which has pared down staff time in the office but continues to work at full-speed and operate its 808-521-HELP line. That helpline has seen calls go from a pre-pandemic average of 400 per month to over 1,000 per month more recently, Van Tassell said.
You started in your role last November. Has it been harder to adjust to the job faced with the uncertainties of a pandemic?
The team here is great so we just kind of rose to the occasion. We knew we were going to be essential services.
We had a bit of a look ahead by working with other Catholic Charities on the Mainland and seeing what they were going through. So we were all kind of networked into that and understood what we would need to set up here. We were on top of all of our policies and processes and procedures.
It was a great opportunity for everyone to really take a look at accelerating our technology upgrades like rolling out Microsoft teams. It really enhances our ability to telework. We’re also working with telehealth products as well in working with all of our clients.
And how about the in-person services that you can’t do remotely?
Probably the biggest adjustment was the Lanakila Multipurpose Senior Center. We closed the actual physical location, but the staff tries to make contact with all 1,500 of the clients there. We’ve been rolling out online courses. We have quite a menu of online courses now for folks, like ukulele. We also did some Zoom training for our seniors so they could learn how to use Zoom to keep in contact with their families and their friends and with us.
As far as some of your more long-term projects, have you had to change the strategy on those?
We’ve been moving straight ahead on almost all of our initiatives and programs that we had started. A big one is the rental relief program that we are doing with the Hawaii Housing Finance Development Corporation, which is a state agency. They received $50 million in CARES funding. We have $30 million of rental relief funds that we are going to be giving out via 808-521-HELP. We pay up to $2,000 a month in rental assistance and it’s for people who perhaps haven’t had any kind of government assistance before. (See sidebar for details.)
Our goal from the very beginning has been, we’re going to focus on keeping people in their homes. If we allow folks to go homeless, then we’re too late in the process and that’s too much suffering that will happen. So the idea is that people who are at a home, let’s keep them in their homes. But the eviction moratorium doesn’t really help out landlords. So this program provides relief for not only the tenants, but also for the landlords.
Has Catholic Charities Hawaii been hurting financially during this time?
We’ve been very fortunate, our donors have really risen to the occasion. So we’ve had a great response so far to our appeals for the COVID situation. I’m always careful to say that more is needed, and now as we go back to the first phase, back to the lockdown, there are going to be even more economic effects happening and people are going to need help. Catholic Charities Hawaii is one of the larger social service agencies that can help. We have 40 programs serving over 40,000 people. So we have a lot of different opportunities to work with folks.
The word of the moment seems to be surge. So we did see a surge in our donations to kind of match the need so far. So people have really responded well. Even though they themselves may be in a difficult situation, we’ve had several lapsed donors come back and given. Other donors have increased their amount of annual giving. So we’ve been really fortunate.
But I want to make sure that folks know that the need is going to continue to grow. We haven’t solved the issue at all. As the state has to deal with more and more budget cuts, and the city and counties in Hawaii as well, we’re expecting even greater demand for our services.
Calls to our helpline went from about 400 or so a month to 1,000 plus a month. That’s one of our key indicators of demand.
Do you think it’s even more important now to increase efforts for new affordable housing?
We will definitely be looking at opportunities. We’re working with Marlene DeCosta in the diocesan real estate office on some opportunities on diocesan-owned land to create a wonderful win-win there for not only the church, but for the people here of Hawaii to make some more affordable housing available. We’re also looking at some more family housing projects on Maui, not too far from where the new senior housing is.
What else are you excited about with Catholic Charities Hawaii?
I think for us right now we’re really using this opportunity to amplify and multiply those things that we do really well. Rental assistance is one of them. So the contract we received is going to be substantial, potentially the largest contract that we have ever had. That’s very exciting for us with a lot of opportunities and a lot of challenges.
We are designing a lot of automated processes now using some newer technology for people to enter their application information directly on the website, and then to automate the payments on the backside to the landlords as well. And our hope is to be able to utilize that technology going forward to better serve and be more innovative in the other programs that we have as well.
So you’re bringing some tech from the Seattle-area over here.
I dabbled a little bit at that but I guess it was the hub up there. It’s really the staff here that has risen to the occasion to be creative and find some new ways to meet this demand. With the rental assistance program, we really only had 30 days to roll out this program and right now we have just five months to give out the CARES funds by Dec. 28. We hope it gets extended.
What has your own Catholic faith meant to you in your work with affordable housing and now leading Catholic Charities Hawaii?
The reason I left the private sector for the nonprofit sector was I really wanted to get my advocation and my vocation united as one. That’s a line from Robert Frost. For me, this work that I do is a calling. It’s an opportunity for me to put my gifts and talents to work for the church, for all of God’s community, to help build the kingdom here as part of my way of witnessing. I really, really believe strongly in the mission of Catholic Charities Hawaii and the values here, and the wonderful people that we have doing this work inspires me every day. I’m inspired by my team, I’m inspired by our staff and the stories that they have. It’s just wonderful work that we do. It’s an opportunity for me to be a great part of it. I’m humbled working here and I’m honored as well.
We have a fantastic team here. All are very strong leaders, all very competent in what they do and very, very dedicated to the mission and the values. My hope is to really just be able to build on this legacy and continue to grow the work of the church in social services.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
A helpline staffer answers calls at Catholic Charities Hawaii. (Courtesy photo)
COVID got you behind on your rent? Dial 521-HELP
If you’ve been affected by COVID-19 and are struggling to cover your rent, Catholic Charities Hawaii likely can help you.
The agency just received $30 million in CARES funds from the state of Hawaii to distribute to those that need help staying in their homes.
“People will qualify for this funding that haven’t typically qualified for other types of government assistance programs in the past,” said Rob Van Tassell, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Hawaii. “We’re very grateful to the state legislature and the governor for providing these funds.”
Rent assistance is up to $2,000 a month with a low amount of documentation required and few restrictions on your monthly income limit. Van Tassel said Catholic Charities is encouraging anyone who has a need to call and apply.
The number to inquire is 808-521-HELP. Or go to https://www.hihousinghelp.com/#apply
