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October 23, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
COMMUNITY
The Secret Sauce
By Gregory Kepferle
CEO, Catholic Charities of
Santa Clara County and
President, Charities Housing
Development Corporation
Do you remember your favorite
foods from childhood? Maybe it was
a special dish cooked up by your
Mom or your Dad. Maybe it was a
special treat at your grandparents’
home. And later in life, even if you
tasted a similar dish in a restaurant
or somewhere else, it didn’t taste quite
the same. Your taste buds remember
the unique fl avor of that secret sauce.
I am sure you can taste it now.
Just like those special recipes, or-
ganizations have their secret sauce
– that unique mix of fl avors that you
can almost taste when you participate
in a particular business, club, parish,
school, or nonprofi t organization. The
secret sauce is what distinguishes it
from similar types of organizations.
What is it that makes this particular
group of people focused on a specifi c
cause diff erent from others doing just
as good work, being just as commit-
ted to the cause?
focus, how the agency sets the bar for
social services, our vision and mission,
our commitment to servant leadership,
and how we build relationships within
But above all, the most mentioned ingredient is
compassion.
Recently I have been asking staff at
Catholic Charities what they would
say are the special ingredients in the
secret sauce of Catholic Charities.
There are thousands of social service
organizations. What makes Catholic
Charities the place where our staff
best love to work? Not surprisingly,
staff came up with many answers – the
diversity of staff and programs, our
commitment to excellence and high
quality standards, staff seeking to fi nd
innovative, creative ways to improve
services, our flexible client-centric
CCH153_CarDonateAd2_4.937x6in_PressQuality.pdf
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the team and with other organizations,
how we are a trusted organization for
clients and funders, and staff ’s passion
for our work. But above all, the most
mentioned ingredient is compassion.
Every day I get to witness the
genuine kindness and caring our
staff and volunteers have both for the
people we serve and for each other.
It’s not that everyone is perfect. And
yes, people do have bad days. But day
in and day out our staff and volun-
teers act with love for our neighbors
in need. Yes, we have highly trained
professionals providing quality care,
but I believe that people respond
most to how they are treated – with
respect, kindness, and love. That
is why it is a joy to work in such a
high stress environment addressing
clients’ challenges of mental illness,
homelessness, hunger, unemploy-
ment, family dysfunctions, isolation,
incarceration, or displacement due to
war and violence. In the very midst
of all this pain, Catholic Charities
staff and volunteers bring their secret
ingredient – compassion. It’s not that
the pain completely goes away, but
heartache is eased, and people fi nd
healing and reasons to hope thanks
to the love that they receive.
I invite you to contribute to Catholic
Charities’ secret sauce and share your
compassion with our neighbors in
need. To support Catholic Charities
go to www.CatholicCharitiesSCC.org.
7:41 PM
Bringing Everyone’s Strengths Together
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What’s best for our youth? Ac-
cording to the City of San Jose’s
latest evaluation report, the Bring-
ing Everyone’s Strengths Together
(BEST) program at Catholic Charities’
Washington United Youth Center has
made signifi cant strides in positively
impacting local youth through gang
prevention programming.
The BEST Final Evaluation Report
for the 2016-2017 program year refl ects
the City’s commitment to deliver ser-
vices to youth who are most vulnerable
to gang involvement. Key findings
show youth reporting higher rates of
change compared to the previous year
across every measurement. This year,
77% of youth expressed an increased
ability to connect with adult allies
because of their involvement in BEST
programming, an increase of 17% from
the previous cycle. In addition, 77% of
youth said that they feel prepared to
succeed in the community because of
BEST services.
In fiscal year 2016-2017, Catholic
Charities served a total of 953 un-
duplicated program participants. Of
those 953 clients, 96% expressed that
their ability to stay safe was better, and
99% expressed being more successful
at school or at their job due to BEST
programming. According to the agency
score card, Catholic Charities earned a
high satisfaction score, with children
and youth rating the program between
excellent and good, and reported feel-
ing that they had benefi ted from the
program.
“BEST makes a diff erence for our
youth every day,” says So’o Poumele,
BEST Program Manager. “Youth are
getting reconnected to their school,
adults, and their peers. We support
them to feel prepared to succeed, and
thrive with and in their community.”
In partnership with the City of San
José, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara
County provides truancy, gang preven-
tion, and intervention services to at-risk
youth through BEST programming of-
fered at the Washington United Youth
Center (WUYC). WUYC provides a safe
haven for thousands of youth seeking
refuge from the streets. Our programs
work with at-risk youth who face chal-
lenges that may include homelessness
or addiction among family members,
and off er resources, support, and last-
ing friendships among counselors and
peer youth.
To learn more about BEST, contact
So’o Poumele, Program Manager at
[email protected].