There's something important about Catholic Charities that you wouldn't expect, if all you knew about the organization was its name. That "something" is, the majority of the people served are not Catholic.

"Somewhere around 80% to 90% of the people we serve are non Catholic" explains Barbara Whitehead, the organization's Southern Regional Administrator. "What we do is truly ecumenical."

The mission of Catholic Charities is to serve the least fortunate, and it doesn't matter what religion they belong to. Catholic Charities serves people on the Lower Shore through the Seton Center in Princess Anne and the Counseling Center in Salisbury.

In a future column, we'll take a look at what the Seton Center does, but for the moment, let's focus on the work of the Counseling Center. "Our niche," Whitehead explains, "is meeting the needs of people 'caught in the middle,' who can't afford counseling, and who aren't covered by insurance or State programs."

The two full-time counselors on staff, Patricia Strott and Kathleen Burrows, are both licensed professional social workers. They happen to be exceptionally good with children, so a significant part of their case load is with families with troubled children.

Often other United Way agencies steer families who are having problems with their children to Strott or Burrows. However, their practice isn't limited to children, and in the course of a year, they'll see 200 to 300 individuals and families.

Typical problems that the counselors deal with include young children whose behavior prevents them from being accepted at day care or preschool. Maybe the preschoolers bite or hit or smash other children's toys.

Or maybe they're older and depressed, or violent, or failing in school. Maybe the children can't get along with their parents and it's a continuous round of, "I hate you, I can't wait to get out of this place."

Other people who come for counseling have falling apart marriages or they're stressed from caring for an older parent, or maybe they can't seem to recover from the death of a loved one. Or, maybe a girl or woman is driven to despair over an unintended pregnancy.

How can Catholic Charities help? "We take a multi-disciplinary approach to each case, and we always look at the whole person" begins Whitehead.

If, for example, the person is depressed, one of the counselor's first questions would usually be, "When was your last physical?" Depression can have medical causes, and if that's the case, the counselor will recommend a medical doctor.

Assuming there isn't a physical cause, the counselor will work to identify just what is the cause and how best to deal with it. This may mean solving real world problems, such as helping with food or rent.

It may mean calling for help from other United Way Agencies such as Life Crisis. And it may mean many hours of talking through feelings and discovering options.

Another kind of service that Catholic Charities provides is help with unintended pregnancies. "The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest child placement organization in the world," says Whitehead.

"We have adoption services, and pregnancy and parenting classes. And we have the ability to help any woman make a loving, caring, and responsible plan for her child."

The Counseling Center has an outstanding record of success. The overwhelming majority of the people served report that they were helped and their lives are back on track as a result of the help received.

If you were to visit the Counseling Center, you would see that Whitehead and the people she works with do it for more than their pay checks. They know that the work that they do has purpose and value, and that the world is a better place because of what they do.

The Catholic Charities Counseling Center is located at 1405 Wesley Drive, near Route 13 and Pine Bluff. The phone number is (410) 749-121.

Catholic Charities Counseling Center Wish List:

• Volunteer Foster Parents for newborns who are awaiting full legal adoption
• Windows 98 or higher computers
• Contributions towards therapeutic toys for use during counseling