By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 11/20/03)

For Steven Luteran, executive director of Catholic Charities (CCDA), the experience of assuming office has been a "trial by fire." Apart from the challenge of being the first lay director in the agency’s history, Luteran began his new job when the agency was experiencing an unprecedented budget crisis for the new fiscal year.

Luteran officially took office on June 25, 2003, five days before the close of the fiscal year on June 30, when Catholic Charities announced $750,000 budget deficit.

"It’s a tough way to begin," Luteran said. "But beginning in the midst of a crisis brought home to me the reality of the people we serve — people who deal with crises on a daily basis. It also made me more prayerful, and very appreciative of the people in this diocese who support us, financially and as volunteers."

While CCDA officials were anticipating a deficit, all were shocked at the numbers.

When auditors completed a review of revenue from fiscal year 2002/2003, Luteran said they learned that every campaign brought in significantly reduced figures from the year before, with operating costs in excess of $500,000 over revenues. In addition to falling short on figures from the CCDA Ball, the Christmas collection, the agency’s second largest campaign, fell from the previous year by more than $100,000. In addition, Luteran said, individual parish donations were down by 20 percent, and the annual United Way contribution was smaller than expected.

The combined total, he said, was staggering and compelled the agency to take drastic measures. To cope with the crisis, CCDA sent an emergency appeal letter, announced a hiring freeze, immediate layoffs and made targeted program cuts.

"At first we were shocked, then angry and in the end, sad," Luteran said. "These were extremely difficult decisions, especially to lay off some of our workers."

Rather than make horizontal cuts to programs across the board, CCDA officials made strategic cuts in services that were not operating at full capacity at Christ House and Hogar Hispano. According to Luteran, eliminating two social workers at Hogar Hispano the overnight shelter and have not affected other services, such as the food pantry, hot meals, emergency assistance and the thrift shop.

Although many people expressed shock at the sizeable deficit, Luteran said people responded with generosity to the appeal, with an amount totaling $175,000. Non-profits across the board, he said, have suffered from a weakened economy and mistrust due to scandals such as Enron.

According to a recent survey by Catholic Charities USA of 71 local agencies across the nation, nearly six out of 10 are experiencing similar difficulties and anticipate shortages in financial contributions over the holidays. With the decrease in private donations and government funding and increased demands for housing, emergency assistance and food, the survey reported that 59 percent of agencies believe it will be difficult to meet the needs of people they serve this holiday season.

In addition, Luteran said that in this diocese people have misunderstood how pledges to the "Rooted in Faith, Forward in Hope" campaign are distributed. Although $10 million of the campaign funds are earmarked for Catholic Charities, the funds are restricted amounts designated for a family shelter ($4.5million), an endowment fund ($5 million) and renovations for Christ House ($500,000).

Luteran believes the agency’s Christmas appeal will enable CCDA to meet t The collection will take place the weekend of Dec. 13-14. While it is too soon to evaluate how the agency’s status this year, he is confident that they will emerge from the crisis as a stronger agency. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners will be served as usual at Christ House.

"People in this diocese have shown that they believe in the work we do and we are not going away," he said. "This helps us to reevaluate how we do business. We have had to take a more critical look at how things are done. It has been a reminder that our work is sacrificial, and our mission is to serve the Gospel."