HCH photo by Anna Weaver

Workers put the final touches on Catholic Charities Hawaii’s new Clarence T.C. Ching Campus scheduled to be dedicated on March 31.

Catholic Charities settles into its new home

By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

HCH photo by Anna Weaver Catholic Charities president and chief executive officer Jerry Rauckhorst in front of the Program Center on the Clarence T.C. Ching Campus.

Outside it appears as a house of faith, a long, wide “A” frame, accompanied by a slender tower topped with a cross. Inside it’s a house of good works.

The former Protestant church is now the Catholic Charities Hawaii Program Center, the principal structure on the organization’s new 2.2-acre campus in Honolulu’s upper Makiki district. It is one of seven buildings to be blessed and dedicated on March 31, Wednesday of Holy Week, as the Clarence T.C. Ching Campus.

Since December, Catholic Charities has consolidated the operations of its four Honolulu locations at its new headquarters, about five minutes by car from downtown.

A new visitor may be surprised, or even disoriented, when entering the ex-church. Packed into a space that once held pews and an airy sanctuary are rows of fresh new offices and cubicles and counseling rooms. And that’s just the bottom level.

The entire length of the church interior has been split into two floors. The upper level is an expanse of more cubicles under a high pointed ceiling. From the ceiling hang air conditioning ducts and florescent light fixtures, all painted in the same shade of off-white, giving the area the appearance of a gleaming industrial loft.

At first glace, it looks a bit sterile and institutional as employees work at their desks, talk on phones, and stare into computer screens, but the sharp-cornered beige and glass workspaces have been warmed with pictures, flowers, fishbowls, pillows, lamps, and in a few places, brightly colored Mylar balloons.

It’s an essential human touch. These are mostly social workers, assisting society’s difficult cases, connecting with lives depleted by poverty, abuse, homelessness, disability, old age, addiction and relocation.

Soon, photos taken by children at Catholic Charities Maili Land transitional shelter, through an art program run by photography teacher Rusty Kent and his wife Mina, will decorate the blank walls.

Counseling rooms, tucked along both sides of the building’s slanted roof are cozy, welcoming environments each personalized by the counselor inside. In therapist Barbara Mullen’s room, two small lamps on side tables spread a soft glow over the small, coral-colored couch opposite her desk. Large friendly art prints decorate her walls.

Exciting advantages

Newest program is for children suffering trauma Catholic Charities Hawaii’s newest program is for children who have suffered trauma. It is called HI-IMPACT — Hawai‘i Interventions, Mentoring, and Partnerships Aimed at Child Trauma. The agency won a $400,000 three-year federal grant to join a national network of centers that provide services and support to children and families who have been exposed to such traumatic experiences as physical and sexual abuse, domestic, school and community violence, natural disasters and terrorism, and life-threatening injury and illness. “We’ve noticed a growing pandemic of child trauma,” said Catholic Charities president and chief executive officer Jerry Rauckhorst. “In many instances, children don’t have a voice to speak out about these issues, which can have a damaging effect on the rest of their lives.” HI-IMPACT will bring direct services to children and their families, using practices provided by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Catholic Charities Hawaii will offer workshops at various sites, plus personal consultations.

Jerry Rauckhorst, the president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities Hawaii, gave the Hawaii Catholic Herald a tour of the new facility on March 4.

There was a lot to see. The spacious L-shaped property had been the site of the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu which sold it to Catholic Charities in 2006. The location includes some smaller office buildings, a large hall, a two-story house, and a 12-unit apartment building, and parking.

About 170 people work here, all relocated from the other former Honolulu Catholic Charities locations.

Rauckhorst sees “exciting” advantages in the new center.

For Catholic Charities employees, previous around-town, inter-department shuttling can now be accomplished with a stroll down the hall or a hop up the stairs, saving time and energy.

It also means no duplication of reception areas, office copy machine and print centers, lunch rooms and other worksite necessities, Rauckhorst said.

That’s a “huge difference,” he said.

But the “real advantage,” the CEO said, belongs to the clients.

For them, it’s a one-stop shop. Before, those with multiple needs had to run from one location to another, often ending up in the wrong place. Now, for all services, there is a single front desk and one waiting room fronting a complete collection of services.

For those without cars, the No. 17 bus stops right across the street and busy Wilder Avenue is a block and a half away.

“We’ve got it all here, a full arena of programs and services,” Rauckhorst said. “And if Catholic Charities does not do it, we know who does.”

Owning the campus also means that Catholic Charities no longer has to pay rent for office space and has secure assets ensuring “longevity and the future of the organization.”

HCH photo by Anna Weaver

Catholic Charities Hawaii employees at work on the second floor of the Program Center on March 4. Inset, First Presbyterian Church before.

A hall, a house, an apartment

The Community Hall, an aptly-named 5,000-square-foot room with a stage and a commercial kitchen was getting a new floor on March 4. The facility had been available to outside groups for meetings, parties, conferences and classes since First Presbyterian days, and Catholic Charities wants to keep it that way.

Rauckhorst said that sharing the hall, which seats 475, is a great way to show others “Catholic Charities in action.”

Outside its hall’s entrance is a large, elevated open space, shaded by open slats, ideal for breezy mingling and outdoor meals.

Three more ordinary-looking buildings house more offices, cubicles and counseling rooms customized for the kind of client. Six classrooms in a row fill the space below the Program Center.

As a holdover from the previous tenant, the Honolulu Police Department uses one room as a substation. Catholic Charities welcomes the extra security.

“The neighborhood loves it, we love it,” Rauckhorst said. “They know us well. It is a great partnership.”

And old two-story house, formerly used by the outside organization Family Promise, will probably be replaced with a gathering area for staff for socializing and meals.

Behind it, an apartment building with 12 two-bedroom units will eventually be used for transitional housing, in particular for ordinarily hard-to-place persons like single mothers.

A big operation

The scope of the Catholic Charities enterprise is impressive. There is no other single office-based operation in the diocese this big. The chancery and St. Stephen Diocesan Center don’t come close.

Rauckhorst said that Catholic Charities, with a $27 million annual budget, is “safely” in the top five of the largest social service agencies in Hawaii, and is probably one of the top three.

It’s an image of the Catholic Church not often seen by the average parishioner. To witness its growth and success should make island Catholics proud. To know that it is run under the Gospel’s instruction to welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, feed the hungry and house the homeless should make them even prouder.

It is this “faith-driven” agenda that makes this organization stand apart from others, said Rauckhorst. “We are founded in faith.”

Catholic Charities has other exceptional attributes.

Like “the commitment to quality and values,” he said, and an openness to everyone who knocks.

“We don’t judge people,” he said, “We are non-judgmental.”

It may sound like a cliché, but one of Catholic Charities core objectives is “to help people help themselves.”

“We are not interested in creating dependency,” the CEO said, “We are there to enable, to make it happen.”

But it is not easy. Rising unemployment has created a huge need, Rauckhorst said, not only for financial assistance but also for help in combating the alcohol and drug abuse and the domestic violence that come with the stress of poverty.

“So the people who come to Catholic Charities have more complex situations,” he said. “There is not just one answer. Four to five interventions are required.”

Economic challenges

And while helping the poor is a “growth industry” in this bleak economy, there is less money around with which to do it. As the need increases, the funding has declined.

“In this economic climate, the challenge is to rise above that,” Rauckhorst said, “to not get paralyzed by the negativity.”

“We receive 80 percent government funding,” Rauckhorst said. “Yes, there are cuts, but there are also opportunities. We have lost dollars, but we have also gained contracts.” (See HI-IMPACT sidebar)

The move to and the renovation of the new headquarters came with a $28 million price tag, a cost being met with a capital campaign (see below).

“We are finding that there are dollars out there,” Rauckhorst said. “Plenty of people have wealth.”

But the economic uncertainty has made them nervous and anxious about parting with it.

“That’s a challenge,” Rauckhorst said. “But we feel very confident; we’ve mapped it all out.”

The campaign has already made around $18 million. It has aimed the remaining $10 million goal at selected targets — large grants, major donors, smaller donors and individuals. The aim is to finish up this year, hence the name of the final phase, “10 in ‘10” — $10 million in 2010.

Rauckhorst said is it necessary to wrap up the campaign this year so that Catholic Charities Hawaii can return its focus fully to why it is here: to help neighbors in need.