Catherine McAuley Center Receives CFAD Grant for Supportive Services for Refugees & Immigrants

Catherine McAuley Center (CMC) – Cedar Rapids recently received a St. Katharine Drexel Grant from The Catholic Foundation in the Archdiocese of Dubuque (CFAD) for its Supportive Services for Refugees & Immigrants program. The grant specifically supported CMC Kids ― free onsite childcare for children who are refugees and immigrants, which was part of the strategic plan for the organization. These children have a safe place to go while their parents access services at CMC to help parents acquire skills and knowledge to become more self-sufficient.

CMC Kids offers tangible tools to help families re-establish their lives in a new community. While parents receive assistance by staff, children can play and read with other staff members. “Some kids get super excited as they come into the building and try to sprint down the hall to get there as soon as possible,” said Mitch Geers, CMC’s supplemental services manager.

CFAD’s St. Katharine Drexel Grant helps Catholic organizations in the Archdiocese of Dubuque with new projects that provide a Work of Mercy needed in their area and/or new evangelization efforts to bring people closer to Christ and His Church. “This program has brought more clients into the building, increased access to services to parents with kids and has increased the quality of service parents receive by being able to focus on the reason they came to CMC, and not having to keep track of their child at the same time,” said Geers. He added, “This program wouldn't be at the place it is without community support. From grants to the dedicated volunteers helping out every day, it just wouldn't be possible.”

Photo: Kirk Sadilek, CFAD board member, left, and Michael Becker, CFAD operations manager, right, present the grant to Haley Rosendahl and Rachel Cohen, of CMC.