Exciting things are happening in Prairie du Chien! We welcomed Clarissa Oehler to our volunteer staff. She is a bilingual volunteer who is working in our Immigration Department. She just finished her sophomore year at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, majoring in Spanish and minoring in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and Cultural Studies. She enjoys photography and being outdoors. She is very excited to gain experience and work with everyone in the Prairie du Chien and La Crosse offices! We are so happy to have Clarissa join our team of volunteers! Did you know that we had over 22,000 volunteer hours at Catholic Charities in 2013? How lucky are we!

We are also currently working with Kathy Lund, former director of our local Faith in Action, to incorporate the program with our current programs in the Prairie du Chien office. When Faith in Action had to close their doors, it left a great void in services offered to our elderly and disabled community members. Services that were offered have gone mostly unmet during the nearly three months they have been closed. Their services included friendly visiting and companionship, transportation, shopping and errands, yard work, assistance with paperwork, and telephone reassurance. At Catholic Charities, we hope to absorb this wonderful program to continue to provide help and create hope for those in need!

Sandy Marx
Financial Wellness Advocate