About Us

Our Story

Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle enjoys a rich history of promoting the common good for those most in need of help. Bishop Rudolph A. Gerken, the first Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo, established the agency on Aug. 15, 1932, as Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Amarillo. Catholic Charities partnered with the Amarillo Community Chest in the mid-‘30s Dust Bowl era to provide food and clothing in a city of 50,000. As Amarillo has grown and matured, so has the agency.

The name, along with the leadership, has adapted to best fit the needs of our community. With the help of our team, volunteers, stakeholders, and donors, we fight poverty in several of its many forms: food insecurity, poor vision, lack of English language proficiency, and a lack of cultural understanding. We open doors of opportunity for legal immigrants, for young adults via tutoring and mentoring, and for citizenship. Most recently, the organization took the name Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle in 2012. We were formerly known as Catholic Family Service, a moniker that has been around so long, we are still called that and a few variations that mix both versions.

Today’s Catholic Charities continues to “Provide Help and Create Hope” for those in need throughout the Texas Panhandle. We are actively looking for ways to better serve people outside of the Amarillo and Canyon area. The agency partners with numerous organizations and businesses to maximize our ability to serve our community. For example, we are a proud program provider for the United Way of Amarillo & Canyon through our Catholic Charities InterFaith Hunger Project. Near the bottom of each program page, you will find a list of the major supporters of each program.

Your Support Changes Lives

Please consider a donation to Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle and help us help others.

Our Donate Now button will take you to a page where you can provide a general unrestricted gift for our organization as a whole, gifts restricted to specific programs, or support our disaster relief efforts. We know all too well the devastating effect poverty can have on people, whether they experience generational poverty or situation poverty. So, too, can a lack of knowledge or understanding due to language or cultural barriers.

Throughout the years, we have all seen first-hand how unexpected external factors like pandemics, floods, tornados, and fires, can move people from a stable situation to one that is inexplicably untenable in literally seconds. We need you to as a partner so we are there, ready to help, when the needs arises.

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Volunteer

Group of young adults putting their hands into a stack

Woman in hijab smiling at table with two other people

Volunteer handing box of groceries to woman

Our Guiding Principles

Value Statement

Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle, believes in providing compassionate service administered with faith, integrity, honesty and respect.

Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Human life is sacred and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.

Call to Family, Community, and Participation

The person is not only sacred, but social. How we organize our society in economics and politics, in law and policy, directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. People have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and the well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

Rights and Responsibilities

Human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgement (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and the vulnerable first.

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected.

Solidarity

We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world.

Care for God’s Creation

We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is a requirement of the Catholic faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.