Employee of the Year 2005
SHIRLEY COX 

This award is given to a Catholic Charities employee in recognition of his or her outstanding service and leadership at Catholic Charities.  

Shirley has demonstrated her dedication to her profession and to Catholic Charities, being one of the most, hard working employees in the organization.  She works many late hours and weekends.  

It is not unusual to see Shirley making presentations on various topics to legislators, parishioners, community leaders, agency leaders, college students and others -- sometimes numerous topics all in one week to different populations.  The number of committees and events which Shirley chairs or is involved is almost limitless…Commission for Justice and Human Development, Legislative Breakfast, Latino Community Development Agency, Right to Life on Rose Day, Labor-Religion Breakfast.  Yet Shirley remains positive about her work, never complaining.

In the past year, in addition to maintaining her own job duties and responsibilities, Shirley provided assistance in two significant areas.  First, as the IAP program experienced transition and leadership, Shirley worked in a consulting role to help the new director move the program forward.  Secondly, Shirley played a key role in the implementation of the Disaster Response Plan of the agency.  From day one, she volunteered her services.  She spent long hours on the scene of the One Stop Resource Center for clients, coordinating the agency response for service delivery.  She helped coordinate internal operations for media, parish relationships, and clients.  She stayed the course until the one stop closed.