Who We Are

Encounter began in 2020 after Colleen McDonough and Monèt Souza served with Christ in the City for a Summer of Service mission trip. Inspired by the authenticity of the missionaries' friendships with the poor, Colleen and Monèt led street ministry in downtown Boston. 

Independently, at the same time, theology students at Boston College began walking the streets of Cambridge to spend time with the town's homeless population, hand out sandwiches, and evangelize. Young adults from other like-minded groups across the Archdiocese also eventually discovered the ministry being led by Colleen and Monèt. So, what started with a handful of friends walking the city streets quickly coalesced into dozens of young Catholics gathering every month to find God in the homeless. 

Our missionaries are school teachers, scientists, architects, students, accountants, priests, and anything else you could imagine. Amid their daily lives, some serve with Encounter once a month; others serve once a week; and others are now full- and part-time missionaries. Because our mission is to respond to Christ's universal invitation to love Him in the poor, Catholic Christians from every walk of life comprise our ministry. 

Our Missionary Leaders