Kimberly James Boudreaux, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Acadiana, shares the expansion of services offered by her organization on this episode of Discover Lafayette.

Kim has dedicated her life to being in service to others. As a young adult, she sold all her possessions and traveled abroad to work as a missionary, including time spent with Mother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity.

Our community has been blessed to have Kim Boudreaux at the helm of Catholic Charities of Acadiana, while she raises her young family with her husband, Matt. This is our second interview with Kim; you can hear our first podcast here.

In the three years since our first talk, Catholic Charities has greatly expanded the services it offers, having opened the doors to The Emily House in 2018 which offers an emergency shelter for homeless women and children. They have added new responsibilities by taking over the Immigration Services and Deaf Action Center formerly run by the Diocese, as well as assuming management of FoodNet Food Bank and Rebuilding Together Acadiana.  In 2019, Catholic Charities also became entrepreneurs by taking over ownership of Crossroads Catholic Bookstore, which is now known as Crossroads Collective. 

The organization has traditionally taken care of our most vulnerable neighbors through outreach efforts such as disaster response, as well St. Joseph Diner, St. Joseph Shelter for Men, St. Michael Center for Veterans, the Stella Maris Center, and the Monsignor Sigur Center.

Between the COVID shutdown and the disastrous hurricanes that hit Southwest Louisiana, the detrimental effects upon incomes, employment, and housing stability have been devastating. The face of homelessness changed significantly in 2020. While we traditionally related homelessness to a mental illness or substance abuse disorder, today the homeless look vastly different.

Before COVID, people could move to a family member's home when tough times hit, perhaps keeping their employment while temporarily looking for alternative housing. But the combination of COVID and job losses associated with the shutdown have greatly impacted their struggles. In many cases, doubling up with family members has been found to be unsustainable: it can feel impossible to have multiple families juggling their children's online Zoom classes while the adults attempt to work from home.

In March 2020, Catholic Charities counted 166 people in their homeless program. Unsheltered homelessness had been at an all-time low as the organization did not turn people away when they were in need and would provide a place to sleep even if it was on the floor. But the social distancing required by the pandemic proved to be too great a challenge given the existing shelter space available for sleeping quarters. And, for the first time since the 1970s, St. Joseph's Diner had to be closed because the group could not meet the legal requirements for indoor seating or keep the revolving groups of diners and volunteers safe from contracting the virus.

The decision was initially made to convert St. Joseph's Diner into a shelter and Catholic Charities continued to feed the 166 clients under their care daily. (Kim noted that others were also fed through the back door when in need.) Once the stay-at-home order was lifted, the organization worried about COVID spreading throughout its community as most people in the programs are medically vulnerable. The clients were transitioned into hotels, and Catholic Charities' staff are present on-site at the hotels 24/7, operating the same services they always have, working to maintain a safe and stable environment.

Since January 2020, the Acadiana region has experienced an 82% increase in homelessness (with family hom...