Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection is Nov. 12-13

By Brandon A. Evans

The annual second collection taken by parishes to benefit the Catholic Campaign for Human Development will be Nov. 12-13.

Last year, the archdiocese collected more than $122,500, and this year the goal is $125,000, said David Siler, executive director of Catholic Charities for the archdiocese.

The CCHD was founded 35 years ago by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and works to help the poor become self-sufficient, active members of the community through the various programs funded by annual grants.

Each year, the archdiocese keeps about 25 percent of what it raises for local grants to programs and agencies, both within and outside the archdiocese.

At the national level, the CCHD also awards larger grants to programs, some of which go to our archdiocese.

Last year, seven local grants, for a total of $39,000, were awarded. Also, two local programs received national grants totaling $70,000.

This year, nearly $9 million was awarded to 315 local and national community and economic development projects from the national office of the CCHD.

While Catholic Charities is primarily responsible for helping mostly with immediate needs and works of mercy, such as feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless, CCHD “is about organizing people around the root causes of poverty in order to affect societal change to help eliminate the need to be fed, sheltered, clothed, etc.,” Siler said.

“Borrowing from an ancient Chinese proverb,” Siler said, “Catholic Charities is about giving a fish so that someone can eat today, while CCHD is about teaching others to fish so that they can eat for a lifetime. Christ and the Church call us to both actions.”

The two do overlap, though. Last year, Siler said, two of the local grants awarded were to Catholic Charities agencies in Terre Haute and Tell City “for efforts that they have to organize their communities around issues that are affecting the poor.”

Catholic Charities Terre Haute, thanks to a CCHD local grant, has started a neighborhood association through Ryves Hall that Siler said is doing tremendous work.

Another locally funded secular program is the Citizens Action Coalition, Siler said. They have been active in working to educate citizens about the proposed natural gas price increases.

They have also been lobbying the state legislature to step in to minimize the increase and are a strong voice for the poor, he said, by attempting to communicate the large negative effects that a large rate hike will have on them.

Siler said that whenever he speaks to Catholics from around the archdiocese, he finds that most of them don’t know about the CCHD.

“It should be a great source of pride for us as Catholics,” he said. “It is one of the most important ways that our Church seeks to influence unjust systems that contribute to poverty.”

He said that he wishes to see more awareness of the CCHD and more involvement in the programs that it funds. Once that happens, the financial support should grow, and thus give more impact to the funded programs, he said.

Siler would like to bring in a CCHD volunteer coordinator to help achieve these goals as well as to help educate people about the issues of poverty. The coordinator could also go to Catholic schools to perform this task.

Catholics have already shown a great capacity for generosity in the past year, and Siler hopes they continue.

“With the tsunami and recently the hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, we have seen a tremendous outpouring of support for the victims,” he said. “Since much support has gone toward these relief efforts, I do hope that Catholics will continue to be generous in supporting the ongoing needs of those who suffer every day due to the effects of poverty.” †