Want to Connect?
If your parish, school or other organization would like to learn more about how you can engage with Catholic Social Services, please contact Parish & Community Relations Coordinator Mike Hoendorf at (937) 223-7217 ext. 1141.
By Mike Hoendorf
I am humbled and blessed to have begun serving as the Parish and Community Relations Coordinator here at Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley in May. Coming from previous roles as a Campus Minister at Chaminade Julienne High School and as Youth and Young Adult Minister at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Springboro, I am very excited to continue to focus on building stronger and more well-rooted relationships with more than 80 Catholic Parishes, four Catholic High Schools, and many other important community organizations and partners in our service area.
In the coming months, we will be partnering with local parishes, churches, and organizations to give them new opportunities to learn more about how Catholic Social Services serves the Miami Valley, how individuals and groups can get involved with our great work, and how we can build stronger relationships between the many different community partners and the CSSMV organization.
One of those exciting new opportunities is a poverty simulation created by Think Tank, Inc., called COPE (Cost Of Poverty Experience). COPE gives participants the opportunity to walk in the shoes of our neighbors who live in poverty, and learn how relationships are the key to helping others rise out of poverty. The experiential nature of this training helps organizations and communities more deeply understand the complexities of poverty, paving the way to address the issues more comprehensively.
CSSMV will be working to make the COPE experience available in the coming year through partnerships with community organizations, parishes, and churches. More information will be available in the winter issue of Good News, so stay tuned!
If your parish, school or other organization would like to learn more about how you can engage with Catholic Social Services, please contact Parish & Community Relations Coordinator Mike Hoendorf at (937) 223-7217 ext. 1141.
Mike Hoendorf has strong ties in the community. After graduating from Chaminade Julienne High School, he earned an associate’s degree in Business Administration from Sinclair Community College, an undergraduate degree in Management from Wright State University, and his Master of Pastoral Ministry from the University of Dayton.
The July 7, 2023 groundbreaking marks the beginning of construction on a 6,500 square foot addition to the existing building which was originally built in the mid-1960s. The addition will have new space for the agency’s emergency food pantry, an elevator, a new entrance and Welcome Center, and a community room.