More than two decades have passed, yet Katherine “Kate” Baumgardner can still picture her very first client and their first home visit in a rundown Kensington rowhome.
The Early Years
It was 2002.
A recent college graduate and brand-new social worker, Baumgardner was working at Catholic Charities of Philadelphia, where she had interned as a 19-year-old undergraduate. The agency had a contract with the city’s welfare department to help implement the new work requirement in the early years of federal welfare reform.
Home visits were common. Baumgardner remembers knocking on the front door—“it’s not on its hinges”— her new client answered. “She picked it up, moved it to the side, and let me in.”
The woman returned the door to its frame, propping it shut with a 2 X 4.
Baumgardner remembers seating herself at a table, hoping her new client wouldn’t notice as she casually flicked away bugs.
The living conditions were deplorable; when she returned a few weeks later, the house was boarded up with a bright yellow sign: DO NOT ENTER.
After the house was condemned, the woman found temporary housing with family. Eventually, Catholic Charities was able to provide rental funds that allowed her and her adolescent sons to relocate to permanent housing, offering a long-term solution that empowered her family to rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.
Baumgardner worked with the woman—she was of Puerto Rican descent and spoke limited English—to help relieve language barriers and other obstacles that prevented her from working. She drove her client in a ’91 Toyota Camry to medical appointments, to the local welfare office, and to enroll her boys in school.
“We stabilized her. She moved into a real, cool house, and she was so happy. I’ll never forget it,” Baumgardner said. “When Catholic Charities left her, she was good. She was really, really good.”
Mercy Hospice
Kate Baumgardner at Mercy Hospice.
Fast forward about 15 years.
Baumgardner was program director at Mercy Hospice, a safe and supportive residence operated by Catholic Charities for single women and mothers with young children who are in addiction recovery. Its integrated approach combines clinical care, parenting support, and life skills training to help women achieve long-term sobriety and stability.
In early stages of recovery, it can be difficult for new clients to adapt to sober living.
“When you join a place like Mercy, you change your ‘people, places, and things’. The program helps our women feel not alone as they rebuild their lives without the numbing effect of substances.”
It’s a refuge, a rebirth, a fresh start, Baumgardner added.
“I was blessed to be a part of that,” she said. She worked there from 2014 to 2018.
She recalls an older mother with a 3-year-old son who successfully worked the program and, with Catholic Charities’ help, secured permanent housing.
Baumgardner considers this one of her greatest professional achievements.
She last saw this client about eight years ago at the annual Recovery Walk, a community event that raises money for recovery services and celebrates the power of recovery from addiction.
The woman had become a leader in the recovery movement, helping others to overcome addiction and substance abuse.
“Mercy Hospice saved my life,” she told Baumgardner more than once.
Baumgardner has countless other stories of transformation, and she continues to pray for all her former clients. “I am blessed beyond measure to have these experiences professionally and to see God’s love in action.”
Before taking on her current role, she also served in leadership positions at Catholic Charities’ Visitation Homes and Family Service Center in Bucks County, supporting families experiencing homelessness and displacement. Those experiences further deepened her commitment to Catholic Charities’ mission of helping people find stability, dignity, and hope.
A New Chapter
In October 2024, Baumgardner became Assistant Director serving Catholic Charities’ mission to stabilize and enrich the lives of older adults through affordable senior housing, senior centers, senior clubs, community nurse, and parish elder care programs.
Kate Baumgardner with members of Catholic Charities’ team dedicated to stabilizing and enriching the lives of seniors.
In 2025, Catholic Charities served 2,500 older adults in the five counties in southeastern Pennsylvania: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia.
In a recent interview, Baumgardner highlighted St. Edmond Senior Community Center, located in the basement of St. Edmond Church in the West Passyunk neighborhood of South Philadelphia.
The center is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. From seasonal fashion shows and free hot lunches to fitness classes and educational seminars, people aged 60 and older are provided with countless opportunities for socialization, exercise, and education.
St. Edmond’s also offers valuable nutritional support beyond serving meals.
With support from dedicated volunteers, the center operates a food pantry on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Visitors select their own groceries, including fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than receiving pre-packed boxes of food. By respecting individual choices, this pantry model reduces waste and creates a more dignified and empowering experience.
Aligned with Catholic social teaching and Catholic Charities’ mission, “human dignity is always preserved,” Baumgardner said. “They really nail it here.”
She can’t imagine a world without the social service programs offered by Catholic Charities. For nearly two decades, Baumgardner has witnessed firsthand how the organization’s mission transforms lives through faith and compassion.
“Everybody needs help now and again,” she said. “People come to us because they’re upset, they’re broken, they’re angry, they’re sad. . . They come to us because they know that in some way God is going to help them.”
After serving the Philadelphia region’s most vulnerable citizens for nearly a quarter century, it’s fitting that Baumgardner’s namesake is Saint Catherine Laboure. She is the patron saint of the elderly, the infirm, and the Miraculous Medal.
“I couldn’t go a day without my girl,” Baumgardner said. “She is present in my work every day.”
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This piece was previously published in Catholic Charities of Philadelphia’s 2026 Summer Magazine. View the full magazine here.
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