From its Nashville headquarters, Catholic Charities of Tennessee runs refugee resettlement, immigration legal services, emergency food and housing assistance, counseling, and social services across the state. Nashville has received refugees from Somalia, Burma, Iraq, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more recently Afghanistan and Ukraine. Below: what the agency handles, how to give, and the volunteer roles that actually need filling.
Tennessee is a major refugee resettlement state, and Nashville carries much of that history: two decades of arrivals from Somalia, Burma, Iraq, Bhutan, and the DRC, followed by Afghan and Ukrainian families in recent years. Catholic Charities handles the legal and social integration work behind those arrivals, from initial resettlement logistics to the long tail of paperwork and adjustment that follows.
Immigration legal services cover DACA renewals, family reunification, naturalization, and asylum cases for Nashville's growing immigrant population. Affordable legal representation in these matters is scarce, which makes the program one of the agency's most consequential.
The work is not confined to Middle Tennessee. Memphis has significant immigrant and refugee populations of its own, particularly from Latin America and Southeast Asia, served by Catholic Charities programs in the western part of the state. Emergency food, housing help, and counseling round out the statewide services.
Gifts through cctenn.org/donate fund Tennessee programs directly. Cash beats goods for most purposes: the agency can furnish an arriving family's apartment, cover a legal filing fee, or restock a food program without the sorting overhead that physical donations create.
Recurring donations are especially valuable for resettlement work, where federal support covers only a family's first months and the agency bridges the gap afterward. Even a modest monthly gift is easier to build programs around than unpredictable one-time spikes.
Designations are usually honored, but ask before earmarking. A gift restricted to a fully funded program helps less than one the agency can move to wherever the current gap sits, and the development staff can tell you where that is.
Volunteers assist with English tutoring, resettlement support, food assistance, and administrative roles. English tutoring and resettlement support suit people who want ongoing contact with the families they help; food and administrative shifts suit those who prefer flexible, task-based work.
Services are open to people of all faiths. If you need assistance, use the program contacts on the official site, since intake differs between legal services, food programs, and counseling.
Run the organization through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search at apps.irs.gov to confirm its 501(c)(3) standing, then glance at Charity Navigator. File away the acknowledgment letter for any gift of $250 or more.
Sources: Catholic Charities of Tennessee official site (cctenn.org); our Tennessee charity guide research. Retrieved July 2026. We are not affiliated with Catholic Charities of Tennessee and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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