The Job at Hand for Catholic Charities East Bay and its new CEO

No one charity has the ability to meet all of every region’s needs, especially one with limited revenue. New Catholic Charities East Bay Chief Executive Officer Mario Alioto aims to test that theory. He knows he doesn’t have Jesus’ ability to turn a few fishes and loaves into enough to feed thousands, but he passionately and energetically believes that Catholic Charities can expand its impact.

"I have to make sure that people within our circle, within our parishes, understand what Catholic Charities East Bay [is], who we are, what we do, and why they should care about it,” Alioto said. "We’re in your neighborhood.”

He senses his team’s focus involves not just the work itself, but communicating and evangelizing the local impact of all the services within Catholic Charities, and being ready to pivot the work when times and needs change. 

“We can’t provide more services unless we can drive more revenue to provide those services,” he said, and the need is greater than the resources. 

“So from a marketing standpoint, what intrigues me here is how do you take the work that we do, the passion of our staff, and to represent it in a way so people understand the mission and how they can share in that mission,” he explains.

Staying local

While Catholic Charitie ‘s own website proclaims its particular areas of focus, the key that Alioto wants to add to that message is how for 90 years, Catholic Charities – and the loving people who share their gifts and talents there – have anchored themselves in the East Bay and have acted as locally centered and as effectively as any group in the East Bay.“What we do locally is dependent on the needs of that particular community. So, in our case, Catholic Charities East Bay, we are a very local community-minded agency,” he said. 

“We’re right here in your community. We’re not operating on the East Coast. We’re operating here in your neighborhood...the need is a need that we see every day when we drive our cars or wherever you’re going in the Bay Area.”

Alioto says that need flows daily right to Catholic Charities East Bay’s very locale. People walk into the Concord, Oakland and Richmond offices on a regular basis seeking help. Alioto admits that these requests are “greater than the resources we have.” These are the resources he and his team aim to expand in collaboration with Catholics and others in the community.

The needs reflect many issues that more and more people in the local community experience on a daily basis.

“People need help because there’s a crisis in their life. Things happen all the time. It can vary for a number of reasons, but they may need help paying their utilities for a month or two, or help paying the rent for a little bit, or a security deposit on a new place. We help in those areas,” said Alioto. 

“We’re helping a number of folks in our community who want to become citizens, and they need help with filling out forms or getting a green card. On that path, citizenship is not an easy one, and we help navigate that process. On the counseling/mental health part of our work, we have therapists who work with school-age kids who may have issues at home or just need someone to talk to and to help navigate what they’re going through in their lives.”

Staying agile

While this is some of what Catholic Charities East Bay does today, Alioto wants Catholic Charities to stay agile, mobile and adaptable to how societies and communities change and how peoples’ needs change.

“We’ve been around, we’ve done good work, but how do we shift now to get us prepared for the future?” he asked.

“We’re not sure what the need will be tomorrow, and I think one of the legacies of Catholic Charities East Bay is that we recognize where the problem is, fix the problem where we can, and move on to the next problem that may present itself,” he explained. “It’s important that we talk to the parishes, meet with the priests and see where the need is, and also understand what other agencies are doing, and then find out where the void is.” 

But Alioto reminds those who think about donating to Catholic Charities East Bay that such organizational flexibility and focus all remains under the simple goal of being Christ’s love for the least of these, and in maximizing Catholic Charities’ impact in that pure mission of faith for people we see everyday.

“You either can turn the other way and walk across the street, or you can be the Good Samaritan,” he said. 

“We want to be an agency that [acts] with a kind heart and with real answers for people. We’re on the ground doing the work where the need is, and I think that’s pretty special.”

To help empower Catholic Charities of East Bay, visit cceb.org.