On Oct. 2, Catholic Social Services in the Columbus diocese gained a new leader.
Kelley Henderson started his first day as president and CEO of Catholic Social Services, having just left Catholic Charities of West Tennessee in the Diocese of Memphis. The move came, Henderson said, “three years and nine months after my arrival in Memphis in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.”
“Every professional has to look at two things in a job such as mine: First, what am I here to do, and second, know when the job is finished,” Henderson said. He recalled how “the COVID year was the real catalyst because it gave us (at Catholic Charities) a real sense of urgency.”
“The pandemic forced all of us to work faster and become bigger and better, and
as a result, Catholic Charities (CC) has come a long way in west Tennessee where it has a long history.
“I was able to give a fresh perspective to everything here, and I firmly believe that if we can make CC a beacon of hope for our neighbors – and create opportunities for others to serve as the same light – then I will have succeeded.”
A former principal and consultant with Covenant Wealth Management in Roswell, Georgia, Henderson ended that association after 14 years, describing it as “a great time in which I had a wonderful career.”
But Henderson kept hearing a certain call even while volunteering at a homeless shelter and wanting to give back. Eventually, he began working part-time with MUST Ministries in Marietta, Georgia, holding four positions with the organization from 2008 to 2013.
MUST Ministries led to a position at First Step, a homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta, as its chief operating officer, followed by Action Ministries as its CEO, Catholic Charities in Memphis, and now in Columbus.
“I was not actively pursuing a move (elsewhere), but we have a network and people who are plugged into it really well. A colleague told me about the opening in Columbus, I applied and here we are,” Henderson said.
“We have done what I set out to do, and I am hoping to accomplish more, and with God’s grace I will.”
Father Robert Ballman is pastor of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Covington, Tennessee, 40 miles north of Memphis. “Before Kelley’s arrival here,” Father Ballman said, “our food outreach program consisted of a few volunteers but now has grown to more than 20 people.
“Under his leadership, outreach in this area and surrounding counties went from being reactive to proactive, in terms of feeding the poor, and not just in our parish, where we just served this past week our 20,000th family with a food box and protein items (beef, chicken and pork).
“Kelley focused on identifying ‘food deserts’ along the interstate highway corridors, which are
places where people go to bed hungry because what they ate did not meet their daily nutritional needs,” Father Ballman said.
“Kelley also partnered Catholic Charities with the AmeriGroup Health Insurance Company, which supplied the grants needed for the diocese to set up Tiny Blessings, an outreach program for young mothers and their infants that supplies diapers, baby formula, a car seat, baby wipes, and other essentials.”
The program has grown and is now in four locations, including three outside Memphis.
“It is not an overstatement when I say that he has made a huge impact on people in the diocese, and we are sad to see him go. Kelley will make a terrific impact on Columbus, just as he made our new interim director, Kiki Hall, become a great successor,” Father Ballman said.
In Columbus, Nick Borchers was interim president and CEO of Catholic Social Services.
Borchers replaced the previous CEO after that person’s resignation and has
returned to being Catholic Social Services’ chief operations officer.
“I first met Kelley 18 months ago at the Catholic Charities U.S.A. Conference in Baltimore, Maryland,” Borchers said, “and later during his interview period we toured the Our Lady of Guadalupe Center, but I was not part of the selection process.
“I was very impressed with Kelley’s commitment to his faith and his dedication to Catholic Charities and its mission.
“In addition to these qualities and gifts, his experience in all of those previous organizations
really made him stand out.”
Robert Alan Glover writes for Cross Roads magazine in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky; The Western Kentucky Catholic in Owensboro; FAITH/West Tennessee Catholic in Memphis; and OSV NEWS in Huntington, Indiana.