Catholic Charities Agency in Springfield announces new executive director

Catholic Charities Agency announced a new executive director at the Springfield diocese Tuesday. The announcement comes a week after the agency closed its refugee resettlement program.

Bishop William Byrne announced the agency's new executive director, Shaina Rodriguez, at a press conference in the diocese pastoral center. Rodriguez said they lost $600,000 for the program, but are partnering with other agencies to assist the people who are losing services.

"We are working with Jewish Family Service. We're working very closely with the Department of Transitional Assistance to make sure that the families that we were supporting are going to continue to be supported," Rodriguez said.

Bishop Byrne said their commitment to the refugees they’ve been assisting has not stopped.

“Even though the funding has stopped, we want to make sure that we fulfill what our obligations are, regardless of what the federal government is going to do,” Byrne said. “So we have a commitment to those families and those individuals that are left, and we are committed to making sure that we do what is right for them.”

Rodriguez said they are not looking to restart the resettlement program. Instead, she said, the agency will be pivoting to address mental health, food insecurity, and housing affordability needs in western Massachusetts.

Rodriguez comes to Catholic Charities after working as the chief strategy, people and experience officer for three years at Clifford Beers Community Health Partners in Hampden, Connecticut.