CHICAGO – Two licensed counselors from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago will be part of the team implementing an emergency response plan with the Northern Illinois University Counseling and Student Development Center from February 24-26 as classes resume after the tragic shooting that occurred there on February 14.

Catholic Charities is one of many agencies that responded to the state-wide call for 300 volunteers sent via the Illinois Department of Mental Health. All volunteers will be trained on site to serve the needs of the NIU community, and will attend the memorial service at the campus on Sunday, February 24.

“Catholic Charities responds to those in the midst of personal, individual and community crises when there is so much pain and stress. This service is and has been a part of who we are as an agency,” said Dorothy Auw, Director of Quality Assurance for Catholic Charities’ Family and Parish Support Services Department, who helped assign the volunteers. “Whether it’s a problem in a community in the heart of the city, or a grieving community in DeKalb, Illinois, we as an agency ask ‘How can we help?’ ‘What can we do?’ and ‘Where do you want us?’”

One volunteer, Bruce Engle, LCSW, is the Program Director for LOSS (Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide), a program at Catholic Charities that provides grief bereavement counseling for survivors of suicide.

“In this case people have lost loved ones due to homicide and suicide,” explains Engle. “I know from my personal experiences and training in counseling that there is an enormous amount of pain involved. I feel an obligation as an experienced counselor and therapist to do whatever I can to help. After all, that’s what Catholic Charities is all about.”

As the campus seeks hope amid its mourning for the students who lost their lives, and for those who were injured, the Catholic Charities family continues to pray for these victims and their families.

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