Fil-Am named director of development at St. Vincent Meals on Wheels in LA

Christine Calderon-Caruso has been named Director of Development at St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, it was announced by SVMOW Executive Director Veronica Dover, effective immediately. Calderon-Caruso will lead fundraising for the organization’s senior nutrition programs, which serve 1,200 homebound seniors and other vulnerable individuals throughout Los Angeles. Founded in 1977 by Sister Alice Marie Quinn, DC, SVMOW has grown into the country’s largest privately funded senior nutrition program.

Calederon-Caruso has served as a social media and community engagement consultant with the organization since 2018, so she brings a familiarity with its mission and the population it serves. She has initiated strategic relationships and promotions with a number of corporations and area businesses to raise funds for SVMOW’s programs.

Veronica Dover commented, “Christine has such a heart for our mission and our ministry.  She brings so much love to our program and the seniors we serve.  We are excited for her to bring her energy, enthusiasm, and vision to this new role and look forward to the positive impacts she will have on our program and our homebound seniors.”

Calderon-Caruso has a deep background in fund development and as a program director for health and human services programs and has worked for small and larger non-profits in Los Angeles — Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, When Georgia Smiled and the Dr. Phil Foundation, Union Rescue Mission — to name a few.  A native of the Philippines, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Union Theological Seminary in Dasmarinas, Cavite, later earning a Master of Divinity from Claremont University and working as a youth pastor prior to entering the non-profit world.

After working for more than a decade in non-profits serving at-risk youth and low-income families, Calderon-Caruso segued into fund development. “I’m really a storyteller at heart: I have seen and worked with some of the most marginalized members of our society, and I want to tell their stories, and give voice to the voiceless. I welcome the challenge at St. Vincent Meals on Wheels to put a face to the seniors in our midst who sometimes remain invisible to the larger society,” she points out, “and to raise awareness and build on resources to serve them.”