A woman and child at Maili Land Transitional Housing on Oahu’s Leeward coast. (Catholic Charities)
Catholic Charities Hawaii, the island church’s primary social service agency, turns 75 this month
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
When Daryl Lynn Davalos was a teen in the late 1960s, her family went to Catholic Social Services on Oahu for family counseling. She remembers waiting in the lobby after an appointment and seeing a distressed woman come inside. It was the end of the day, and a staffer who talked with the woman asked if she could come back the next day. But when the staffer saw how despondent the woman looked, she ushered her back into the office to see what she could do.
That end-of-the-day act of kindness from an employee of what is now known as Catholic Charities Hawaii stuck with Davalos. So, when she was looking for help due to COVID-19-related stress, she turned to Catholic Charities counseling.
CCH’s longstanding reputation for helping anyone in need, regardless of their faith or background, continues today as it celebrates its 75th anniversary this month.
The nonprofit organization has more than 30 programs, touching on senior services, housing and rental assistance, family and youth programs, counseling and mental health services, immigration and citizenship services, and information and referral services.
In 2010, it consolidated most of its offices into one main, 2.2-acre campus in Makiki on Oahu for better collaboration between its programs and easier access for clients.
Catholic Charities Hawaii serves an estimated 40,000 people in the state of Hawaii annually, though that number increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, it helped 14,105 people with housing, supported 4,446 seniors, 5,608 family and youth, and 212 immigrants. Its helpline phone number received almost 172,000 calls last year. CCH’s operating budget for 2021 was $125 million.
Its role in helping process rental assistance applications and money in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely praised. CCH administered or co-administered four COVID-19 rent relief programs with over $125 million given out to nearly 20,000 Hawaii households to date.
It’s also increasing its focus on affordable housing initiatives under its Housing Development Corporation and the leadership of its president and CEO since 2019, Rob Van Tassell, who was previously the vice president of Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington.
To get a better sense of the non-profit today, here’s a look at three distinct programs under Catholic Charities Hawaii.
A Kupuna to Kamalii program participant helps with gardening work. (Catholic Charities)
Counseling center
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Hawaii, Daryl Lynn Davalos was struggling with the stress of having moved in with her daughter to help with her two young children, one doing online schooling and the other just a baby. It was overwhelming at times, Davalos said.
“Out of desperation, I just felt like, ‘I need some help because I can’t deal with the stress brought on by the pandemic.’”
She contacted CCH and was assigned a counselor in its general counseling services area. The two have had almost weekly Zoom sessions. Davalos likes that she can share her Catholic faith in a nonjudgmental environment even though her counselor isn’t Catholic.
“Counseling has really sustained me,” she said. “I’ve been able to survive the pandemic on an emotional level because of her support and her good counseling.”
Darlene Beatty, the division administrator for CCH’s counseling center’s Family and Therapeutic Services, says counseling has long been a hallmark of Catholic Charities Hawaii.
Initially, the charity focused on family work, which was done by the Maryknoll Sisters who ran CCH when it first began in 1947.
Now licensed therapists work with clients. There’s individual, family and marriage counseling in the general counseling services area, like that used by Davalos. Clients can use health insurance or pay based on a sliding scale so that money isn’t an obstacle to receiving services.
CCH also has more specific therapeutic services, most of which come through contracts with state and federal agencies. One such program, funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), is the Kupuna to Kamalii (elders to children) program, which helps Leeward Oahu children and their families who have experienced trauma related to crime.
The therapeutic activities led by CCH include incorporating cultural activities like pounding poi and working in the gardens at Maili.
Chilcie Keni-Farrell and her 8-year-old son live at Maili Land, which is a CCH-operated transitional housing for families with children under 19. Mother and son have participated in the Kupuna to Kamalii program, including gardening activities.
Keni-Farrell praised the leaders of the program for bringing “super great energy to Maili Land.”
“We get to spend more family time doing things like gardening. We’re outside together putting our hands in the dirt,” she said.
“[The program] teaches us to do things in a healthy manner with each other, to grow together.”
Beatty said the demand for counseling services has gone up since COVID-19. However, therapists have been able to reach more people via telehealth services on all islands. In-person services are also available on Oahu and Hawaii island. CCH currently has around 260 active counseling cases.
“It’s important that we emphasize that there shouldn’t be a stigma with seeking services,” Beatty said. “If someone feels like they are depressed or just not feeling well … they should tend to their mental health.”
“Everybody at some point needs a little support,” she added. “So, there shouldn’t be any shame in seeking services. It’s actually a sign of courage and strength.”
Beatty also recently started serving on a Diocese of Honolulu mental health task force looking into ways local Catholic churches can better help people with mental health needs.
How to help: Donate to Catholic Charities Hawaii to support programs like counseling services so they can continue to be offered on a sliding scale fee for those without insurance or who can’t pay as much.
If you’re seeking counseling services, you can call 808-527-4470.
A General Immigration Services client at a citizenship ceremony. (Catholic Charities)
Immigrant services
Catholic Charities Hawaii’s General Immigration Services program is run by a small staff of one full-time employee, one part-time employee, and a long-time volunteer. But the impact it makes is quite larger than that.
CCH’s program, which has been accredited by the U.S Department of Justice since 1994, is also a part of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
The program helps lower-income immigrants and migrants with immigration counseling, completing required paperwork and tracking the progress of submissions. GIS’s fee is already minimal but the office will work with people regardless of their ability to pay.
“We’re trying to see that these people become a part of the community in the right way,” said Linda Spencer, the program coordinator for GIS, and who is based on Hawaii island. Her part-time staffer is on Oahu. GIS’s volunteer leads virtual English as a Second Language and citizenship classes, and the office also helps with issues like DACA renewals, fee waivers, and employment authorization.
One of the people Spencer has helped is Hippolyte Assi, a Hilo resident who is originally from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The husband and father of three recently emailed the Hawaii Catholic Herald about his experiences with CCH’s immigration services while he was on the east coast for his eldest son’s graduation from college.
Assi said he heard about Catholic Charities from a friend who said they offered more affordable immigration help than many attorneys’ offices.
“I was lucky enough to meet Linda Spencer when I got there the first time,” he said. “She helped me register and provided an immigration lawyer who worked with Catholic Charities in Honolulu.”
“This program is very important,” Assi said. “It provides not only immigration services, but also financial and social assistance. I couldn’t achieve my immigration paperwork without the support of Catholic Charities immigration program.”
In the last year, two unexpected populations of immigrants have asked CCH’s immigration services program for help: those from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Ten to 15 people from Ukraine have been in touch with the office alone since the invasion of that country by Russia in February 2022. For example, Spencer has been working with a family with an American husband and Ukrainian wife.
And while the pandemic affected some services, it has helped Spencer be more in touch with other agencies in Hawaii and on the mainland since meetings have gone virtual. GIS has also been able to reach more clients. In 2021 the office helped 212 people, a significant increase from the previous year’s 145.
How to help: Due to the pandemic, Spencer hasn’t been actively looking for more volunteer help. But she eventually would like more volunteers, preferably with a legal or ESL background. Reach her at linda.spencer@catholiccharitieshawaii.org.
A cooking class for Horizons residents. (Catholic Charities)
Independent living
The Horizons Independent Living program is for young adults ages 18-24 who need additional help as they transition into adulthood.
Most residents are male and they come partly from the foster care system and partly from the juvenile justice system, said Ryan Toma, Horizon’s transition facilitator.
Toma said most young adults aren’t ready to go it alone right at age 18. However, those coming out of foster care or the juvenile justice system don’t have ongoing support like other young adults who grew up with family and other support networks in place.
“Eighteen as an age doesn’t mean that you can make it on your own, especially in Hawaii where it’s so expensive to live,” Toma said.
The focus is on building independent living skills for young adults.
Horizons began in 2007 and is a part of CCH’s larger Na Ohana Pulama program, which guides and supports minors in the foster care system.
The Horizons home can house up to seven young adults at one time and provides safe housing and support services including tips on independent living like cooking, budgeting and doing taxes. There are education and training opportunities, employment help, personal wellness assistance, financial literacy and life skills services, and social supports.
Each resident has services tailored to their needs.
“The client is the one who tells us what their goal is, and we will accommodate their service plan according to the goal they want,” Toma said.
If someone is interested in trade work, Horizons tries to match them up with a mentor in a related profession for example.
Positive affirmation is a big part of services.
“If they’re coming from environments like the juvenile justice system or foster care, they come into the program maybe not necessarily with the highest self-esteem or kind of feeling like they’re unwanted or can’t do anything right,” Toma said.
“We really try to focus on self-advocating. If there is any type of coaching or criticism we really try to include praising and letting them know they are doing a lot of things right, this is just an area that could use improvement.”
Most residents stay about a year, but some are there for only a few months, and the maximum stay is two years.
While primarily funded through a state contract with the Office of Youth Services, Horizons also relies on private donations. All of its home furnishings for instance are donated.
Toma said that Horizons is always in demand because it is one of the few programs of its kind, focusing on young adults who need help as they enter the wider community on their own.
“I think it speaks volumes that we’re able to provide a service that is not very common to have under most social service/nonprofit agencies,” Toma said. “It’s just the population that kind of gets overlooked.”
How to help: Horizons could use donations of gently used furniture, household goods and monetary funds. It’s also looking for vocational mentors for its residents in areas ranging from trade work to the military, who would be willing to share advice and other tips. Companies willing to offer internships or initial jobs to Horizons residents are also welcome to contact Ryan Toma at ryan.toma@catholiccharitieshawaii.org.
