Providing help and creating hope in Maine
Kathleen McAuliffe joined the U.S. Navy in 1974 as a medic. In a post-Vietnam world, Kathleen explains how “women were just being allowed in. It was an oddity.” Reflecting on her experience 50 years later, she described her time in the Navy as the “best decision I ever made in my life. I had an exceptional experience.”
Kathleen joined Catholic Charities Maine in February 2019 as an Independent Support worker. Her clients range in age from 45 to 85 and need help organizing their medicines, getting to
doctors’ appointments, performing housekeeping duties, shopping for food, and preparing meals. Her determination to solve problems, so characteristic of the U.S. military, remains in her soul. She stays positive and works diligently to help clients who have difficulty accessing services.
Calling herself a veteran is a significant acknowledgment for Kathleen. Despite her military service, Kathleen did not identify as a veteran. She thought those who fought were veterans. In fact, she was surprised that she was eligible for veterans’ healthcare benefits. About ten years ago, she pulled her car into an auto repair shop. Upon seeing her Maine veteran license plates, a store employee asked if she was the veteran associated with the plates. When Kathleen admitted to being the veteran in question, the employee thanked her for her service. She never expected acknowledgment nor looked for anything. From that point on, she began to identify as a veteran.
She served as a medic at Naval Station Rota, located in Northwest Spain, near the Strait of Gibraltar. American and NATO service members on leave docked their aircraft carriers and submarines in port. She treated injured and ill sailors, assisted in emergency surgeries, and worked as an operating room technician. She also helped local Spaniards living near the base. In the event of a nearby tragic accident, she acted as a first responder.
After leaving the Navy in 1978, she used the G.I. Bill to earn a college degree and a Master’s degree in Counseling. Over the years, she worked at community hospitals and taught at community colleges. After her department was outsourced, she joined the Peace Corps, which she described as “the best decision, the best decision.” She worked for four years in remote villages in Belize and Fiji. Just as when she served as a medic in Spain, she considered herself a guest in these other countries and respected their cultures. She passed on her knowledge about hygiene and healthy eating to the community using lessons from her time in the military.
Following her move to Maine, she continued to connect with other cultures by supporting immigrants in locating jobs aligned with their backgrounds. In retrospect, she sees a pattern. “There’s always a place that needs help. Getting involved with the community is the heartbeat of it. It gives me a sense of purpose as well.”
Her message to fellow veterans? “I am so proud to be working for Catholic Charities. Their tenets and what they believe in, and working with people, are so heartwarming. I get gratitude every day from the people I serve. It’s all from the heart.” Although she is Catholic, she would remind veterans that, “You don’t have to be Catholic to work here. Catholic Charities Maine offers so many community services that there’s a role for everyone.” She concludes, “The work is very fulfilling.”
Kelly MacArthur works for Catholic Charities Maine as a Children’s Behavioral Health Home Coordinator. As a lifelong learner and someone who has always loved languages, her 17-year teaching career in high school English, Spanish, and English as a Second Language reflects these characteristics.
Connecting "risk averse" children with empowering stories brought Kelly joy. Students in her classrooms matured holistically, mostly through social interactions and experiential learning. Kelly enthusiastically explained, “I loved using scaffolding techniques to encourage them to explore literature, such as setting up my classroom as a “Blues” café, to introduce poetry and selecting relatable readings that they could respond to as if at a Poetry Slam by “snapping” their approval.”
In 1991, she left her job teaching at DOD School to join the U.S. Army. Kelly always wanted to devote herself to something bigger, and she thought the Army would be a good fit for her. She explained, “I love our country so much.” Basic training in South Carolina for one year was grueling. Carrying weighted rucksacks, she and fellow recruits undertook 12-mile ruck marches that tested their physical and mental endurance. If she couldn’t keep up, one of her fellow soldiers helped by carrying her over their shoulder. “You don’t leave people behind,” she said. The experience humbled her, but she learned that “everyone needs help sometimes.”
She achieved fluency in Spanish while attending the Defense Language Institute. As a Spanish linguist, she was based at Fort Bragg, renamed Fort Liberty in 2023. Her team provided intelligence to the Army’s Airborne Corps. Contrary to stereotypes, her colleagues were highly educated and spoke multiple languages. The work was both intellectual and “more physical than people think,” she clarified. “In signals intelligence, you have to pack up and carry heavy gear.” She retired from the military in March 1994.
In 2020, Kelly earned an MSW degree, and joined Catholic Charities Maine in 2022. Similar to her career as a teacher, she enjoys connecting young people and their families to resources and assistance. Kelly takes pride in her ability to step back, recognize people's strengths, and find ways to enhance them. She learns from her clients, devises a treatment plan, and employs creativity to meet their specific needs. Working with children, from toddlers to high schoolers, offers her a lot of variety. She celebrates the many milestones that her clients reach. Kelly finds it immensely satisfying to “get to know families and come to love them.”
Kelly sees numerous connections between Catholic Charities Maine and the Army. Both organizations are mission-driven and “you can really make a difference. Both rely upon organizational skills and self-discipline.”
Frank Daggett joined the U.S. Navy on October 3, 1981 and retired 20 years later with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
While serving in the Navy, he studied physical oceanography, earning a Master’s degree at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. That knowledge prepared him for anti-submarine warfare and mine hunting. The Navy also trained him in leadership and counseling. While helping sailors who were separated from their families, he met his crew “where they were at.” Many years later, Frank would use those skills to assist CCM’s Relief and Hope clients. “It’s about service. That’s what we do.”
During his long career with the Navy, he served aboard several memorable ships. During an exchange tour aboard a Canadian destroyer, he observed the Canadian sailors and was amazed by their ingenuity. “They were able to accomplish a lot with a little. The Canadians not only knew what button to push, but they knew in which order to push them to get the fastest response.”
Several years after retiring from the Navy, he earned a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. In 2015, Frank began volunteering with Catholic Charities Maine. Two years later, in 2017, he became a Deacon at Catholic Diocese of Portland. He joined CCM’s Parish Social Ministry (PSM) in 2020 and became that group’s Director in July 2021. PSM partners with Catholic parishes to serve vulnerable people of all faiths. Those people have varied and changing needs. Frank's spirits rise whenever PSM helps people out of a jam. He's very proud that 211 Maine, a free, confidential resource, connects callers facing complex challenges to Catholic Charities Maine. At that point, we connect callers with statewide resources that can offer more help than we are able to.
When asked about his thoughts surrounding Veterans’ Day, he remarked, “I think about a BIG hamburger at Applebee’s.” That specific restaurant chain offers veterans and active-duty military nationwide a free meal that day. Frank smiles whenever he thinks about veterans wearing ball caps at Applebee’s.
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