A Sense of Belonging at Catholic Charities

It was a homecoming of sorts for John Baele. The Ohio businessman and his daughter, Suzanne, paid a recent visit to Catholic Charities’ West Peoria campus. After hearing his story and learning about his past, some staff members gave the two an impromptu tour. The walk around the grounds became much more than your average tour; it brought the agency’s mission to life and provided an invaluable learning experience for everyone involved.

John and his sister spent five years as orphans at Catholic Charities’ Guardian Angel home in the early 1940s. As you can imagine, life was very different more than 60 years ago. Boys and girls ate their meals in private dining rooms and played at separate times.

John remembers, “Times were tough, but I was happy to be at Catholic Charities.”

He fondly describes his childhood at Guardian Angel Home and the sense of belonging he felt with the group. He talked about the football team, working in the field, going to school, serving at Mass, and cultivating a “ Victory Garden” he and another student shared. John boasts, “There is a picture of him and me standing in our garden with an award we won. It was something we were very proud to have accomplished.”

Though life was sometimes difficult and confusing for the Guardian Angel kids, John always knew he had a home. He recalls vividly a nun who welcomed him back to Guardian Angel after he ran away from a foster home where he had been living.

“I remember walking back to Catholic Charities from a home I had been sent to and standing at the bottom of the front stairs – tears streaming down my face. I looked up and saw Sister Regina holding out her arms to welcome me back,” he says in amazement. “They never sent me away again.”

John graduated from grade school at Catholic Charities, and then spent two years of high school in Indiana. He eventually returned to Peoria graduating from the Spalding Institute. As an adult, he became involved in a meat packaging business in Cincinnati and ran the company for 42 years. He is now retired and lives in Cincinnati with his wife Rosemary. They both enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren.

“If it weren’t for Catholic Charities, I think I would have ended up in jail because I wouldn’t have known how to take care of myself. I am very grateful for what they did for me,” John says.

At the conclusion of the tour, John made a cash donation to the agency to be used for “whatever you may need right now.” This type of unrestricted gift allows Catholic Charities the flexibility to meet the specific needs of an individual client or to help fill funding gaps.

And for John, life came full circle for him that summer day. He returned to his home in Ohio knowing Catholic Charities put his gift to work Providing Help and Creating Hope for someone who may be facing tough times today…just as Catholic Charities provided to him and his sister so many years ago.