Several years ago, a mother, father, and their two daughters, 1 and 3, fled their home in Ecuador to escape political and religious persecution. Their weeks-long journey was arduous, and they walked for days at a time with little food or water. During their difficult trek, the family repeatedly turned to prayer, with hope that they would soon find a new home.
After crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. and turning themselves in to immigration authorities, their prayers were answered.
They were released and loaded on a bus bound for Philadelphia.
The exhausted family arrived in the middle of the night at a temporary welcome center in North Philadelphia run by the city in collaboration with local nonprofits and social service agencies.
There, the family met with Leslie Diaz, a Catholic Charities of Philadelphia social worker.
The reception hub offered temporary respite, interpretation services, legal consultations, and emergency health screenings for asylum seekers and other migrants arriving from the southern border.
“When I sat across the table from them and they began to tell me about their journey, it was heartbreaking to hear,” Diaz said. “This family had such a huge struggle, yet their faith held them together. It was incredible to listen to how people overcome even the greatest adversities when they put God first.”
Within weeks, four lives were transformed.
Catholic Charities and its partners helped the parents connect with legal services to begin the asylum process and apply for work permits. The agency located housing for the family and provided a security deposit and rental assistance. Case managers helped to enroll the two toddlers in daycare and reached out to the Sisters of St. Joseph for food and furniture.
“The experience of that one family and being part of their journey . . . speaks to the work that we do,” Diaz said. Every day, Catholic Charities provides critical support to families, equipping parents with the tools and resources needed to build strong, stable homes.
From Welcome Center to Casa del Carmen
Before her temporary assignment at the welcome center, Diaz served briefly as Catholic Charities’ helpline coordinator. While based out of Casa del Carmen’s Family Service Center in North Philadelphia, the helpline serves all five counties in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia.
Staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday—with an online form available as well—the helpline connects people with everything from diapers to documentation, food to financial assistance, housing to hope.
After the welcome center closed, Diaz returned to Casa del Carmen as a supervisor. She’s been the center’s administrator for nearly a year, overseeing daily operations, including the helpline, which responded to 5,000 calls from 2024 to 2025.
She said it’s her responsibility to make sure individuals and families are referred to appropriate resources, both internal and external—“starting within, then working our way out to community partners.”
Casa del Carmen’s center is one of four family service centers across the region, each the first point of contact for most people and parishes seeking assistance from Catholic Charities. Support and services provided at each center are tailored to the needs of the surrounding community.
Leslie Diaz stands outside Casa del Carmen in North Philadelphia, where she leads a team dedicated to connecting individuals and families with the resources, support, and opportunities they need to build stronger futures.
“The Casa del Carmen campus is a gem in the city of Philadelphia, right in the heart of the Latino community,” Diaz said. In the last year, the Reese Street location served more than 18,000 individuals and families.
People walk in feeling hopeless, she said. They leave filled with hope.
Diaz manages a primarily bilingual staff of 10, plus interns and volunteers, and recently hired three new employees—a family community navigator and two educators. The additional staff will allow Casa del Carmen to ramp up its in-person and virtual educational offerings, expanding English as a Second Language (ESL) classes beyond Spanish and adding new anger management and financial literacy programs.
Diaz oversees an onsite preschool, with 89 students, and The Cenacle at the Padre Pio Center on Church Street, a family nurturing ministry supporting pregnant women and new parents. A collaboration with the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia and the Capuchin Friars, The Cenacle provides diaper and food pantries, maternity clothes and baby items, parenting and pregnancy education.
“The Church has always been a huge part of my life, and because of that, I’ve always wanted to help other people,” Diaz said. “My driving force is . . . knowing that we’re making a difference by just being here, by our doors being open, by the services we provide.”
Casa del Carmen has been a pillar in the community for decades, Diaz said. If its doors were ever to close, neighborhood residents would lose access to invaluable resources, including those in highest demand: case management, a food pantry, and assistance with replacing lost or misplaced birth certificates. “And there would be babies without diapers or formula!”
Settled, Stable, and Self-Sufficient
Today, the family of four from Ecuador is settled in Philadelphia—stable and self-sufficient. Both parents are employed. Their daughters are enrolled in school. And their mother now volunteers at The Cenacle, cooking and cleaning.
“It was a true blessing to be part of that journey,” Diaz said. “It’s incredible to be able to be part of such an amazing team and organization.”
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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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