Catholic Charities 2025 Fall Employee Newsletter

In Loving Memory

Jim Pankratz

For those who didn’t know Jim, he joined Catholic Charities in 1977 as a therapist, working in our Milwaukee offices for many years. He had a long and impactful career, not only supporting our clients but also mentoring new clinicians and interns. His expertise, wisdom and compassion will be deeply missed.

Jim last visited the Milwaukee office on August 29 and left staff with these words of wisdom: “It’s all about kindness. Everything else is noise. We’re all weird. Don’t judge, just help.”

Meet Our New Staff!🤩

Luz graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work from Marian University in Fond du Lac and started at the agency in May. She was born in Chicago and spent five years living in Mexico before returning to the U.S. For the past eight years she has resided in Fond du Lac and has really come to love being part of the community.

Before joining Catholic Charities, she worked for two years at the Holy Family Warming Shelter, where she supported individuals experiencing homelessness. During college, she volunteered with organizations like the Fondy Food Pantry, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Teen Court and the Community Youth Advocate Summer Program, where she worked alongside county social workers and local police officers. All of these experiences deepened her commitment to serving others — especially those who are most in need.

"I’m very grateful to Catholic Charities for the opportunity to continue this work. I especially value being able to support Spanish-speaking individuals, helping them feel welcomed, understood and supported. Through this role, I’ve been able to learn even more about the resources available in our area and how we can make a real difference in people’s lives."

In Luz's free time, she loves listening to music and baking her favorite desserts.

Tiru joined the finance department in June bringing 17 years of experience in information systems and HMO billing at Aurora Health Care. She is originally from Ethiopia and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with a degree in Business Administration, majoring in Finance.

Tiru is married and blessed with three children. In her free time, she loves spending quality time with her family, serving in different roles at her church and traveling.

Edith started as an Office Assistant at SAO in June. She brings more than three years of experience in human services to Catholic Charities and has an associate degree in Criminal Justice. Edith was born and raised in Sheboygan and is a proud mom of two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, going on runs and spending time with her family.

In June, Sophie moved to Milwaukee and started at MAO a week later! She graduated from The Ohio State University with her bachelor's degree in social work in May 2024. She brings her year of case management experience in housing and is excited to continue her journey here at Catholic Charities. Sophie has enjoyed being able to work in an environment of child welfare that also follows Catholic Social Teaching. She is outgoing and is always looking for creative ways to help out clients in need.

Outside of work, Sophie enjoys exploring and doing new things, such as cooking, crocheting, writing, and other DIY projects! She also enjoys snuggling up with her cat, Nugget, and watching sitcoms.

In August, Laura joined the Advancement team as the Advancement Operations Coordinator at CAO. She brings over six years of development, communications, and nonprofit experience to Catholic Charities. She graduated from Cardinal Stritch University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Theater.

Laura is excited to join the team and support impactful service to those in need. She is a Wisconsin native and lives in Milwaukee with her husband and their young son. They love spending time together, adventuring to the zoo and museum, exploring parks, and visiting with family and friends.

Welcome Back! 👏

Maggie joined Catholic Charities in September as a Mental Health Therapist at MAO after completing nine months as a graduate intern with the agency. She recently graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin with a Master of Science in Education, specializing in Professional Counseling. Before entering the counseling field, she earned a degree in education and taught high school English in Milwaukee and Tianjin, China. Alongside her work as a teacher and her path toward earning her LPC-IT, Maggie has also spent the past 12 years serving in a variety of ministerial roles within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

She lives in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood with her partner, Shayna, their dog Dottie, and their cat Mozzarella. Outside of work, Maggie enjoys going to concerts to discover new music, browsing thrift shops for hidden gems and curling up in an armchair with a good book.

Hasnah returned to Catholic Charities in July as a Refugee Community Outreach Specialist. She brings more than 17 years of expertise working with migrants and refugee populations to Catholic Charities RIS. Hasnah and her family were relocated to the United States as refugees. She can speak more than seven languages and is culturally proficient.

Congratulations! 🎉

We are excited to announce that, Claire Reuning, one of our talented team members has received a promotion. With refugee services growing under her leadership, she has been promoted to Director of Refugee Services and Associate Director of Refugee and Immigration Services.

Claire reflects, "I’m excited for this new title because it shows the growth of our program. It was hard to shut down the refugee resettlement program in 2018 and when we started new refugee integration services, I didn’t really know exactly our services would be. We started by listening to the community and we haven’t stopped. I’m proud of the way our in-home education program, multilingual videos, virtual classes, and case management really reflect the needs of the people we serve. I couldn’t work with better people and firmly believe that the ways in which our volunteers and clients positively impact each other’s lives speaks to the power of community integration. While many refugee, agencies are shutting down programs, we’re going strong.”

Please join us in celebrating her new role!

Special Moments & Partnerships 🫂

St. John Evangelist and Blessed Trinity donate to support Sheboygan Counseling

Our gratitude goes to Catholic Communities of St. John Evangelist and Blessed Trinity. Through their Lenten Almsgiving, they showed support for our Sheboygan Community Counseling program with a generous donation!

We are so grateful for their partnership and support to provide such important services to individuals, children and families in Sheboygan County.

United Way Dodge County donate to support Outreach in Dodge County

United Way of Dodge County recently visited our Beaver Dam site and met with Tracey Denny (Beaver Dam Outreach Case Manager) and Sue Howland (Director of Outreach & Case Management).

They were able to share the key role Catholic Charities plays for neighbors in Dodge County. Providing guidance, resources, and hope to neighbors in need while treating every person with dignity. United Way Dodge County proudly presented a check to support our mission of walking alongside individuals and families on their journey to stability.

Barb Graham presents at Holy Apostles Catholic Parish

Holy Apostles in New Berlin recently hosted an event on immigration issues as part of their on-going series looking at immigration in light of Catholic Social Teaching. Over 125 people came to an early Saturday morning presentation by our very own, Barb Graham (Director of Refugee and Immigration Services), focusing on the myths surrounding immigration. Holy Apostles also included two breakout questions on Catholic Social Teaching. The presentation followed with a Q+A with Barb and the audience.

Ambassadors supporting our mission in a tee-rific way

Thank you to our friend and longtime supporter, Michael Bloedorn, and his friends for representing Catholic Charities annually at the United Way Washington County Emerging Leaders Golf Outing!

Michael shared with us that three other agencies, Friends, Casa Guadalupe and Elevate commented what a good partner Catholic Charities is in Washington County. "It was a beautiful and fun day. I'm proud to represent Catholic Charities." — Michael

Outreach Team Meeting

The Outreach & Case Management team spans 10 counties so any time they can be in the same room together is special. Recently they gathered to talk about updates on casefiles and review forms, exchange information about resources, get feedback from each other about cases, and use it as networking for community programs or resources others might not be aware of.

Great food, great company and even better conversations

Claire Reuning and Refugee & Immigration Services volunteers got together at, Ni Burmese, a Burmese restaurant in Bay View to share their volunteer experiences, swap tutoring tips and enjoy time with one another.

Know someone who wants to be part of something meaningful?

Community partners support Racine Counseling

With support from United Way Racine County, United Way of Wisconsin and Otto Bremer Trust, we can continue providing compassionate, culturally responsive mental health care for families and individuals in Racine County.

Exciting office update

Over the last couple of weeks, the Waukesha office has been undergoing some much-needed renovations. The project is funded in part by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund for accessibility and entryway updates.

Our office has remained open for clients throughout even the noisiest days. Thank you WAO staff!

Staff Out & About in the Community👋

It's been a busy and impactful summer! Thank you to all our staff for taking the time to attend resource fairs and community events. Sharing information about our programs and services with prospective clients, community partners and parishes is so important. We can't do it without you!

📍UMOS Job and Resource Fair, Milwaukee

📍COA Goldin Center Summer Kick Off Event, Milwaukee

📍Latin American Fiesta at Corpus Christi Parish, Waukesha

📍Boys and Girls Club Back-to-School Fair, Fond du Lac

📍Pearls for Teen Girls Block Party, Milwaukee

📍Boys and Girls Club Back-to-School Resource Fair, Hartford

The self-care kits we did in collaboration with United Way Washington County to support youth mental health were a big hit!

📍Resource Fair, Beaver Dam

📍Breaking the Silence Community Conversation, Sheboygan

📍Marian University Student Resource Fair, Fond du Lac

Student volunteers visit the ADC 🏡

It's that time of year again! The Matthew 25 volunteer group from Good Shepherd Catholic Church had their annual visit at our Adult Day Center. The group played table games with our members and did a wonderful job cleaning up our garden and patio area. The ADC staff and participants are grateful for their hard work and generous hearts.

This is what it's all about❣️

This summer, a community member reached out wanting to rent their property to an immigrant or refugee family. Zunen had been living with a friend but had hopes of finding her own place but unfortunately, everything she could afford was in neighborhoods that she didn’t feel safe in. Claire connected the two of them and helped Zunen throughout the process.

Catholic Charities was able to help Zunen partially furnish the home thanks to donations, including a brand-new dryer! Zunen moved in in August and is loving it. It’s a beautiful home in a great location and most importantly she feels safe. Her son Dayron has settled into his new school and Zunen has become fast friends with one of her neighbors. "We couldn’t have asked for a better situation." Zunen says. Her next goal is her own car!