The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the domestic antipoverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has worked for the past 42 years to provide grants to self-help projects developed by grassroots groups of poor persons.

Based on the theme, Build Community! Put Two Feet of Love in Action, CCHD has announced plans for their 2014 Multi-Media Youth Contest, inviting young people from grades 7 through 12 to submit projects in ANY form of multimedia to creatively illustrate this year's theme.

The Multi-Media Youth Contest is a tool for schools and parishes to engage young people in creative justice education and in the efforts of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to address the root causes of poverty in the United States. 

The annual contest offers individuals and parish or school groups a chance to use their artistic skills and creativity to demonstrate an understanding of the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms. A project should clearly show that the contestant understands that in addition to charitable works, work for social justice is needed to address the causes of problems faced by people living in poverty.  

In the Archdiocese of Hartford, the contest will be sponsored by the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry, with a $100 prize offered to the winning submission. The first-place prize will be presented at the Social Justice Conference in June, 2014. The winner will also have the opportunity to compete for CCHD National Awards and recognition.

For more information, contact Sarah Hillier at (203) 777-7279 or sarah.hillier @aohct.org. The deadline for submissions to OCSJM is March 12, 2014.

View these links for an overview of the contest rules, and information on how to organize the project in your parish or school:

Multi-Media Contest Brochure from CCHD
Contest Packet for Educators
Contest Packet for Youth Artists 

On December 13, members from three parishes gathered with OCSJM staff to spend an evening sharing food and stories in an effort to overcome what Pope Francis has called the "globalization of indifference to migrants." Parishioners from St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, Hartford, Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Hartford and St. Louis Church, West Haven, twenty five in all, met in Hartford for a potluck dinner of dishes from Peru, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Poland Germany, Ireland and Italy and to experience a "dialogue" designed to break down cultural barriers and share immigration stories, both recent and from prior decades.

Before, during and after the meal, participants responded to questions like "When and why did your first immigrant ancestor arrive in the U.S.?," "What does the traditional food you brought tonight mean to you?" and "How have events related to immigration affected you personally?" Facilitators from OCSJM and members of the event planning team reminded them that the purpose of the conversation was to understand each other better, not to debate issues or persuade anyone about a personal point of view.

Those who participated used words like "solidarity," "supported," "enlightened," "opportunities" and "hope" to describe their feelings after hearing personal immigration stories, learning about the Church's teaching on immigration and OCSJM's involvement in addressing the challenges of the immigrant community. 

The Catholic Church has long advocated for compassionate immigration reform.  Recently Pope Francis stated, "Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity."  Dialogues like this one have an important role to play in helping the faithful to bridge gaps of understanding and forge relationships across the divide often fueled by media and other forces.

In solidarity with immigration reform leaders, many Catholics took part in the "Fast for Families" in November. The purpose of the fast was to "touch the compassion and sensibilities of our elected leaders to address the moral Crisis of an immigration system that fails to comport with our national values, our creeds and belief in justice."  In addition to this nationwide fast, the Vatican has set the next "World Day of Migrants and Refugees" for January 19, 2014.