CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Catholic Charities of Hawaii received $5 million yesterday from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, a local charity founded by the late businessman. Peter Ng, foundation trustee, signed a check for the donation yesterday. Foundation Executive Director Stevens Gilley, left, Catholic Charities Hawaii CEO Jerry Rauckhorst, foundation Vice Chairman Raymond Tam and Catholic Charities Hawaii board Chairman Rix Maurer III stood in the back.
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Catholic Charities gets $5M boost
For Ryan Santos, 20, the services of Catholic Charities are priceless.
"Catholic Charities gave me what I always wanted, to be loved and wanted and to have a family," he said.
Santos came into the agency's foster youth program at age 16 from a troubled past that included homelessness and abuse. He learned basic life skills such as how to manage finances and get a job, he explained.
Now, he's living independently, working and soon to be married.
Catholic Charities Hawaii serves more than 40,000 individuals like Santos each year in Hawaii, through various services and offices located on each major island.
COURTESY ILLUSTRATION / CATHOLIC CHARITIES
The donation will help pay for renovation at the new Catholic Charities Hawaii Clarence T.C. Ching Campus in Makiki. An artist's rendering is shown above.
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Those services received a major boost yesterday when the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, a local charity founded by the late businessman, chipped in $5 million to help pay for renovation at the new Catholic Charities Hawaii Clarence T.C. Ching Campus in Makiki.
"The foundation's trustees believe in the mission and vision of Catholic Charities Hawaii and have full confidence that the Makiki campus will carry on Clarence Ching's legacy to support services for our community's needy," said Peter Ng, foundation trustee.
The Makiki center is at the site of a recently acquired former Presbyterian Church on Keeaumoku Street. The $28 million project, funded by grants and donations from various corporate, nonprofit and government entities, is aimed at consolidating office space to make services more centrally accessible.
The new 2.2-acre Makiki campus will provide almost 40,000 square feet of office space for the Catholic Charities staff of more than 200.
"It will be much easier access for the clients who come to us," said Jerry Rauckhorst, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities Hawaii.
Currently, Catholic Charities maintains office space all over the island, at a cost of more than $500,000 annually.
Ng lauded Catholic Charities Hawaii for fulfilling the true meaning of "Catholic" as "universal" due to its "serving all those in need, including the homeless, the hungry, the abused ... regardless of their faith and culture."
