By Elena Perri • Posted November 2, 2026

While Matthew Hancock enjoyed the work he was doing in the business world, important elements were missing.

He yearned to be more present to his family, build stronger connections with his local community, and incorporate his faith into his work.

As director of Catholic Charities of Philadelphia’s Intellectual and Development Disabilities Services (IDD), Hancock has achieved those goals.

He served as interim director after Fran Swiacki retired from the director role in February and then was officially named director in August.

“Most days, I feel like I won the lottery,” Hancock said. “In terms of the answer to my prayers, I’m not traveling, so I’m very present for my family.”

He not only gets to integrate his faith into his work leading the IDD division, but he has now joined what he affectionately calls the “family business.”

Hancock’s father was a special education teacher, and his mother owned a school in New Jersey for children with autism. Other family members also have worked with people with intellectual disabilities.

“It really hit me on a very personal level because it was also about this connection to where I come from in terms of my family,” he said. “I just fell in love with it, and I hope that I’m giving as much as I’m getting.”

Hancock explained that the mission of the division is to empower individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, one of the four pillars of Catholic Charities.

“What we’re really trying to do is wrap around whatever services are needed based on what our clients need,” he said.

The division he oversees helps individuals with IDD through its specialized programs, supported employment, wellness and community integration initiatives, and residential options.

“The model for what we do at Catholic Charities is the parable of the Good Samaritan,” said Hancock, referring to the story in St. Luke’s Gospel (Lk. 10:30-37). “What makes us different from other providers in Pennsylvania is that just like the Samaritan, we’re moved with compassion to do the work we do.”

His affiliation with Catholic Charities began last year when he served on the organization’s Advisory Board for their older adult services .

A member of Our Mother of Consolation Parish in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill section, Hancock met fellow parishioner Suzanne O’Grady Laurito. O’Grady Laurito serves as Catholic Charities’ director overseeing the mission to stabilize and enrich the lives of seniors, and invited him to join the board and assist with the strategic plan.

Hancock said he eventually met with Heather Huot, executive vice president of Catholic Charities of Philadelphia, and Dan Dougherty, chief financial and operating officer for the organization, to discuss a career move that would allow him to be closer to his family, community and God.

In addition to changing careers, Hancock, a lifelong Episcopalian, became Catholic a few years ago.

Although Hancock is not Italian, his love for Italy helped him find the two loves of his life: his first wife Olga with whom he had a son and a daughter; and his current wife Laura.

He married Olga in 2006, and after giving birth to their son in 2018, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Olga died in November 2020.

“We spent every single day together during COVID, so that was a blessing for us,” Hancock said.

In January 2021 Hancock and his children returned to Italy where he ran a consulting business in Bologna. It was there he met Laura, who happened to be one of Olga’s good friends.

“We go to the main piazza to say hi to my late wife’s friend, Laura, and my daughter says, ‘Of course I know Mommy’s friend Laura,’” he explained.

Hancock discovered that Olga and Laura had kept in touch while his family was living in the United States and that his children had already met Laura.

He and Laura dated for about 18 months before deciding to get married. Laura wanted to get married in the Catholic Church, so Hancock began his journey to becoming a Catholic.

They were married in 2023 in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Bologna, Italy, and the following year moved back to the Philadelphia area.

Their return to Philadelphia has given both of them the opportunity to serve the Church. Laura, who worked in banking in Italy, is now the business manager at Our Mother of Consolation Parish.

For Hancock, he is excited about new initiatives happening in his division, including opening a new home for adults with autism in Chester County, offering music therapy services, and creating a new adaptive technology center at Don Guanella Village in Springfield, Delaware County.

Another important aspect of the mission of the IDD division is ensuring that individuals with disabilities are treated with dignity, particularly when they need medical care, he explained.

“We are frequently advocating for the same standard of care that you or I would expect to clear up pneumonia or a urinary tract infection,” Hancock said. “These individuals are engaged in meaningful activities, and they have a right to get back to the quality of life they enjoy as people created in the image and likeness of God.”

The opportunity to serve those with intellectual and developmental disabilities flows from the love and support he received following Olga’s death.

“I’m truly grateful for the different ways my family and I were sustained through this really challenging experience,” he said.

“That feeling was God’s love sustaining me, so ending up here was the answer to my prayer of, ‘What can I do to love God back and give back to my community?’”