The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops which works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate in decisions that affect their lives, families and communities. CCHD offers a hand up, not a hand out. Groups who receive funding from CCHD identify problems that affect the poor and then work along with them to find just solutions. 

Two Connecticut groups that will receive national funding this year: the Naugatuck Valley Project and United Connecticut Action for Neighborhoods.

The Naugatuck Valley Project (NVP) is an organization composed of religious congregations and labor and small business organizations which help save and create jobs, affordable housing, and critical public and private services in the Naugatuck Valley. NVP focuses on the development of leadership qualities and organizing skills of low income people as they engage in citizen action and democratic economic development campaigns. These activities have ranged from successful fights for community policing, immigrant services, retiree benefits, job training, the creation of affordable housing, as well as successful campaigns to save and create jobs through employee buyouts.

United Connecticut Action for Neighborhoods (UCAN) assists low income residents of Connecticut to solve problems and change structures that adversely affect their lives. UCAN achieves this by empowering people, training leaders, building communities, and changing public policies. Today most of UCAN's organizing work is centered in the Caring Families Coalition so that every CT resident has access to quality and affordable health care.

Local grant money, disbursed by OCSJM on behalf of CCHD, has also been allocated to the following groups: Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), Publicly-assisted Housing Resident Network (PHRN), and Capital Good Fund.

For additional information on CCHD and how it works with local groups, visit the CCHD page on the OCSJM website. If you are interested in learning more about the grant process or would like to become part of our Grant Review Committee, please contact Lynn Campbell at (203) 777-7279 or info.ocsjm@aohct.org.
                                      
Direct references within this article have been taken with permission from the NVP and UCAN homepages, to which you may refer for more information.

OCSJM is pleased to welcome guest speaker, Mr. Ralph McCloud, as the Guest Speaker at its 46th Annual Dinner and Awards on October 21, 2014 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.

McCloud is the national Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the U.S. Bishops' anti-poverty program which funds community organizing and economic development projects that address root causes of poverty in the United States. His profound commitment to the Catholic Church enables him to communicate the biblical, theological and spiritual dimensions of Catholic social ministry and the principles that guide CCHD's mission of empowering people trapped in the cycle of poverty. The theme of his presentation will be Being "a Church that is Poor, and for the Poor." 

The evening's program will also include the presentation of awards for exceptional efforts in social justice ministry. 

Rev. James Manship will receive the Most Reverend Joseph P. Donnelly Individual Award for his tireless advocacy efforts on behalf of the Hispanic community in the Greater New Haven area. The Sacred Heart Parish Community in Southbury will receive the Donnelly Organization Award for its parish-wide commitment to the principles of justice and charity, and its embrace of the Catholic vision of social justice. The Dr. Charlie Schlegel Award for Cooperative Parish Sharing will be presented to St. Rose of Lima Church in New Haven for their CPS-supported summer programming for children, in conjunction with a leadership and immersion program for teens.

All are invited to participate in this evening of recognition and celebration on October 21st. For tickets call OCSJM at: (203) 777-7279 or visit the Event Page for more information. Tickets are $70 per person, or $650 for a table of ten. 

Initiated in 1968, the Cooperative Parish Sharing (CPS) program is managed by the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry. In the current round of grants, a total of $130,111 has been allocated to needy parish and Catholic school projects within the Archdiocese of Hartford. 

Generous voluntary financial contributions from parishes are distributed in the form of grants to low-income parishes for projects they would like to implement.  The program supports the development of parish social ministry projects and Catholic school projects. Parish donations are the sole source of income to the CPS program.

New projects are encouraged.  This year Father Jeffrey Gubbiotti of Church of the Assumption in Ansonia is using CPS funds to create the "Ansonia Catholic Teen Organization (ACTO)".  The goal of the project is to develop peer youth leaders who will reach out to "at risk" teens in the area and provide an alternative to the "gang lifestyle" that is growing there.

At Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Church in Waterbury, religious education students will participate in a "Starving to End World Hunger" project where they will use Catholic Relief Services resources to learn about world hunger, complete a 24-Hour Food Fast, and participate in a "Helping Hands Project" to prepare food packages for the impoverished country of Burkina Faso.

To learn more about Cooperative Parish Sharing, and to view a complete listing of current grant projects, visit the CPS website page.