Organization known for refugee and immigrant services, founded in 1989
Community members wait in line during a poverty simulation hosted by the Catherine McAuley Center at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Marion on April 15, 2023. The center is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year and is hosting a “refugee simulation” as one of its events next month. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS – The Catherine McAuley Center will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2024 and has planned several events over the next month to coincide with Welcome Week to commemorate the milestone.
Events will begin with the center’s first open day on September 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., a refugee simulation on September 17 to provide a sense of the hurdles refugees face, and culminate with a 35th anniversary celebration and gala on September 20.
While the McAuley Center’s services have evolved over its three and a half decades of operation, the McAuley Center’s core focus has remained the same.
“The word we use here is dignity, it’s all about dignity,” said Rachel Cohen, the center’s development and communications director. “So it’s about refugees, immigrants, homeless women, unaccompanied women (and) teaching them that they have support and that we can help them live with dignity. Everyone deserves that.”
The Catherine McAuley Center, 1220 Fifth Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids, was founded in 1989 by the Sisters of Mercy. The group is an international community of Roman Catholic women who “dedicate their lives to the gospel of Jesus and take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service” and follow McAuley’s example, its website says. The center initially offered education and services for women.
Nursing assistant students Marie Joseph, left, and Asma Showgar work together on a medical terminology quiz while competing against their classmates during a class session at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids on June 15, 2022. The center worked directly with Kirkwood Community College students preparing for their CNA, or nursing, license. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“Catherine McAuley was very, very passionate about teaching women, especially women who were divorced or widowed and who may have never graduated from high school. So she had to do a lot of teaching and give them the tools to get a job if they needed one,” Cohen said.
The center began offering training to 16 women preparing for the GED and soon after placed four women in a traditional residential program. Since then, the Catherine McAuley Center has grown to provide services to more than 1,000 people annually. The center has moved three times, increased its staff to more than 50 employees, and added numerous services, including refugee settlement and LIFE (Learning Is For Everyone) programs.
Cohen said the center is “very well known” for its services to refugees and immigrants, but also offers courses that include English as a second language, computers, GED and a transportation course to learn the bus system.
Cohen said there are “countless” ways to support the Catherine McAuley Center, including monetary and in-kind donations and volunteer work.
“We have 100 students on our waiting list,” Cohen said. “If you have one hour a week to tutor a student, we will train you. So anyone can do this.”
