New St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities director has ‘heart’ for people it serves

Christopher Haulter, the new agency director of St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities in New Albany, poses on Sept. 4 in Holy Trinity Park, a community green space created by the agency next to its administration building. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

NEW ALBANY—Christopher Haulter’s wife Katie had told her husband for some time he seemed unhappy with the company he’d worked with for more than 12 years. But he stayed out of loyalty.

So, being let go from his upper management job in June gave him “an opportunity to find out what I really wanted to do,” something that, at the end of the day, left him “feeling like I made a difference in people’s lives.”

Father Thomas Clegg had an answer.

The pastor of St. John Paul II Parish in Sellersburg, where the Haulters are members, encouraged him to apply for the agency director role at St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities (SECC) in New Albany.

The agency director role matched his desire to make a difference, and Haulter’s skills matched what the agency sought.

In retrospect, the job loss was “all God’s timing,” says Haulter. “God made sure I wasn’t encumbered by employment,” so he felt free to accept the position.

He started as SECC’s new agency director on Aug. 19. Mark Casper, who held that role for more than 18 years and retires on Oct. 2, has worked with Haulter through a time of transition.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn,” Haulter admits.

But he’s driven by the agency’s mission “to affirm the dignity of and respect for all human life”—a mission that resonates with him after seeing his own mother’s struggles raising a family on her own.

‘That, to me, is living your faith’

Haulter was born in Jeffersonville, then moved with his family to New Albany at age 5.

Growing up, he says he “certainly knew of [SECC] but we never used the charity” despite his mother being a single parent.

“Being a child of a single mom who was working two, three jobs at a time to put food on the table and keep the lights on in the house, I certainly understand the struggle faced by some of our young women and children” who seek help from SECC, he says. “That’s why the [agency’s] mission was a big draw for me.”

Having the opportunity to unite his work life and faith life was another pull, says Haulter, who was received into the full communion of the Church in 2009.

“Christ is asking us to help those who need help and are less fortunate or that can’t help themselves in that moment,” he says. “So, we need to be witnesses to that and be living that every day. That, to me, is living your faith, and that was also a big draw for me.”

That view was a big draw for the hiring committee, too. They sought an agency director who was “grounded in faith” and could “see and articulate the way their faith shapes their commitment to the work,” says Melissa Fry, a member of the hiring committee and the president of SECC’s advisory council. Haulter “certainly sees the work that way, as a way to give back and live the faith.”

Fulfilling the Christian call to serve those in need was certainly not part of Haulter’s more than 20 years of corporate and executive-level experience managing people, budgets, departments, programs and strategic plans. But his lack of experience in the social services realm was of no concern, says Fry.

Such experience wasn’t necessary because the agency has “wonderful staff who know their field very well,” she explains.

But SECC’s services are vast. The agency offers four residential programs, an adoption service, school counseling, a community distribution center and a supported living program.

“We also have several buildings, and our campus takes up almost a city block,” Fry adds. “We needed someone who could manage the facilities, finances, fundraising and diverse programs that allow the staff to do their work.”

The person also needed to “have a heart for the work and people we serve,” Fry continues. Haulter “had a strong background in accounting and finance and managing people, and his personal story also resonated. He seemed to have an emotional attachment to the work.”

That work is based on two pillars, says Haulter: relationships and dignity.

‘It all starts with relationship’

“Everything in this job, and in any job I’ve had, it all starts with relationship, whether you’re building it with someone who works for you, someone who’s a peer in the same nonprofit world or the same Catholic charity world, or the person that comes to the shelter door,” he says.

Among the SECC staff, Haulter sees his role as “making sure you have a wonderful team,” he explains. “You support the team and you nurture them. You make sure those teams are fed, as well, so that they can continue to minister to the population that they’re ministering to.”

Haulter says he already has a “wonderful team” to work with. Among the many reasons for SECC’s success is that it has “really good people who are very passionate about what they do,” he says. “They’re doing the rowing, and I’m just making sure the boat’s moving and we’ve got all our oars going in the same direction.”

Managing people might look the same as in the corporate world. But managing budgets will be different, says Haulter, because “the mission of Christ is to help those less fortunate and those in need.

“So, sometimes you’re going to have to make a decision more on that [charitable] side than you are on an economic side because it’s for something that’s needed, and it’s what Jesus would want us to do.”

Such decisions take trust, Haulter admits. “But there’s only one person in the world that can take five loaves and two fish to feed thousands, and I’m not him,” he adds with a smile.

Haulter also sees the agency director position as a “strategic” role.

“We’ve been blessed with such a generous community,” he says. In making sure the agency is “using those riches how the community needs it,” Haulter says he “needs to be strategic and ask, ‘Where is the community heading? Are we still doing the things the community needs? Or is there a new need out there? And if there is a new need, how do we transition and pivot to that and make sure that we’re not duplicating efforts?’ ”

Whatever needs are determined, the final goal is “making sure we’re looking at everyone with dignity, because everybody has dignity,” says Haulter.

“It’s picking the person up who’s down on their luck or is in a hitting slump or whatever, and saying, ‘We value you.’ Every person God has created brings some value to the world.”

That view “aligns ideally with Catholic Charities’ mission of upholding the dignity of every person and serving those in need, which is rooted in Catholic social teaching,” says David Bethuram, executive director of the archdiocesan Secretariat for Catholic Charities. “I am confident that [Haulter’s] leadership will inspire and empower the dedicated staff and volunteers at St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities to continue their mission.”

That mission is part of a “legacy” Haulter hopes to pass on to his daughters.

Resting easy, making a difference

Haulter admits there is more money to be made in the corporate world than in the non-profit one. And with he and Katie having two daughters in college, one in high school and one in eighth grade at St. John Paul II School in Sellersburg, some might question taking a cut in pay.

Haulter sees the move as “a way to leave a legacy for my daughters. I want to show them that while money is great and we all need money to live on, sometimes that’s not everything in life. You need to be a good steward and follower of Christ.”

He and Katie set that example for their daughters in their own lives as active members of St. John Paul II Parish, where Katie serves as director of worship and liturgy.

Haulter admits that, between his and Katie’s jobs and their youngest daughter’s involvement in travel sports, “There’s not a lot of down time at our house.”

But the couple still finds time occasionally to enjoy what brought them together—acting. In August, they both had roles in a musical at Hayswood Theater in Corydon called “Come Away Home,” which coincidentally was co-directed by SECC’s Supported Living Program director Emily Trinkle.

The Haulters also enjoy watching football and became season ticket holders this year to cheer on the Indiana Hoosiers team.

“Then I took this job and found out [that] between our schedules, I think we can go to half the home games,” Haulter says with a chuckle.

It’s a small sacrifice for having a job he finds fulfilling.

“Losing my job in June was God taking care of whatever roadblock I would have” to accepting the agency director position,” says Haulter.

“This [role] was an opportunity for me to find something that I could put my head on the pillow every night and say, ‘We’re making a difference, a tangible difference in people’s lives.’ ”
 

(For more information on St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities, go to stecharities.org.) †