Celebrating a Year of Compassionate Service
On June 24, 2016, volunteers, donors, and staff gathered at Cafe Vermilionville to celebrate another year of compassionate service at the Catholic Services of Acadiana’s Annual Meeting. During the Annual Meeting we shared our new Core Values, presented an update on our extensive work in rehousing, and honored our hard working volunteers and generous donors. Bishop Michael Jarrell received the Benevolence Award for his humble dedication and continuous support raising funds for CSA through Opus Christi Magnum and his personal investment in our work. St. Pius X Church and School (pictured above) received the Msrg. Sigur Legacy Award for their exceptional initiative, leadership and commitment in establishing various in-kind donation and volunteer opportunities that are aligned with our mission and enhance the lives of the people we serve. In addition to their volunteer efforts, St. Pius X Church has been a long time and major financial supporter of our work.
In an annual report of development, Director of Operations, Eric Gammons spoke about our efforts to end homelessness and expressed gratitude for the many community partners who help us achieve this goal, “without our shared values and common understanding of the dignity of the human person, progress towards ending homelessness in Acadiana would be impossible. Each day we are improving our programs to better serve people experiencing poverty, hunger and homelessness - we want those experiences to be rare and brief when they do occur.” A notable update this year was CSA’s work towards ending veteran homelessness in our community. This year marked a 90% decrease in our region in veteran homelessness over the past 10 years. The work of St. Michael Center for Veterans has played an critical role in this significant decline.
We look forward to another year of providing compassionate service to those in need, alongside our community partners and dedicated volunteers and donors. Without your continued support of our work our impact would not be as far-reaching.