Catholic Charities has broken ground on a new headquarters on the site of the former St. Theresa Parish.
There’s a grassy field where the church one stood, but Evansville Bishop Joseph Siegel joined a handful of people as they picked up shovels and scooped dirt at what will become an almost 10,000 square foot building.
Catholic Charities says it’ll be the first time the organization has owned where it’s housed.
"We will have two classrooms, and we’ve never had that before," Catholic Charities diretor Sharon Burns says. "We will also have a meeting room for a hundred people."
Burns says the new, central location along a bus route will allow the organization to help even more families, from around 5,000 to an estimated 6,500. Catholic Charities is currently based out of the second floor of an office building.
She says there was a lot of discernment involved when looking into the future of the church grounds after St. Theresa Parish merged with Good Shepherd.
"This is a great use for the property. Faith was built here and now we’re serving people out of our faith. It’s just a great continuation," she says.
The project will likely cost around $2.5 million. Burns says parishes across the dozen counties in the diocese of Evansville worked together to fundraise for the building.
