A Brief History of CCSWO
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio was created in 1914 by Archbishop Henry Moeller as the Bureau of Catholic Charities and Social Services of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It was created as a result of the flood of 1913 to help with recovery and assistance needs. Our services are open, utilized and available to people of all faiths.
CCSWO has provided a broad range of services since its inception. In the early years the staff worked closely with St. Vincent DePaul volunteers in providing material assistance for the poor, starting a long tradition of volunteer involvement, and was concerned with providing services for immigrant families coming to the new world. The Bureau became incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in February, 1924.
A Dayton branch office established in 1921 became a separate corporation in 1957. Other branches were developed to serve the 19 counties of the Archdiocese, including Hamilton in 1954 and Springfield in 1957. While the services have changed over the years, the commitment to meeting the needs of the community and providing quality services has remained.
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio exists as a non-profit, 501(c) 3 organization that is a separate corporation from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. CCSWO serves citizens of all faiths and religions. Our services are open to anyone in the community regardless of religion, race, gender, or national origin. CCSWO branch offices located in Delhi, Montgomery, Eastgate, and Brown County are home to 18 programs and social services for Adams, Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Clinton, Highland and Brown counties. Su Casa Hispanic Center, one of the region’s oldest social service agencies for the Hispanic and Latino communities in Cincinnati, is also under the umbrella of services provided by CCSWO. Our main offices are located at 100 E. 8th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Description of current programs/projects and activities
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio provides 20 programs and services to entire Southwestern Ohio area. We provide programs in the area of Children’s Services (Adoption, Foster Grandparents, RSVP); Adult Services (Caregiver Assistance Network, Home and Personal Care for the elderly/disabled, Refugee Resettlement, Senior Companions); Counseling and Education (Individual, Marital, Family, In-Home, Pregnancy and Post Adoptive Counseling, Enrichment Programs, Community Education classes, Postponing Sexual Involvement, and Rainbows, a program helping children deal with grief and loss); and Community Services (Jail Chaplaincy, Second Harvest Food Bank, W.E.P Program, SHAPE, DIVERSE, and Su Casa Hispanic Center).
Evidence of organization’s overall effectiveness
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio is accredited by the Council of Accreditation for Children’s and Family Services and certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and a United Way Agency. It is a charter member of the United Way organization and has been providing health and human services in the region for over 90 years. Over 40,000 individuals from the region were provided services, assistance or counseling in 2007. A total of 871 volunteers donated over 209,623 hours of their time to the agency in 2007.
Description of population and geographic region
Our programs are open to anyone regardless of race, religion or creed living in the Southwestern Ohio region. This includes the counties of Adams, Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Brown, Highland, Clark, Logan, Champaign and Warren including the cities of Cincinnati, Springfield, and Hamilton, Ohio, The population served by our programs reflects the region’s overall population in terms ethnicity and socio-economic factors.