The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is a national social justice program of the United States Catholic Bishops. Its mission is to address the root causes of property in America through promotion and support of community controlled, self-help organizations, and through transformative education of the non-poor.
Each year in November, the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky participates in the national Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection. From that collection, a percentage of monies are retained to provide grant funding to local organizations which meet CCHD criteria. Catholic Charities administers and allocates the grant funding.
To apply, please send a brief narrative of your organization, budgeting information, how your organization would meet the CCHD criteria of systemic change, what community organizations your group receives support from, and whether your organizations policy-making board has one-third low-income members (if y our board does not contain one-third of its members who are low-income also include an explanation of why this is not so) to susan.gesser@pastoral.org. You may also find an Adobe PDF fillable application here.
Applications for grant funding must be received by May 31, 2021 so that grants can be awarded by June 2021. The grant is a non-renewable and must be applied for each year. Three years is the total number of years any one group can receive this grant. Each year approximately four grants are given ranging between $800-$1,200 each. The total we have for grants this year is $6,000.
Criteria:
- The applicant’s project must be within the thirty-two counties which comprise the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro. These counties include: Fulton, Hickman, Graves, Ballard, McCracken, Carlisle, Calloway, Marshall, Trigg, Lyon, Livingston, Caldwell, Christian, Hopkins, Muhlenburg, Todd, Logan, Simpson, Allen, Warren, Butler, Edmonson, Grayson, Ohio, Breckinridge, Hancock, Daviess, McLean, Henderson, Union, Webster, and Crittenden.
- The applicant project’s policy making board must be at least one-third low-income. If this is not the case, the applicant must explain why the board does not have setting low-income board members. (Low-income board members do not include those considered voluntarily poor such as clergy, religious sisters, students, VISTA volunteers, etc.)
- The applicant project efforts must seek to benefit a poverty group.
- The applicant project must seek to create institutional or systemic change by changing the structures that keep people poor and powerless.
- CCHD will consider favorably only those projects which demonstrate respect for the dignity of the human person. CCHD will not consider projects or organizations which promote or support abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, or any other affront to human life and dignity.
- The activity for which funding is requested must be consistent with the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
- Projects should generate cooperation and solidarity among and within diverse groups in the interest of a more integrated and mutually understanding society.
- Projects should document that as a result of CCHD funding there are possibilities of generating funds from other sources or of moving towards becoming self-supporting within the time lines established in the proposal.