CCHD collection vital for local anti-poverty organizations

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Marge Trenkle says this year’s collection to fund the Catholic Church’s primary social justice initiative is more important than ever for the campaign’s Baltimore chapter.

Because of a hiccup in the national funding process, the Baltimore CCHD committee chairperson said the Nov. 16-17 collection in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore is a vital funding source for the local Catholic Campaign for Human Development chapter.

“It’s absolutely critical,” said Trenkle, a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Columbia.

Trenkle has been a member of the committee for more than 23 years after being a member of one of CCHD’s funded anti-poverty groups; so she’s seen firsthand from both sides the power of the local committee’s ability to champion the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Church.

Since beginning its work in 1970, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has awarded more than $462 million in grants supporting more than 12,000 community-based, grassroots-led organizations. Through grants given to local community organizations, CCHD enables the active participation of those experiencing poverty and builds solidarity between people living in poverty and their neighbors. 

This year’s national funding is temporarily on hold because the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves grants at its annual meetings, which are happening in November this year. The USCCB also is studying a new formula for distributing funds, possibly switching to a calendar year-based model.

“The important thing is that the bishops are still committed to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development,” said Monsignor Richard Bozzelli, the Baltimore committee director and pastor of St. Bernardine in West Baltimore. “Like a lot of places, the COVID pandemic caused us to shift gears a little.”

Monsignor Bozzelli said that in the past, funds were “evened out” from year to year to provide a consistent source of funding that wasn’t tied to an uptick or downturn in the national collection.

“That’s why Catholics should be mindful of their contribution,” Monsignor Bozzelli said, “because now the funds will be connected much more closely to the money raised each year and the grants.”

While the local CCHD committee waits to hear on its national grant awards, it has gone ahead with local funding for some of its sponsored groups that are facing budget problems without CCHD funds.

“Archbishop (William E. Lori) and (Auxiliary Bishop Bruce) Lewandowski have been onboard with us moving forward with local groups while we wait to see what national will approve,” Trenkle said.

Funds collected each November are submitted to the national office and then distributed each year to communities as grants. The local committees also get 25 percent of the local collection returned to distribute as regional grants for educational purposes, such as training groups on how to apply for the grants. 

This past year, the local CCHD committee worked with seminarians at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg and a group of national interns to teach them about the importance of the bishops’ anti-poverty programs.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore, thanks to an experienced and determined committee, typically brings back to the area much more than the archdiocese-wide collection brings in, according to Trenkle.

Local funding of $40,000 this year has already gone out to:

• Anne Arundel Connecting Together ($8,500). ACT is working on housing issues and helping returning citizens reconnect with the community to become productive citizens.
• CHIN Association of Maryland ($2,000). CHIN is working with the educational systems in Howard County, Baltimore County and Frederick County to help them provide appropriate educational services to refugees from Burma.
• People Acting Together in Howard ($5,000). PATH is working to organize residents in high-poverty areas in Howard County around issues such as affordable housing and environmental justice
• South Baltimore Community Land Trust ($9,000). SBCLT is working on developing affordable housing units in Baltimore City to promote home ownership and environmental justice.
• United Workers ($9,000). The labor organization works in Baltimore City and counties in Western Maryland on issues of poverty common to both locations.
• Immigration Outreach Service Center ($5,000). IOSC is expanding its space to reach more people.
• Baltimore Oliver Community Association ($1,500). BOCA is exploring the current needs of the residents, which affect their community.

ACT, BUILD, CHIN, PATH, SBCLT and United Workers all have applied and are waiting to hear about national grants.

In the 2023-24 funding cycle, CCHD funded the following groups:

• Drink at the Well received a grant to assist at-risk women in the Curtis Bay area of Baltimore City.
• South Baltimore Community Land Trust in Baltimore City received a grant to be used to develop affordable housing units in Cherry Hill to promote home ownership and environmental justice. 
• ACT used funds to work with returning citizens and low-income tenants.
• PATH used a grant to organize residents in high-poverty areas in Howard County around issues such as affordable housing and environmental justice.
• CHIN used funds for work in Baltimore, Frederick and Howard counties to assist refugees from Burma to access educational resources.
• United Workers used grants to work on poverty issues in Baltimore City and Counties in Western Maryland.

All funded groups must comply with Catholic teaching.

“There’s been some unjust negativity about our organization and the groups we fund,” Trenkle said. “But if people took the time to look at the groups we have funded, they’ll see the great works these groups have done in Baltimore and the surrounding area to get at the root causes of poverty. There’s a lot of scrutiny that goes into making these grants to ensure they aren’t funding anything that goes against Catholic teaching, such as abortion.”

Parishioners can contribute to the Nov. 16-17 (the second collection at most Masses) at their parish or send a check made out to Catholic Campaign for Human Development and mail it to St. Bernardine Parish, Attn. Monsignor Richard Bozzelli, Director CCHD Baltimore, 3812 Edmondson Ave., Baltimore 21229.

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