Catholic charities of southern minnesota is a 501(c)3 organization serving the poor and vulnerable, advocating for social justice, and inspiring all people to serve their neighbors in need in the…

Catholic charities of southern minnesota is a 501(c)3 organization serving the poor and vulnerable, advocating for social justice, and inspiring all people to serve their neighbors in need in the twenty southernmost counties of minnesota since 1947. We serve all without regard to religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation. Our programs include; the active aging programs (common good retired and senior volunteer program, health and wellness programs, age well at home), the volunteer income tax assistance program, guardian/conservator services, medication application service, counseling, emergency assistance, disaster recovery assistance, parish social ministry, refugee resettlement, financial literacy, adoption services, and pregnancy and parenting counseling. Common good rsvp will mobilize 1,115 rsvp volunteers in sixteen southern MN counties (MN-03 -- minnesota counties of brown, blue earth, dodge, fillmore, houston, goodhue, LE sueur, mower, nicollet, olmsted, rice, steele, wabasha, waseca, watonwan, and winona) of which 1,095 will be placed in outcome-based assignments contributing to cncs national performance measures. The primary focus area is healthy futures (810 volunteers provide transportation, home delivered meals, companionship, support at food pantries and evidence-based adult education). Additional focus areas include economic opportunity (70 volunteers provide tax assistance and home modifications and repairs), education (190 volunteers provide k-12 classroom support), and veterans (25 volunteers provide evidence-based education to veterans). At the end of the three-year grant, common good rsvp volunteers in will serve a minimum of 6,190 individuals who will report; increased capacity to live independently, increased food security, safe and affordable housing, increased health knowledge, and increased academic engagement or social-emotional skills. Additionally, $800,000.00 in tax returns will be generated. The cncs federal investment of $235,443.00 will be supplemented by $239,929.00 non-federal resources. The return on federal investment is $215.00 per rsvp volunteer placed in outcome-based national performance measures, significantly less than the $1,000.00 federal investment per rsvp volunteer required by cncs.