McCarty has attributes to lead
Catholic Charities Bloomington

By John Shaughnessy

Being a mother and grandmother helped when Marsha McCarty heard about the child whose crisis was threatening to tear apart a family.

Being a licensed psychologist helped when McCarty listened to the story of a man whose mental health problems were keeping him from interacting with others.

Knowing college students and the Bloomington area was crucial when McCarty and her staff made sure that lack of money didn’t prevent a recent graduate from getting the help she needed for serious mental health issues.

All those attributes—parent, psychologist, longtime resident—have served McCarty well since becoming the director of Catholic Charities Bloomington in late January.

“I had previous contact with Catholic Charities over the years,” said the mother of four and grandmother of two. “I was always impressed by the expertise of the counselors providing the services. But what stood out the most was the population they were serving—the very vulnerable; families who would have a hard time accessing services if Catholic Charities wasn’t here. The need is high.”

The need is also growing as problems facing families and children continue to increase, she said.

“Families are under a lot of stress,” said McCarty, who has been counseling families and children for nearly 30 years in the Bloomington area. “Our culture in general is not always supportive of what children need to have good mental health. They need access to good health care, and they need a stable family situation. You see a lot of families today who are overworked and overscheduled. That creates situations where families are overstretched.”

While that reality creates challenges for McCarty and her staff, it also offers the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.

“When a child is no longer suicidal or a couple is able to heal a rift that could have broken up a marriage, it’s very gratifying to me,” McCarty said. “It’s what makes the work worth doing in a lot of ways. When you ease a family’s pain or make someone’s life more stable, you feel like you’re doing good work.”

That approach made McCarty a natural choice to lead the Bloomington agency, according to David J. Siler, executive director of the archdiocese’s Catholic Charities and Family Ministries.

“I believe that Marsha will be able to significantly expand the reach of Catholic Charities in the Bloomington Deanery, enabling the Church to reach out to even more people in need of mental health services,” Siler said. “Marsha also has an understanding and a desire to begin new and innovative programs to meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable.”

McCarty has also worked to better the world for others in her personal life. Of the four children she calls her own, one is a biological child, two are adopted and one is a foster child.

“Children from other families and backgrounds broaden your experience and your love,” said McCarty, a member of St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington.

Now 63, McCarty recalled how her faith in God was broadened when she was a 19-year-old college student. She became a Catholic then through the influence of the late Father George Powers in 1961.

“He was involved in the civil rights movement,” she said. “I’m a big fan of Catholic social teachings.
At its best, the Church is concerned about all people and their needs. What I’m doing now is a good way to be involved in that work.” †