Catholic Charities Administrator, President and CEO Rev. Michael M. Boland was honored by the First Lady, Laura Bush, as a guest in the First Lady’s Box at the 2007 State of the Union Speech Tuesday, January 23.

Father Boland was honored as a representative of the importance of government partnerships with effective faith-based and community organizations.

In 1998, Congress authorized the Veterans Affairs Loan Guarantee Program for Transitional Multifamily Housing to reduce the number of homeless veterans living in our country. The St. Leo Residence, designed and built by Catholic Charities of Chicago, is the first completed development in this loan guarantee pilot program. St. Leo's is a multi-agency holistic model of care for veterans. St. Leo Residence was opened last week and is housing 141 veterans. In addition to the residence, which has studio apartments for transitional housing, the site will include a Department of Labor job training office, a community health center, and an adjacent home for disabled veterans.

For more information on Catholic Charities’ efforts to help veterans, please go to www.stleoveterans.com.

Now in its 90th year, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago is the largest private, not-for-profit social service agency in the Midwest, annually assisting 1.1 million persons in Cook and Lake counties without regard to religious, ethnic or economic background. Catholic Charities fulfills the Church's role in the mission of charity by providing compassionate, competent, professional services that strengthen and support individuals, families and communities