SPRINGFIELD — Bishop William Byrne not only introduced the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield’s new executive director for its Catholic Charities agency last week but also laid out the evolution that the agency will see now that protection of immigrants is no longer part of its agenda in the wake of federal cuts.

The diocese has selected Shaina Rodriguez to lead Catholic Charities, a role that oversees a budget that fluctuates between $2 million and $5 million, eight staff members, and coordinates a wide range of charitable programs that stretches across Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.

Her job will be to support the “three pillars” the Roman Catholic diocese has determined to be the focus of the agency going forward: mental health, food access and housing.

“I’m so excited to be here. I feel like my career has led me here, my experience has led me here. I’m happy to serve, I’m happy to lead,” Rodriguez said during her introduction by a handful of diocesan officials at a press conference held in the Bishop Maguire Pastoral Center on Elliot Street.

A New York City native who now lives in Connecticut with her husband and two young daughters, Rodriguez brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit work, and last served as a chief strategist for Clifford Beers Community Health Partners. Her work has often addressed behavioral health, youth development, housing and education.

Catholic Charities has been led by an interim director for several months following the departure of longtime director Kathryn Buckley-Brawner, who began the post in 2012.

Rodriguez is a lifelong product of Catholic education, starting out at All Saints and Cardinal Spellman Catholic schools in New York. She attended Fordham University where she received an undergraduate degree in organizational leadership and psychology, and later earned a master’s degree in organizational development with a focus on strategy and leadership from Quinnipiac University. She is also an alumna of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, where she completed a certificate program in social impact, management and leadership.

“She immediately stood out as the perfect candidate for this position at a moment in the history of Catholic Charities when we are undertaking a revisioning of this treasured outreach ministry,” said Byrne, who leads some 80 parishes and 200,000 Catholics in the region.

That revision includes eliminating one of its more noted programs, namely, the Welcoming Refugees Resettlement Project, which is being gutted due to the Trump administration withdrawing federal funding.

Rodriguez said the agency has lost as much as $600,000 in federal money for the program that has assisted the transition of immigrants into the area, from welcoming them at the airports, arranging housing opportunities (including rental assistance for a full year), and assisting with cultural changes, language barriers and employment opportunities.

“Without those grants, the capacity to be able to do that work effectively, was removed from us,” Byrne said. “We haven’t stopped our commitment to [immigrants]. Even though the funding has stopped, we want to make sure that we fulfill what our obligations are, regardless of what the federal government is going to do.”

In response to the funding cuts, Rodriguez laid out that at present the diocese is collaborating with Jewish Family Services to assist 83 immigrant cases, “to make sure that the families that we were supporting are going to continue to be supported,” she said.

While the lack of funding for immigrants has come to an end primarily because of the federal cuts, the bishop said the diocese had already been investigating other pressing needs in the region to add to its extensive list of services that already include mental health outreach, food programs and health care support.

“Even before these changes,” said Byrne, referring to federal aid being stripped, “we had undertaken a complete and thorough review of the mission of Catholic Charities, speaking with all of our partners, all of our stakeholders across the diocese both within the church and with our civil colleagues. And so it is that we emerged with three pillars.”

To support the pillars of mental health, food access and housing, Rodriguez said collaboration with other community nonprofits will be key.

Laying out her core philosophy, Rodriguez said, “I’m of the mind that if you want to go somewhere quick, you go by yourself. If you want to go far, you go together.”

Among her ambitions are strengthening the network of pantries and sandwich ministries in the area, locating additional sources of funding, as well as potentially leveraging church properties to address the housing shortage that is being felt both statewide and locally.

“There’s a lot I’ve been thinking about,” she said.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.