Programs and Services

Emergency Assistance

Catholic Charities can help. In your most desperate moment, we will welcome and embrace you with love. Guadalupe Community Center and St. Stephen’s CARE Center provide emergency assistance to address food insecurity, reduce poverty, and prevent homelessness.

Food Pantry provides immediate food assistance including canned goods, dry goods, dairy products, meat, bread and pastries, and even fresh produce from our own St. Phocas Garden.

Mobile Food Pantry – Hope, our Mobile Relief Unit, travels around the 19 counties of the Archdiocese of San Antonio ministering hope, feeding the hungry, and comforting the homeless at parishes in and around our community.

St. Phocas Garden – Guadalupe Community Center maintains an organic garden on San Antonio’s west side. Staff and volunteers grow lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and other vegetables to supplement the food pantry’s non-perishable food with fresh produce by adding nutritional value addressing food insecurity among the poor in the community.

40 Cans for Lent – During Lent, Catholic Charities collects canned food to feed the hungry in San Antonio. Get involved and gather your community for a food drive! To request a food collection bin, contact Guadalupe Community Center at (210) 226-6178.

Clothes Closet – New and gently used clothing, shoes, small household items, and hygiene products are accepted and provided to those in need.

Emergency Financial Assistance – One-time emergency financial assistance is available to prevent homelessness and utility disconnection as well as provide financial coaching and budgeting assessment for income-eligible individuals and families. *Eviction notice and/or utility disconnection notice required.*

Parish Hotline – Priests are encouraged to call the Parish Support Line 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for emergency financial assistance, material assistance, and access to resources.

Project Cool – Bexar County seniors, age 60 and above, and disabled individuals are eligible to receive FREE 20” box fans during the hot summer months to reduce heat-related illness and death. Fans are provided between June and September. Donations are accepted at Guadalupe Community Center and San Antonio Fire Department stations throughout San Antonio (except at the Airport).

For more information regarding services and donations, call the Guadalupe Community Center at (210) 226-6178 or 1801 W. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm.

Get involved! Giveback Saturday welcomes individuals and groups to process donations, expand services, and more.

Family and Children's Services

Catholic Charities strengthens families with the goal of happy, healthy parents and children.

Family and Children’s Services are committed to working with you to improve family well-being through guidance, education, and encouragement to embrace your family role resulting in keeping your family nurtured and safe.

Nurturing Families – Free and voluntary parenting workshops offered across Bexar County focuses on the family’s protective factors such as family functioning, parental resiliency, social connections and support, nurturing attachment, child development, and more in site-based classes for families with at least one child 36 months of age or younger.

Helping Through Intervention (HIP) – Free and voluntary home visiting program designed to provide family assessment, parenting education, and support services to current or former foster youth and/or high risk families determined by the Department of Family and Protective Services for children prenatal through two years old.

Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) – Voluntary, free maternal and childhood health program providing first-time mothers valuable knowledge and support from pregnancy through two years of age. For more information, contact Nurse Family Partnership at (210) 226-3030.

HOPES/Parents as Teachers – Free and voluntary long-term, home-based parenting education designed to increase parent knowledge and promote school readiness though parent/child interactions for families who are expecting or have at least one child under the age of three. For more information about HOPES, call (210) 568-8958.

Family Connects – A free nurse home visiting program for parents of newborns. Parents who deliver at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio receive a one-time nurse home visit to provide supportive guidance of newborn and post-partum care. For more information, contact (210) 226-3030.

Project Rachel – A compassionate and confidential ministry, extending God’s unconditional love and forgiveness to women and men who experience the tragedy of abortion. By offering a safe place for those suffering, to be reconciled with God and His church, Project Rachel helps anyone who is suffering after having an abortion to experience God’s mercy, forgiveness, and peace. For the confidential phone line, contact (210) 342-4673.

For more information about Family and Children’s Services, call (210) 222-1294.

After School and Summer Youth Program

Eligible youth are welcomed to their second home and their second family in our youth programs where they will find a safe space and a helpful hand.

After School Program – Academic tutoring, extracurricular activities, and fresh meals for students in grades K-12. Trained staff and volunteers provide guidance and mentoring by offering tutoring and homework assistance to ensure students succeed in academics and promote to the next level.

Summer Youth Program – Summer camp activities for students in grades K-12. Students receive reinforced education skills, physical activities, extracurricular activities, and even field trips.

For more information about youth programs, call the Guadalupe Community Center at (210) 226-6178.

Counseling

Licensed counselors are ready to help anyone struggling with mental health issues in a comfortable and safe environment without judgment. Counselors work hard to provide meaningful help that is appropriate for the person and the situation whether the client is an individual or group, marital or family, or a child, adolescent, or senior.

Catholic Charities’ Counseling has a main office at 231 W. Commerce with multiple satellite offices around the city. Hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9am-6pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 10am-7pm; and Saturday 9:30am-3:30pm. Bilingual counselors are available on request. Free counseling for pregnant and parenting families with children under the age of three. Insurance and sliding scale pay offered. Please do not let payment be a deterrent if you need help.

For more information or to make an appointment, contact Catholic Charities Counseling at (210) 377-1133.

Legal services

Empowering clients, while preserving family values and promoting self-sufficiency, is part of our mission of lifting a person from despair to hope.

Our lawyers are experienced in multiple fields to offer clients the best legal advice on a wide range of legal issues:

Guardianship – Help for family members of individuals who are unable to secure food, clothing, or shelter for themselves or need help making decisions.
Wills – Make end of life legal arrangements including power of attorney, simple wills, and probate management.
Property Deeds – Assistance with transferring homes to loved ones during their life or upon death.
Financial Wellness and Care – Secure legal and financial preparedness for loved ones who find themselves unable to do so themselves.
Immigration Assistance – Legal counsel and citizenship guidance.
Grandparent Rights – Establish legal responsibility in raising a child, when the biological or legal parent can not, especially with regard to medical and education decisions.
Custody Rights and Child Support – Advocate to establish the safety and well-being of a child.
Crime Victim’s Rights – Protective orders and compensation assistance.

Caritas Legal Services circulates throughout our community with free or low-cost legal assistance through Ask A Lawyer.

To schedule an appointment for free or low-cost legal services, contact Caritas Legal Services at (210) 455-6105.

Senior Services

Catholic Charities aims to reduce the effects of isolation in seniors by empowering them to engage in meaningful activities in our community.

Senior programs are available to strengthen our most vulnerable and isolated seniors and also engage our seniors in meaningful activities.

Programs available to isolated low-income seniors:

Adopt-A-Senior – Companionship volunteers visit isolated seniors to create meaningful relationships, assess needs, and provide resources.
Project Hope – On the first Monday of the month, volunteers distribute a two-week food stipend to low-income seniors.
Project Cool – Provides free box fans to senior citizens in an effort to prevent heat-related illness and death during the hot summer months.

Programs are also available to active seniors interested in helping us help others:

Foster Grandparents Program (FGP) – Foster Grandparents are role models and mentors that provide one-on-one tutoring and/or mentoring at various schools and other educational organizations in San Antonio.
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) – RSVP is a volunteer program which recruits and engages seniors aged 55 and over to use their skills, talents, and experience to help address a wide range of community needs at a national level.

Senior Fiesta – Don’t miss out on the only official Fiesta event for individuals 55 and older! Seniors can join the free festivities that include:

Health and Wellness Fair with over 45 exhibitors with free information and promotional items
Fiesta Royalty Guest Appearances
Live Music
…and more!

For more information about Senior Services and volunteer programs, call (210) 222-1294.

Refugee Resettlement Services

No one chooses to be a refugee. Refugees fled their home to escape persecution, war, genocide, extreme discrimination, and death. Catholic Charities San Antonio welcomes our refugee brothers and sisters to live a renewed life of dignity in safety and peace after years of suffering they may have endured.

Hundreds of refugees and migrants aboard a fishing boat are pictured moments before being rescued by the Italian Navy as part of their Mare Nostrum operation in June 2014. Among recent and highly visible consequences of conflicts around the world, and the suffering they have caused, has been a dramatic growth in the number of refugees seeking safety by undertaking dangerous sea journeys, including on the Mediterranean. The Italian Coastguard / Massimo Sestini

Refugee Resettlement Services provides assistance to newly arrived refugees while continuing to meet the needs of families who have made a place for themselves in the San Antonio community. Service priorities include case management, housing, limited financial assistance, cultural orientation, access to health care, school enrollment, job placement assistance, English Language Instruction, access to government services, access to interpretation and translation services, and access to mental health and well-being services.

The Reception and Placement Program and Refugee Support Services teams work together to provide a welcoming atmosphere for all newcomer and resettled refugees through the promotion of community integration, advocacy, education and the forging of new pathways that lead towards a life of self-sufficiency.

Client Eligibility

Must be legally admitted to the United States as a refugee, asylee, Cuban entrant, victim of severe trafficking, or other population deemed eligible by the Health and Human Service Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Must be within Office of Refugee Resettlement five-year eligibility period (from date of arrival in the US/date of asylum certification).

For more information about Refugee Resettlement, call (210) 222-1294.

Parish Hotline

Crisis happens every day and every day crisis looks different. Catholic Charities can help.

Priests are encouraged to call the Parish Hotline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for emergency financial assistance, material assistance, and access to resources for their parishioners.

Services provided include:

Rent or utility assistance
Funeral expenses
Immigration legal aid
Counseling services
Unemployment assistance

Catholic Charities Parish Outreach also delivers programs and services right to the parishes in the 19 counties of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Ask-A-Lawyer – Caritas Legal Services provides free or low-cost legal assistance on issues ranging from guardianship and wills to immigration to crime victim’s assistance.

Health Fairs – Community Outreach visits parishes to provide free health screenings and nutrition and fitness information.

Mobile Food Pantry – Guadalupe Community Center Food Pantry distributes food to address food insecurity.

For more information, call Parish Outreach at (210) 222-1294.

Military Relief

You sacrificed so much to serve us. It is our turn to serve you and your family.

Guadalupe Community Center hosts the Military Family Relief Program, a program that provides emergency financial assistance to lift a veteran from crisis to hopeful.

Financial assistance provided:

Rent assistance
Utility assistance
Material assistance

To qualify for services, be prepared to present a DD214 or VA Statement of Service. A CPS/SAWS Disconnect Notice or Landlord Notice to Vacate also needed to qualify.

For more information, contact the Guadalupe Community Center Military Family Relief Program at (210) 226-6178.

Tax Preparation

Financial independence paves the way for a secure and self-sufficient future.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program provides free tax preparation for individuals and families who earn less than $55,000. Volunteers receive 20 hours of IRS-Certified training to process tax refunds back to hard working San Antonians.

The Guadalupe Community Center VITA office also provides free ITIN processing, a $150 value, that provides clients with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to those who do not have a Social Security Number paving a way to employment and tax payment.

Catholic Charities is also the only organization to provide a VITA Mobile Team that provides free tax preparation services to businesses with employees earning less than $55,000 annually.

For more information, contact the Guadalupe Community Center VITA office at (210) 222-2975.

Mobile Relief

Chasing Hope and Faith is more than an action. It’s something for us all to live by as we serve others in our community and beyond.

The Mobile Relief Unit, affectionately named Hope by the community, provides helping hands to our brothers and sisters in crisis with immediate assistance and humanitarian aid to address food insecurity, homelessness, and disaster relief.

The mobile relief fleet has expanded to offer a Mobile Shower Trailer, named Faith, comprised of two shower, toilet, and sink stalls and a two unit washer/dryer to provide individuals and families with the dignity of refreshing their body and their spirit following crisis.

Hope and Faith are on the way! The Mobile Relief Unit provides humanitarian aid to our community as well as our neighbors affected by disaster. To request Hope or Faith to assist those who needs us most, please call Community Outreach at (210) 226-6178.

Interpreter and Translation Services

Interpreter and Translation Services provides quality translation services to empower newcomers and overcome language and cultural barriers on their path to self-sufficiency.

Interpreter and Translation Services (ITS) provides affordable, quality translation services of over 50 languages and over 20 cultures to our community. Our interpreting services offer translation in a variety of settings while also considering cultural differences.

ITS provides face-to-face and telephone interpretation for American Sign Language, simultaneous or concurrent translation, and consecutive interpretation for clients needing assistance in the medical, legal, and educational environments.

For more information or to schedule Interpreter and Translation Services, call (210) 222-1294.

Guadalupe Community Center

Catholic Charities can help. In your most desperate moment, we will welcome and embrace you with love. Guadalupe Community Center provides emergency assistance to prevent homelessness, address food insecurity, and reduce poverty.

Guadalupe Community Center Food Pantry provides immediate food assistance including canned goods, dry goods, dairy products, meat, bread and pastries, and even fresh produce from our own St. Phocas Garden.

St. Phocas Garden – Guadalupe Community Center maintains an organic garden on San Antonio’s west side. Staff and volunteers grow lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and other vegetables to supplement non-perishable food and add nutritional value addressing food insecurity among the poor in the community.

40 Cans for Lent – During Lent, March 6 – April 19, 2019 Catholic Charities collects canned food to feed the hungry in San Antonio. Gather your community for a food drive TODAY! To request a food collection bin, contact Tom Hoog

Clothes Closet – New and gently used clothing, shoes, small household items, and hygiene products are accepted and provided to those in need.

Emergency Financial Assistance – One-time emergency financial assistance is available to prevent homelessness and utility disconnection as well as provide financial coaching and budgeting assessment for income-eligible individuals and families.
*Eviction notice and/or utility disconnection notice required.*

Military Family Relief Program – Case management is provided to veteran military members and their immediate families to prevent homelessness and utility disconnection.

Parish Hotline – Priests are encouraged to call the Parish Support Line 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for emergency financial assistance, material assistance, and access to resources.

Project Cool – Bexar County seniors, age 60 and above, and disabled individuals are eligible to receive FREE 20” box fans during the hot summer months to reduce heat-related illness and death. Fans are provided between June and September. Donations are accepted at Guadalupe Community Center and San Antonio Fire Department stations throughout San Antonio (except at the Airport).

For more information regarding services and donations, call or visit the Guadalupe Community Center at (210) 226-6178 or 1801 W. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. during business hours, Monday-Friday, 8am-12pm, 1pm-4pm.

Guadalupe Home

Guadalupe Home can transform the lives of a mother and child from homeless to hopeful.

Guadalupe Home is a transitional shelter for pregnant and parenting mothers and their babies who find themselves homeless. Rather than provide emergency shelter for a night or two, we offer a safe, long-term, no-cost home for pregnant and parenting mothers of children under the age of three who are interested in making a change for a hopeful future.

Our goal is to provide basic needs while a mother works toward self-sufficiency by getting an education, finding a job, and saving money for the next step in her journey.

Applicants interested for consideration should contact Guadalupe Home at (210) 476-0707.

Our Impact: Providing Hope at Guadalupe Home

Kellen arrived at Guadalupe Home as a single mom two years ago. She was parenting a young child when she began dating a man with whom she considered sharing a future. Until one fateful night, that same man, whom she loved, was drunk and abusive with her and her child. While she was ready to end the relationship immediately, she found herself thrown a series of unfortunate events. Her ex-husband filed for custody of her child due to the isolated incident of abuse. She grew increasingly depressed with her situation. And, then she learned she was pregnant.

Our young mother decided at that moment that it was time for a change. Kellen had a strong commitment to learn how to be a happy and healthy family for her newborn and break the cycle of abuse and neglect. She found Guadalupe Home where she applied and interviewed to live and learn a new way of life.

Kellen immediately felt welcome and safe in her new home. She settled into life with the other mothers quickly as they became a source of support and encouragement. Staff and parent educators taught her about development milestones beginning at birth. Kellen says, “I didn’t know how to handle my child crying. Now I know how to comfort and manage my four year old and how to handle a fussy toddler in a happy and healthy way. I want to raise her with confidence and Guadalupe Home helped me understand my child better so that I could respond as a better mother.”

Guadalupe Home provided various resources, including education, to empower Kellen for a brighter, hopeful future. She had access to a resource room to search for jobs, attended financial literacy classes, and even participated in counseling sessions to help her heal. In our home, she is allowed to stay until her child reaches three years of age giving her ample time to get a formal education or save money for a hopeful future.

“This is my chance to get better safely, away from the men who have hurt me or my child. Staff is so wonderful. Anything I have asked, they have helped me. None of us are the same and we each get personalized care to help us stand on our own two feet. All of us even received Christmas gifts that I knew I could not provide to my children. Even I got a gift! I’m truly happy and optimistic about my future.”

Fandango Under the Stars

Guadalupe Home continues to exist because of those who believe in the hope that mothers and their babies receive here. Are you one of these people? Or, do you want to know more about Guadalupe Home? Come join us for Fandango Under the Stars, a western-themed night with boot scootin’ fun for the whole family to support the families at Guadalupe Home. Contact Amy McDowell at (210) 222-1294 for more information.

Seton Home

Once a pregnant or parenting mother and child arrives on our doorstep, a team of professionals welcome her with love and compassion to immediately address her trauma and put her on a path to healing.

At Seton Home, we serve pregnant and parenting girls ages 12-17 who have been placed in our home because of abuse and neglect.

While in our care, mothers and babies receive:

Safe shelter
Basic needs
Education and early childhood development
Counseling
Parenting education

Community outreach services include individual counseling and case management services for parents of young children and victims of crime.

For more information, visit our website at www.setonhomesa.org or call (210) 533-3504.

Plant a Seed of Hope

We invite you to join us for this year’s Seton Home Gala in the Garden, a night to learn more about what makes our home for healing so special. This night goes a long way in helping pregnant and parenting teen mothers and their children. By sponsoring the event, you help us fund safe shelter, compassionate counseling, quality education, and parenting support services for a young mother on her way to healing. This is a beautiful event to celebrate our mothers and embrace them with support and encouragement.

Contact Amy McDowell at (210) 222-1294.

St. PJ's Children's Home

The moment a child arrives at St. PJ’s Children’s Home, we engage in breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect.

With over 125 years of caring for children, St. PJ’s Children’s Home has a unique understanding of providing a safe, nurturing environment for children in crisis and the value of keeping families together following trauma.

Our goal is to provide a safe and loving home to children facing challenges as a result of neglect and abuse.

In our care, children receive:

Safe shelter
Basic needs
Education
Counseling

Other services include:

Domestic Program – Short-term emergency shelter for children from birth to 17 years who are victims of neglect and abuse and are under the protection of Child Protective Services.
International Program – Short-term emergency shelter for unaccompanied children ages 6-17 years.
International Foster Care Program – Short-term foster care for unaccompanied children ages 0-12 years.

Community Counseling – Mental health assessment and counseling for children and adults with a specialty in healing psychological and emotional trauma. Also provides in-home counseling for children and families.

Mental Health Task Force – Education for mental health professionals on mental diagnosis and treatment to help our community understand the impact of trauma on children.

Family First Parenting Program – Counseling, education, resource referrals, and material assistance to support individuals with children ages 0-24 months.

For more information, visit our webpage at www.stpjhome.org or call (210) 533-1203.

Come Fiesta with us!

We are approaching the 17th Annual Red Shoes Fiesta and we want YOU to join us! The Red Shoes Fiesta is inspired by a young girl who dreamed of returning home in the red shoes her grandmother gave her as a promise to be reunited one day soon. This event benefits St. PJ’s Children’s Home, where we seek to break the cycle of abuse and neglect one child at a time.

Please considering supporting our work by becoming a sponsor at the event to fund the safe shelter, compassionate counseling, quality education, and even social activities of our children as we walk with them on their journey to healing.

For more information contact Amy McDowell at (210) 222-1294.

San Antonio Birth Doulas

San Antonio Birth Doulas is uniquely qualified to care for a mother from pregnancy through birth and the postpartum period while promoting mother and baby bonding from conception onward.

Doulas are educated and trained in non-medical ways to support women and their partners with one-on-one prenatal care, assistance during labor and birth, postpartum care, and breastfeeding support.

Our goal is to encourage responsible parenting through education, parenting program referrals, and access to social support.

Positive birthing experiences for mental and emotional wellness of the mother begin here through:

Education on the birthing process, infant care, and breastfeeding
In-home visits to assist the needs of a mother’s emotional state to effectively treat postpartum depression and anxiety
Infant care assessment and education
Encourage a lifetime of love and compassion for the baby

For more information, contact San Antonio Birth Doulas at (210) 222-0988.