My life journey has taken me to several countries, and I have lived for a prolonged period in five of them. I have worked for seven different companies, but for more than half of my professional life, I worked for Catholic Charities, the only nonprofit I have ever worked for.
I am a native of Sarajevo — the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992 a war broke out in Bosnia and in May of the same year, Sarajevo was put under siege that lasted 1,425 days. At that time, I was working for my family-owned company.
In early May, we decided that I would stay in Sarajevo and the other two owners would relocate to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and manage our business there.
My task was to keep our company functioning, but soon I would learn that I had to provide more than just paychecks to my employees and take care of our extended family, too. As an economist by education, I was not equipped for such a task.
Food shortage was widespread as grocery stores were looted at the beginning of the siege. I had to use my connections to secure food and other items my employees and family needed to survive.
I became their social worker without knowing it.
My wife was able to leave Sarajevo and resettle as a refugee in Louisville in February 1995. The siege of Sarajevo ended in December of that year. However, the war had created deep wounds and destroyed the fabric of society that I used to be proud of. So, even though my company survived and accomplished great things for Sarajevo and the country, I decided to leave and join my wife in Louisville in May 1997.
In September 2000, Catholic Charities offered me a job that was to last six months. I accepted it as an interim job, as I was planning to seek employment in marketing, advertising, publishing or project management, which I used to do in Sarajevo.
Soon, however, Catholic Charities would offer me another job and I would learn that my personal values aligned with the agency’s mission. I saw the opportunity to use my education, skills and experience to help others, so I decided to share my journey with the agency.
Catholic Charities serves tens of thousands of people in need each year through a very diverse program portfolio. This has given me the opportunity to hold 11 different positions during almost 24 years with the agency, oftentimes holding more than just one.
Catholic Charities has evolved during my time at the agency. Some programs have closed as we determined there was no need for them or because another entity was doing it better. Some programs have been created as there was a need that was not being fulfilled.
I witnessed human trafficking in Bosnia and saw a need for an anti-trafficking program in Kentucky. We created such a program in 2007, even though there were neither federal nor state funds available then.
Always trying to use already existing resources, we created in 2015 a culinary arts training program called Common Table in a closed kitchen at the former St. Anthony School.
I will never forget Sarajevans standing in lines for their humanitarian aid. I could not be happier when we decided to transform the Sister Visitors Center’s pantry into a choice pantry in 2021, where residents can “shop” and choose the food they need.
As I look back to my beginning with Catholic Charities, I can’t be more grateful to the agency for giving me so many opportunities to serve and participate in its work of helping those around us who need our assistance.
Darko Mihaylovich retired from Catholic Charities last month after nearly 24 years of service.
