​Please join us in saying farewell to Celia Yapita, Chief Program Officer and Director of the Center for Refugee Support of Catholic Charities. After 10 years with our organization, Celia has elected to pursue a career change.

Celia began her career with Catholic Charities as a volunteer in our Refugee Resettlement program. She was soon hired as the program’s Volunteer Coordinator and served in several other positions in the agency over the years before being named Program Director in 2016. She then oversaw the program through a major transition when, in 2017, it shifted from resettlement to an ongoing support model. In 2018, Celia was promoted to Chief Program Officer.

​Her leadership, organizational skills and many partnerships and collaborations with the community were demonstrated throughout her career at Catholic Charities. One of her many memorable accomplishments was coordinating the Companions on the Journey effort in February – June 2019. By training and collaborating with organizations throughout the community, including the City of Albuquerque, this effort collectively helped thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing violence in their countries to reach safe homes with sponsors/family members throughout the United States. Our Board of Directors awarded Celia the “Hands of the Holy Spirit” award for her remarkable leadership in this initiative. In August 2020, Celia began an anti-racism workgroup in Catholic Charities to examine how the agency can better address racial injustice and inequality, both internally and within the greater community.

These are only a few instances of the outstanding contributions Celia has provided during her time with Catholic Charities. “We know that Celia will excel in her new position with the United Way of Central New Mexico, and we wish her well,” said Dolores Nunez, Chief Executive Officer for Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Catholic Charities, Dolores Nuñez, 505-724-4693, nunezd@ccasfnm.org
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ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO (August 26, 2021) Following its regularly scheduled meeting, the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced that Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director James Gannon has decided to retire from Catholic Charities after nearly 16 years of service. The Board of Directors has appointed Dolores Nunez, former Chief Administrative Officer for Catholic Charities, to the position of Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director.

​​“We would like to thank Jim for his leadership during his tenure with Catholic Charities. In 2006 Jim joined the organization and brought a fresh vision for the agency by creating Centers of Service, providing a structure and responsiveness in serving the most vulnerable in our community with dignity. Jim led the effort to build Catholic Charities’ community service center, Casa de Corazon, which provides services to approximately 20,000 individuals annually. Most recently, he created CC Housing, Inc. which partners with developers and funders nationwide to build affordable housing for New Mexico citizens. We wish Jim well in his retirement as he begins a new chapter in his life,” Don Kawal, Board Chair for Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe stated.

 8/25/2020 – Catholic Charities Addresses Ongoing Racial Justice Work

On June 17, 2020 Catholic Charities released a statement regarding the recent tragedies that brought to light the fears and injustices that Black Americans have faced every day for generations. In it, we stated our commitment to becoming a positive participant in addressing issues of racial injustice, both within our organization and in our larger community.

We have been meeting regularly with our staff to explore possibilities for how we can address racial injustice within Catholic Charities. All employees are invited to participate in he development of short-and-long term plans and goals for racial equity within our organization. With support from the Executive team and our Board of Directors, we have formed a work group to continue the discussion of how we will address issues of diversity, equality, inclusion and racial justice.

Goals outlined by our work group include:

- Educate staff on the historical context of current racial tension in the United States, including expanding organizational vocabulary to include terms relating to racial justice.
- Acknowledge and address systemic racism, and evaluate our policies and practices through an anti-racist lens.
- Examine our demographic data in our hiring process, board, and staff to more accurately reflect
the racial diversity of the community we serve.
- Look at stakeholder and collaborator relationships to ensure the inclusion and active support of
our Black, Indigenous, and POC* communities in all work we do.

We recognize that this conversation is ongoing, and that we are at the beginning of a cultural
shift. Our staff, collaborators, clients, and volunteers are vital contributors to this effort, and continue to provide
ideas and feedback about how we can improve our work. We commit to this work in an effort to Honor Human
Dignity, understanding that we cannot fully affirm the dignity inherent in every human life without recognizing
and working against racial injustice, both internally and within our community.

We welcome feedback from our community. To join the conversation, please visit
https://www.ccasfnm.org/feedback.html.
(*People of Color)
(Photo credit: Tara Armijo-Prewitt)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Center for Refugee Support is seeking volunteers for it’s Learning Partners program, which is apart of the International Club youth program.

The Learning Partners program was launched in response to the COVID-19 school closures that happened this past spring. With refugee youth struggling to learn material provided to them through virtual classrooms, Catholic Charities launched a partnership that helped all students engage with one another while providing tutoring support from Albuquerque Academy volunteers. The Center for Refugee Support is looking for volunteers to help tutor about an hour a week via Zoom.

Students in the program speak a variety of languages including Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Kirundi and Swahili. Being able to provide one-on-one support to help everyone navigate virtual learning with English language development support was critical to the education of these international students.

See the full story on KRQE here. 

See the full story in the Albuquerque Journal here.