CSAF finds a new home: The Archdiocesan Catholic Center

With its lease expiring in Plymouth and a desire to be more centrally located, the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation recently found a new home: The Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, which houses many of the archdiocese’s offices and ministries.

“It’s great for us to be part of the Catholic community,” said Tizoc Rosales, president of CSAF. “Independent, yes, but walking side-by-side with all who are in this mission together.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda blessed the CSAF offices and staff as part of a welcome celebration Feb. 2. He and Bill Lentsch, the archdiocese’s chief operating officer, expressed hope for continued collaboration and new opportunities.

“We hope that this collaboration continues to accelerate as you are now just down the hall from us,” Lentsch said.

“Without the appeal, we wouldn’t be able to do what we are called to do,” Archbishop Hebda said. The office arrangement promises to create a combined value greater than its parts, he said.

Established in 2013, CSAF partners with parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to conduct a more than $9 million annual appeal to help fund 20 designated ministries in the archdiocese, including hospital and prison chaplaincies, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, tuition assistance in Catholic schools, evangelization and marriage enrichment efforts, Latino and Native American ministries, seminarians and the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women. Additional ministries include Abria Pregnancy Resources and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities.

As CSAF searched for a new location, archdiocesan leadership coincidentally concluded a facilities audit at the Catholic Center, which determined there was office space available in the ACC building, the former 3M headquarters north of downtown St. Paul.

After discussing the possibility and finalizing details with archdiocesan officials, CSAF moved into the ACC Jan. 24. Another plus for the foundation: The office space is free, eliminating about $1,700 a month in rental costs, or more than $20,000 a year. That money will be devoted to ministries, Rosales said.

The move’s benefits go beyond important cost savings, Rosales said. They include being able to collaborate more closely with people leading the archdiocese and its ministries, he said.

In his first few days in the building, preparing for the next annual appeal beginning Feb. 26-27, Rosales said he walked down the hall at ACC to talk about ministry budgets and expectations with Tom Mertens, the archdiocese’s chief financial officer. That is more difficult to do from a distant location, Rosales said.

CSAF’s roots go back to 1959, with the Opus Santi Petri annual campaign of volunteers seeking donations for buildings and operations at the college and graduate school seminaries in St. Paul. In 1969, the archdiocesan appeal was broadened into the Archbishop’s Annual Catholic Appeal benefiting seminarians, Catholic education, charitable organizations, inner-city parishes, retired priests, youth and the elderly.

In 2009, under Archbishop John Nienstedt, the effort was renamed the Catholic Services Appeal. Four years later, CSAF was created as an organization independent from the archdiocese to help ensure that all funds received were used for the purpose of gifts solicited. In 2015, the foundation moved to its Plymouth offices.

The CSAF will remain an independent foundation from the archdiocese, Rosales said, with its own website, computer server, telephone service, email and mailing addresses. But archdiocesan leaders and the foundation are excited to match office space resources with office space needs and develop strong, collaborative efforts into the future, he said.