Catholic Charities of Omaha hopes to end all government contracts by 2018

[Heddi]

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/catholic-charities-of-omaha-hopes-to-end-all-government-contracts/article_1189379f-3dfb-53f2-8bb5-e940b8e1d3e0.html

More Catholic, more charity, less funding that comes with strings attached.

That’s the new vision for Catholic Charities of Omaha as it aims to do away with all its government contracts and grants by 2018.

The move by the charitable arm of the Archdiocese of Omaha comes in the wake of officials’ decision last year to pull out of addiction recovery and mental health services. Government reimbursements of more than $9 million failed to keep up with the cost of those services, officials said, and government contracts came with requirements that board members felt ran afoul of the charity’s Christian mission.
..
Catholic Charities of Omaha announced last year that it was getting out of addiction treatment, citing cost and government regulations — including a local ordinance that bans job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

..
rowning said for Catholic Charities of Omaha, the question was not “Has the government already restricted us?” but “Can it?”

Nine of the organization’s contracts with governments specifically restricted proselytizing or “inherently religious activity,” which would include prayer and worship, Browning said. One other contract, for immigration services, banned discriminating against clients for their sexual orientation, though Catholic Charities said those services were and will continue to be open to anyone.

“Limitations on evangelizing really drove this decision,” Browning said. “It takes a strong leader to say ‘no’ to money that’s out there in order to stay true to the mission of the organization.

[Heddi]

1. Catholic Charities of Omaha pulling away from government support

http://www.ketv.com/article/catholic-charities-of-omaha-pulling-away-from-government-support/9122993

At the event, organizers said that fundraisers are more important than they've ever been as there's less funding to go around. They also said some government rules are tough to work around. Catholic Charities of Omaha hopes to end all government contracts and grants by 2018.

"Since we're not a hospital, we don't have other services to subsidize the shortfall we get from government funding. It presented a real challenge," said Bob Guina, the board chariman of Catholic Charities of Iowa.

[trotsky]

2. "strings attached"

Like having to treat every human being like a human being.

Tough times for the Catholic church, being forced to do that. Poor, persecuted Christians.

[TlalocW]

3. If you're making all these excuses to not do charity

Then you were never really interested in helping people in the first place. Jesus would be so proud.

TlalocW

[trotsky]

4. Exactly.

Making sure people live by their rules was more important.