{"id":101837,"date":"2026-04-27T17:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/hotline-operator-named-catholic-charities-usa-2026-volunteer-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:11:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:11:27","slug":"hotline-operator-named-catholic-charities-usa-2026-volunteer-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/hotline-operator-named-catholic-charities-usa-2026-volunteer-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotline operator named Catholic Charities USA 2026 Volunteer of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) has named Julie Abbott the 2026 Volunteer of the Year for her work as “a good and faithful servant.”<\/p>\n

Abbott has spent more than 15 years and nearly 5,000 hours responding to Relief & Hope emergency services hotlines and accompanying callers, many of whom are at their lowest and most vulnerable points.<\/p>\n

Catholic Charities Main<\/a> The hotline provides immediate assistance to individuals and families experiencing crisis. Abbott helps with a variety of challenges related to finances, mental health, job loss, car repairs, housing, hunger, or any other situation callers face.<\/p>\n

“When my children were finished being home schooled, I looked for places where I could feel useful and talk openly about Jesus,” Abbott said in a press release. “I would often come home depressed about the needs around me and how little I could help.”<\/p>\n

She said, “Callers thank me for listening and empathizing. I feel really good after those calls. And I appreciate working with people who put their faith in me every day at work.”<\/p>\n

He said, “Catholic Charities is a very nice, friendly, Godly place to work. I don’t think I’ve done enough to get this award. I’m amazed to get it.”<\/p>\n

The award also acknowledges Abbott’s work in developing a large database of resources covering Maine’s 16 counties. Due to its success, the state’s 2-1-1 operators, who provide local health and human services information to residents, have also been known to call their own callers for guidance on how to refer them to appropriate services.<\/p>\n

“Julie Abbott’s service to Catholic Charities Maine shows that sometimes, the quietest contributions can make the biggest impact,” said Kerry Ellis Robinson, CCUSA President and CEO.<\/p>\n

Robinson said, “Julie’s gift of presence and attention allows struggling neighbors to maintain their dignity even in their most distressed and vulnerable moments. She is truly a good and faithful servant to those in need.”<\/p>\n

According to CCUSA, the award has been given annually since 1998 and is given to an individual who embodies CCUSA’s mission to provide vital services to those in need, advocate for justice in social structures, and inspire the entire Church and others of goodwill to do the same.<\/p>\n

More than 200,000 people volunteer at Catholic Charities agencies across the country each year, and agencies nominate their most deserving volunteers for the honor. Abbott was also a 2021 Volunteer of the Year finalist for her work.<\/p>\n

Abbott will receive the award at CCUSA’s 2026 annual convention in Richmond, Virginia, later this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) has named Julie Abbott the 2026 Volunteer of the Year for her work as “a good and faithful servant.” Abbott has spent more than 15 years and nearly 5,000 hours responding to Relief & Hope emergency services hotlines and accompanying callers, many of whom are at their lowest and most vulnerable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[457,12504,26041,7827,8543,1166,8169,218],"class_list":{"0":"post-101837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bible-news","8":"tag-catholic","9":"tag-charities","10":"tag-hotline","11":"tag-named","12":"tag-operator","13":"tag-usa","14":"tag-volunteer","15":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101845,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101837\/revisions\/101845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}