The core mission of Caritas is to see hardship and act against it. And to stand up and speak for those people who have no voice. This means respecting and protecting human life from beginning to end and helping people in distress, regardless of their background, religion or gender to lead a dignified and self-determined life.

In Austria there are more than 1,600 projects and places where Caritas supports people in need in the areas of nursing, people with disabilities, hospices, social counseling, working for families in need, elders or asylum seekers. The Caritas – these are their full-time employees, but above all the approximately 57,000 volunteers, who dedicate their courage and professionalism to support others on a daily basis.

Because distress has a different face in every country, Caritas Austria is involved in the international Caritas network in its foreign and disaster relief, in which more than 160 Caritas organizations worldwide are serving humanity.

CARITAS AUSTRIA is an internationally operating non-profit organization (donations are tax-deductible Reg. Nr. SO1126; equivalent 501(c)(3) US organization) under the mission of the Austrian Catholic church and pursues solely and directly charitable and benevolent objectives.

 

Total employees:

• 16,546 full-time employees
• over 47,000 volunteers in parishes and institutions of Caritas

Help for People in need:

• 53 homeless shelters provide 2,107 beds
• 9 mother-child-houses provide accommodation for 124 mothers and 186 children
• 71 Caritas Social Counseling Centers* offer advice and help to people in need

Care and Support:

• 2.2 million hours in mobile care per year
• 49 senior and nursing homes
• Over 4,999 people cared for in senior and nursing homes
• 5,313 employees in stationary and mobile care

People with disabilities:

• 14,496 daycare places  and 2,520 workshop places for people with disabilities
• 11,277 people receive social-psychiatric care (mostly counseling services)
• 1,793 people with disabilities in assisted living

Children & Youth

• 1,830 actions, projects and events of youngCaritas
• 3.298 young people are involved in the actionPool, the volunteer pool of youngCaritas
• 66 learning cafés* for over 2,100 children and young people
• 960 volunteers are involved in the learning cafés
• more than 40,000 people are supporting Caritas via the digital platform füreinand‘

Caritas Foreign Aid:

• Caritas Austria supported 426 aid projects worldwide in 2021
• The total volume of this aid amounts to 36.7 million euros.
• The focus is on: disaster relief, children in need, long-term livelihood, displaced people, rehabilitation support (reconstruction)

Donations to Caritas

• 89 million euros were donated to Caritas in 2021
• Of this amount, 792,000 came from the "Nachbar in Not" campaign, 407,550 euros from "Licht ins Dunkel" and 166,200 euros from the "Wundertüte".
• Ongoing donations (sponsorships, standing orders, collections) account for 53.98 million euros of this total. 

(Status according to impact report 2021, *figures as of 01/23)

More information on the work of Caritas in Austria, including facts and figures, can be found in our current Annual Report:

Annual Report 2021 (English, accessible)