Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covers the five-county Philadelphia metro with one of the region's most comprehensive human services operations: refugee resettlement, immigration legal services, foster care and adoption, senior services, emergency food and housing, and counseling. Here's how the pieces fit together, and how to donate, volunteer, or find a program.
Two program areas stand out for their scale. First, refugee resettlement: Philadelphia is a major destination for newly arrived families from dozens of countries, and CSS handles both the legal work and the social integration that follows, from housing to school enrollment. Second, child welfare: its foster care and adoption programs rank among the largest private child welfare operations in Pennsylvania.
Around those anchors sit senior services, emergency food and housing assistance, and counseling. As with every agency in the Catholic Charities network, services go to people of all faiths, and no religious affiliation is required to get help.
Gifts support programs that public funding rarely covers in full, such as emergency assistance and resettlement services for families in their first months in the country. Donate through the official page at css.archphila.org/donate.
If you want to support one program specifically, foster care, senior services, or refugee resettlement, look for designation options on the donation form or contact the agency through its site.
Volunteers help with food assistance, resettlement support for new arrivals, and tutoring. Tutoring and resettlement roles reward consistency: showing up weekly for the same family or student matters more than any particular skill set.
Those seeking help can find intake information for each program at css.archphila.org. Pennsylvania residents outside the Philadelphia metro are served by other diocesan agencies, including those in Pittsburgh, Scranton, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, and Harrisburg.
Look the agency up in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search to confirm its exempt status, and review Charity Navigator before giving a large amount. Keep your receipts; the IRS requires a written acknowledgment for any single gift of $250 or more.
Sources: Catholic Social Services — Archdiocese of Philadelphia official site (css.archphila.org); our Pennsylvania charity guide research. Retrieved July 2026. We are not affiliated with Catholic Social Services — Archdiocese of Philadelphia and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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