Catholic Charities of Oregon serves the Archdiocese of Portland with statewide refugee resettlement, immigration legal services, emergency food and housing, counseling, and elder care. Portland has received refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and other countries, and this agency handles much of their legal and social integration. Here is how to support that work or use its services.
Resettlement is where the agency's work is most visible. When refugee families arrive in Oregon, someone has to handle the legal filings, housing, benefits, and school enrollment that turn arrival into an actual life here, and Catholic Charities of Oregon does that integration work for families from East Africa, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and beyond. The same legal team also serves immigrants already settled in the state, and elder care and counseling round out the program list, quieter services that run statewide alongside the resettlement work.
Recent federal benefit changes have raised the stakes. Oregon Food Bank asked the Oregon Legislature in February 2026 for $3.5 million to support immigrant and refugee families who lost SNAP benefits under federal changes, and that is precisely the population Catholic Charities serves every day through its food, housing, and counseling programs.
Oregon's Latino farmworker population, concentrated in the Willamette Valley and the agricultural areas of Eastern Oregon, generates steady demand for the agency's immigration legal services, food programs, and counseling. Seasonal agricultural workers who don't qualify for SNAP because of immigration status are among the most food-insecure people in the state.
Catholic Charities doesn't work that problem alone. It operates alongside Oregon Food Bank and Marion Polk Food Share to reach farmworker communities, and its services, like those of Catholic Charities agencies everywhere, are open to people of all faiths.
Monetary gifts through ccoregon.org/donate are the most useful form of support, since the agency can shift funds between legal casework, food, and housing as demand moves. If you want to give goods or time instead, check the official site first; needs vary by program and by which families have just arrived. Employer matching and monthly pledges both stretch a gift further, and recurring support is what lets a resettlement agency plan beyond its current caseload.
If you need services, start at ccoregon.org. Intake information for food and housing assistance, counseling, elder care, and immigration legal help is listed there, and no religious affiliation is required for any of it.
It's worth a minute to verify any charity: confirm 501(c)(3) status in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, read the Charity Navigator profile, and keep written receipts for gifts of $250 or more.
Sources: Catholic Charities of Oregon official site (ccoregon.org); our Oregon charity guide research. Retrieved July 2026. We are not affiliated with Catholic Charities of Oregon and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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