Each year, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development awards grants to projects aimed at changing the structures that perpetuate poverty in society. Some grants are awarded locally and are paid for with money collected in the archdiocese; others are awarded by the national CCHD office. Following are grants awarded earlier this year. The total amount awarded is pending further announcements. Funding comes from the annual CCHD collection, this year taking place in parishes Nov. 18-19. Local grantees Alliance for Community Services, $25,000 The Alliance for Community Services unites consumers and workers and empowers them to honor the full dignity of each person, improve access to public services that meet human needs and win institutional changes leading to social, racial, disability and economic justice. Male Mogul Initiative, $20,000 The Male Mogul Initiative is working to create a wealth-building ecosystem by creating a circular economy of business incubation, finance, direct services, indirect services and community reinvestment. Its goal is to empower residents with the knowledge, resources, and networks to build a thriving local economy. The Male Mogul plans to invest in meaningful and innovative businesses that improve the vitality of underresourced communities and creates jobs. St. Agatha Dream Builders Association, $35,000 St. Agatha Dream Builders, the sister organization of St. Agatha Church, encompasses all of the church’s social justice work. St. Agatha Church, now part of St. Simon of Cyrene Parish, is a vibrant, faith-filled, family-centered, predominately African American Catholic community of 300 families in North Lawndale. Working Family Solidarity, $25,000 Working Family Solidarity unites low-income families of different races and ethnicities in the Chicago area to work together for racial equity and economic justice, particularly in the areas of jobs and housing, as well as green spaces. National grantees Alliance of the Southeast, $35,000 Alliance of the Southeast is a multicultural interfaith coalition of community and faith institutions, businesses, youth and schools on Chicago’s Southeast Side. The alliance develops youth and adult grassroots leaders who fight for environmental justice and work to stop toxic developments, ensuring projects benefit residents through jobs and safe, affordable housing. Chicago Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers, $65,000 The Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers work is to restore and expand mental health services in Chicago through the creation of Expanded Mental Health Services Programs that create sustainably funded mental health centers. ChiFresh Kitchen, $70,000 ChiFresh Kitchen is a worker cooperative owned by five formerly incarcerated Black Chicagoans, providing safe, stable employment and the opportunity to build wealth through business ownership. The kitchen provides healthy, delicious and culturally appropriate meals to institutions in the community. Lake County Sponsors, $40,000 Lake County Sponsors’ mission is building power among citizens whose voices have often not been heard in the centers of power. Currently, the organization’s primary focus is on developing affordable housing for essential workers and for those with special needs. Progress Center for Independent Living, $45,000 Progress Center works with low-income people with disabilities, helping them get the information and resources they need to live independently. It is run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, and the agencies it partners with also serve largely low-income populations. Southside Together Organizing for Power, $40,000 STOP advances economic and social human rights by organizing and developing leadership among the people most affected by economic and racial oppression. The organization’s groups of tenants, mental health patients/providers, and students/young people have won victories from preserving affordable housing to winning a commitment from the University of Chicago Hospitals to create a South Side trauma center, which opened in 2018.
Seminarians learn about poverty through immersion program Three seminarians from St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota spent three weeks at St. Mary of the Lake-Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 4220 N. Sheridan Road, helping migrant families as part of an immersion program with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).
Church’s anti-poverty program: Giving the poor a voice for 50 years When the Rev. Marlon Tilghman learned that any Maryland juvenile taken into custody can be questioned by police without a parent being informed or without an attorney present, his thoughts turned to his teenage granddaughter.
CCHD turns 50, started in Archdiocese of Chicago When Catholics across the United States reach into their pocketbooks to support the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection the weekend of Nov. 21-22, they will be participating in an effort that began half a century ago in Chicago.