DIOCESAN NEWS
09/05/08
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New Charities director finds `second love’
By Fabvienen Taylor
      JACKSON — In addition to skills, passion and experience, Greg Patin, 46, brings something extra to his new job as executive director of Catholic Charities Inc.
      “I think the 12 years I’ve been in the Catholic Charities network has just been about finding the second love of my life, beyond my family,” Patin said.
      Patin’s first love is Kelley, his wife, and sons Philip, 15, and James, 13.
      Patin’s second love, leading a Catholic Charities agency, brings with it a family of 200 full, part-time and relief employees.
      Catholic Charities is the social service arm of the Diocese of Jackson, whose mission is to be a visible sign of Christ’s love and concern for all people.
      “I am very delighted he applied for the position,” said Bishop Joseph Latino. “We are very pleased, very fortunate to have Mr. Patin as executive director of Catholic Charities.
      The search committee was impressed with his resume and even more impressed with Patin’s interview, the bishop said.
      “I personally detected in his response, and he made it clear, that he envisions the position not as just a job, but as a ministry he has always wanted to do in the church,” Bishop Latino said.
      Patin came on board Aug. 15, replacing Linda Raff, who retirement was effective Aug. 31. Raff started her career at Charities as associate director in 1979, moving up in 1984 to executive director.
      Raff said Patin is an excellent choice to lead Charities.
      “Greg has a clear understanding of the mission of Catholic Charities and how it fulfills its role as the social justice arm of the diocese,” Raff said.
      “He is steeped in Catholic social teaching and its relationship to the work of Catholic Charities and he has 12 years of practical experience working with Catholic Charities of Houston, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.
      “He is a committed Catholic believing in the sacredness of life and in improving the quality of life for all God’s children, in particular the poor and vulnerable,” according to Raff.
      “Greg is committed to continuing the three-fold purpose of Catholic Charities to provide cost effective quality social services, to work with parishes to educate the broader community about social injustice, and to be an advocate for all those we serve. Greg’s goal has been to lead a Catholic Charities agency. Fulfilling this goal coupled with his education, experience, and background make Greg an excellent fit for the Diocese of Jackson,” Raff said.
      Patin’s goal of heading a Catholic Charities agency brought him to Jackson.
      “Coming to Jackson gave me the opportunity to lead an agency that is well-established, highly respected in the community and has a wonderful history. It was very attractive.”
Right now Patin’s short-term goal is to get to know the agency and the community.
      “In the long-term I want to see this agency continue to grow, continue to respond to the needs of the community with high professional, very efficient services,” he said.
      Patin wants to extend Charities outreach in the diocese. “This is a large diocese. I want see how we can better serve our out-lying areas.”
      Charities has a Natchez office and a Northeast office in Vardaman.
      “Our presence in various regions in the diocese is very important. We are not present in the Mississippi Delta and in the southeastern part of the diocese. I will be looking at how we can develop out presence and develop our relationships in those communities,” Patin said.
      Prior to accepting the job at Catholic Charities, Patin worked two years in Baton Rouge as Director of Regional Response — disaster preparedness and response coordination — for the province of New Orleans, which consists of seven dioceses.
      Before that he worked 10 years with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, first as program supervisor and later as division administrator and chief development officer.
      Patin earned a bachelor of science in psychology and later a master of arts in clinical psychology (counseling and research) from Sam Houston University, Huntsville, Texas.
      In 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, Patin donned his Incident Commander hat, pulling together teams, organizing the response and keeping then-Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza apprised of everything happening.
      Patin’s most memorable experience from that time was in the Houston Astrodome sitting behind Archbishop Fiorenza while he prayed and blessed the 25,000 victims there.
      “To look around and see the pain in those people’s eyes, the loss and the tragedy they were suffering was amazing,” said Patin.

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