Catholic Charities of Denver said Friday that it has laid off 10 administrators in the past month to cut expenses and spare services during hard times.
“It’s been gut-wrenching,” said Randy Weinert, spokesman for Catholic Charities, the state’s largest private provider of social services.
“It’s the economy. Giving is down, but demand for help and services is up,” Weinert said.
He said the charity’s nine emergency-assistance centers, which offer help with food, rent, utilities and transportation, have experienced a sharp uptick in the midst of housing foreclosures and rising household costs.
Final figures are not yet available, but managers estimate an increase of more than 30 percent in assistance in early 2008 over the same period last year.
Catholic Charities runs more than 40 programs, from food banks to adoption services and housing projects.
More than 600 employees and 8,300 volunteers serve more than 250,000 clients, according to the charity’s 2007 annual report.
In 2006, with a $32 million budget, the organization’s expenses exceeded its revenues by more than $727,000. In 2007’s $28 million budget, the shortfall was more than $857,000.
Charity Navigator, a New Jersey-based nonprofit evaluator, gives Catholic Charities its highest rating, in part because it keeps overhead low.
“We’ve always been very conscious of keeping our administrative costs down,” Weinert said.
In January, Catholic Charities’ longtime chief executive, James Mauck, retired.
Mauck’s successor, Chris Rose, 32, an attorney, vowed to tighten the organizational belt and “squeeze every dollar until it bleeds.”
In 2006, administrative salaries and costs accounted for 7 percent of total expenses. In the 2007 annual report, administration had increased to 9 percent of costs.
In 2007, the largest portion of program expenditures, 20 percent, went to child-care services.
Services for youth, disabled people and seniors made up 19 percent of outlay. Homeless shelters accounted for 15 percent.
Other programs, including emergency assistance, immigration services, food distribution and other housing programs, made up the rest.
Weinert said he could not disclose which positions were cut or the estimated savings. “We try to be the best possible stewards of every single dollar so that services are not cut,” Weinert said.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
