Catholic Charities is built around a comprehensive approach to delivering services to those who need them most.

Catholic Charities is the instrument chosen by the Bishops and people of the Diocese of Buffalo to carry out, in large part, the human service mission of the Church of Western New York.

In 1923, Catholic Charities was an organization focused on feeding the poor. Now, ninety years later, Catholic Charities is built around a comprehensive approach to delivering services concentrated in the following areas:

  • Basic Needs & Emergency Services
  • Parish Based Services
  • Children’s Services
  • Immigration and Resettlement Services
  • Family Counseling
  • Senior Services
  • Workforce Development & Education
  • Behavioral Health

For more information, visit Catholic Charities online at www.ccwny.org

Diocese of Buffalo Fund for the Faith Ministries – Feeding the spiritual needs of the people of WNY since 1937.

How does Fund for the Faith support our community?

Here are two heartwarming stories on how Love and Prayer triumph over adversity.

A call came in that was a plea for help… A little girl, who lost her mother to a rare medical condition when she was just in Kindergarten, was on the verge of being asked to leave her Catholic school as her tuition payments were past due. She was in second grade at the time and, due to COVID, her dad worked in the service industry which had shut down for months. He did not know where to turn or what to do.

All he knew was that her school environment was keeping them both going. For the child, her school family took over for her biological family as a safe haven and provided tremendous support to her as she grieved. To her father, he knew he could count on the school administration to help care for her, educate her, love her and provide a safe and secure environment. Dad worked his entire day around walking her to school each morning as they had no car, and ensuring he was there at the end of her school day to walk her safely home. But Dad was not able to keep up with his tuition payments as the onslaught of COVID shut his place of business down for yet an extended period and a second time.

School had to have the difficult conversation with Dad asking him to look at other options for his little girl as his debt could no longer be overlooked. Fund for the Faith was able to step in and help this family with catching him up on his payments thereby allowing his little girl to remain in a school that she loved and that loved her in return.

Not only does Fund for the Faith support Catholic education but also Formation: formation of our seminarians, deacons and lay leaders of the Church. In this instance, we have a man who is on a path to becoming an ordained deacon soon.

He also has dedicated his entire life to service as a Buffalo Police Officer as well as to a Mercy Flight Supervisor. Mercy Flight literally appears from the sky to rescue and save people they transport in flight to a medical trauma center. This gentleman not only provides all the medical attention to keep someone alive but also prays with them in flight.

“We witness time and time again that when we pray with someone in their deepest darkest moments and near death’s door, something often times just happens. Vitals stabilize and the person and their body respond to our prayers. They don’t always survive but we know that we provided them with prayer and hope while we prayed, whatever the outcome.”

Fund for the Faith also supports thirteen ministries

1. Campus Ministry – provides spiritual and vocational support, faith formation and sacraments at public colleges and universities throughout the Diocese.

2. Catholic Education – provides leadership, direction, support services and curriculum development for Faith Formation programs and the Catholic elementary and high schools within the Diocese.

3. Communications – develops and maintains content for the Diocesan website, social media posts and the digital WNY Catholic. Provides public interface for television, radio and newspaper outlets.

4. Cultural Diversity – identifies ways for the entire Church to celebrate it rich ethnic tapestry, celebrating diversity as strength of our Faith.

5. Deaf Ministry – provides support for hearing impaired individuals including sign language at various worship services.

6. Diocesan Counseling Center – services the psychological and spiritual needs of our priests.

7. Diocesan & Parish Spiritual Renewal – address the re-vitalization of our Diocese and parishes within it as they address the catechesis of our people.

8. Formation of Priest & Deacons – assists those discerning a vocation and provides opportunities for ongoing spiritual renewal, faith enrichment and retreats for those ordained.

9. Hospital Chaplaincy – brings spiritual comfort and the sacraments to the sick and infirmed.

10. Marriage Prep – provides education and guidance for couples preparing for marriage.

11. Pro-Life: The Gianna Molla Center & The Mother Teresa Home – develops awareness and advocacy for the sacredness and sanctity of life in all stages, from the womb until natural death.

12. Seminarian Training – provides academic and theological education for our future priests.

13. Vicars for Priests – promotes the personal and ministerial well-being of both active and retired priests and religious of our diocese.