2006-2007 CCHD Funded Groups Report
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, founded in 1969, is the domestic antipoverty social justice program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. When you support CCHD, you give hope to poor and low-income Americans struggling to build a better life. Your contribution supports self-help programs that give community members the chance they need to become self-sufficient.
For further information about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, please contact: Archdiocese of Cincinnati Catholic Social Action Office (513) 421-3131, ext.239 (Cincinnati), or (937) 224-3026 (Dayton) or csa@catholiccincinnati.org. Visit our national website, www.povertyusa.org.
Major Grants: Funded through the National CCHD
Click here for Local Grants (funded through the Social Action office with CCHD funds)
Communities United for Action (CUFA) - CUFA Youth Council
Marilyn Evans -- (513) 541-2709
Through the CUFA Youth Council, the youth will gain leadership skills so they can develop a plan and act on it to address issues that concern them. The CUFA Youth Council will become a powerful voice for youth in the Millcreek Valley neighborhoods of Cincinnati.
Cornerstone Community Loan Fund
Margery Spinney --(513) 369-0114, www.cornerstoneloanfund.org
Cornerstone Community Loan Fund (Cornerstone) is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). It is also the creator of a unique economic concept that enables renters to build assets as members of a self-governing resident association that helps manage its housing. Renters will be able to participate in management decisions and build equity for the future financial goals.
Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center -- Families That Matter, Ohio Organizing Project (FTM Ohio)
Sr. Alice Gerdeman, CDP -- (513) 579-8547, www.ijpc-cincinnati.org
Families That Matter is a statewide organizing project for Ohioans who share a common hardship, a loved one who is or has been on Ohio's death row. FTM brings the prophetic voice of the oppressed, the family of the condemned, to the table in the abolition movement in Ohio. FTM members receive training, support in lobbying, and staff support in their efforts to organize toward moratorium on the death penalty in Ohio. FTM Ohio provides peer personal family support and advice about options and rights at time of execution and other crises.
Leaders for Equality and Action in Dayton (LEAD) -- Montgomery County Expansion Project
Alex Shade -- (937) 274-5533
LEAD prepares and empowers people of faith to work together for justice in the Greater Dayton area. LEAD brings 15 congregations with a combined total of more than 5,000 members together to work on the systemic causes of local community problems. This year, LEAD will increase the number of congregations to over 18, and the number of people directly engaged in the LEAD efforts of listening, research and action to over 650
PowerNet of Dayton
Craig Powell -- (937) 225-3120
PowerNet is providing a pre-release program in prisons to reduce recidivism rates and to empower Dayton communities where ex-offenders often live.
WIN Action Organizing Project -- Predatory Lending
Sr. Barbara Busch -- (513) 541-4109, www.wincincy.org
Through training and organizing on this issue, WINAOP will identify lenders, resolve disputes with lenders, prevent foreclosures and advocate for laws that will provide protections for consumers against predatory lending in order to preserve home ownership in Hamilton County. This year, WINAOP will also tackle the issue of "Rescue Fraud," when homeowners are scammed by companies who promise to fix their foreclosures but end up taking their homes away.
Local Grants
Click here for Major Grants (Grants allocated by National CCHD)
Cincinnati ACORN -- Cincinnati Financial Justice Project
Liz Kropp -- (513) 221-1737, www.acorn.org
This project has as its overall goal to establish financial justice for low - and moderate - income people in Cincinnati. ACORN will concentrate its efforts in three areas -- Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits, predatory lending and fringe financial services, and raising the Ohio minimum wage.
Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice -- Cincinnati Worker Center
Don Sherman -- (513) 621-5991
The Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, a project of the Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, is focused on working with low wage workers to confront issues of workplace injustices for low-age workers, rights for day labors and comprehensive immigration reform.
Cincinnati Women's Partnership -- Financial Empowerment for Women
Tracey Zwick -- (513) 300-3244, www.cincywomenspartnership.org
The Financial Empowerment for Women project is designed to provide a means for low income women who are trying to make a living to develop the necessary skills and an understanding of the basic principles of financial management. These skills can make the difference between a woman making an independent life for her family or the family sliding back into a life of poverty and dependence.
Community Land Cooperative of Cincinnati -- Home ownership Assistance Project -- Phase II
David Hastings -- (513) 721-2522 www.communitylandcooperativeofcincinnati.org
The Home ownership Assistance Project -- Phase II will help more low-income families become homeowners in Cincinnati's West End by selectively targeting rental properties that, with minimal investment, will become owner occupies.
Communities United for Action (CUFA) -- Coalition on Environmental Justice
Marilyn Evans -- (513) 541-2709
CUFA’s Coalition on Environmental Justice will train 40 neighborhood leaders and host public meetings to address environmental concerns in its Millcreek Valley neighborhoods. CUFA will also continue to push for the passage of a City Environmental Justice Ordinance.
Contact Center Benefit Rights Advocacy Group (BRAG)
Lynn Williams -- (513) 381-4242
The Contact Center’s Benefit Rights Advocacy Group (B.R.A.G.) will organize Hamilton and bordering counties to advocate for policy changes on low– and moderate income workers issues and the disabled in addition to those on welfare. B.R.A.G. will organize affected individuals to advocate for beneficial policy changes, including a livable wage, health care, saving social security and other issues impacting its constituents’ lives
Contact Center -- OTR Votes!
Zach Fisher -- (513) 381-4242
The Contact Center will conduct an intensive voter registration and mobilization drive in the Over-the-Rhine will train its current leaders to become precinct captains and mobilize and educate 1,750 unlikely voters to vote in the upcoming City Council and School Board Election
(CONTROL) -- Developing Cincinnati's Emerging Leaders
Gavin Leonard -- (513) 721-5800
15-25 young people, ages 14-20, will develop leadership skills through personal empowerment, political education, critical thinking and community organizing. Youth people will commit to a one-year process including local mentorship, national training, and educational community events.
Dakota Center -- Expanding Economic Opportunity in Urban Inner-West Dayton
Sharon Mitchell -- (937) 228-8961, www.dakotacenter.org
This project seeks to intervene in a generational cycle of poverty by empowering adults with a basic understanding of economic opportunities through financial literacy and micro enterprise in urban inner-west Dayton.
Good Samaritan Home -- Citizen Circle Ex-Felon Mentoring Group
John Graham -- (937) 547-6337
In Ohio, 39% of parolees will return to prison in the first 3 years following release. Citizen Circle addresses the recidivism rate in Darke County by training community volunteers to partner with ex-felons and help them to find employment, affordable housing, and most importantly develop the skills necessary to become productive members of the community.
Interfaith Business Builders -- Cooperative Janitorial Services Internal Systems Development Project
Ray West -- (513) 557-3600 www.interfaithbusinessbuilders.org
Cooperative Janitorial Services (CJS) is a democratically run cooperative, owned and operated by its low-income members (workers/owners). This project is establishing the internal systems needed inside CJS to improve its operations and insure maximum CJS member ownership and earth friendly cleaning products.
South Cumminsville United for Better Housing -- Rebuild South Cumminsville
Dyah Kartikawening -- (513) 541-4109
The South Cumminsville Community for Better Housing (SCCUFBH) will organize residents of this Cincinnati neighborhood to rebuild currently abandoned houses that attract crime activities into single family homes for first-time home buyers.
Springfield & Clark County Justice Action & Mercy (JAM) -- Empowering People Creating Change
Makiva Harper -- (937) 328-3378 www.thedartcenter.org
Justice Action Mercy is a faith-based organization that organizes congregations in the Springfield and Clark County to address problems such as crime, poor elementary reading achievement, and high unemployment rates plaguing the community. JAM seeks to empower those impacted by these issues to act for positive and significant change.
The Terrace Guild -- L.E.E.P.S. Initiative
Rhonda Tilford -- (513) 641-0382, www.terraceguild.org
The Linking Education and Experience to Promote Self-Sufficiency (LEEPS) Initiative will mobilize low-income residents in the Cincinnati communities of Winton Hills, Winton Place and St. Bernard to meet with the nearby industries and businesses about hiring workers from the neighborhoods where the companies are located.
Wesley Community Center, Inc. -- People Taking Charge
Shallon Coleman -- (937) 263-3556
Low-income women can face the obstacles of lack of education, illiteracy, limited job skills and homelessness. The People Taking Charge project is committed to breaking down those barriers and giving women skills in Dayton and resources that will propel them into a life of self-sufficiency.
WIN Senior Action Coalition -- Senior Health and Income Advocacy Project
Emma Harmeyer -- (513) 541-4109
Recent budget cuts in Medicaid will have enormous consequences on seniors’ ability to obtain health and long term care. In addition, the new Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit seems to provide for more confusion and anger to seniors than real relief on their prescriptions. This project will educate seniors, especially low-income seniors, about proposed changes and train them to advocate on their own behalf.
Workplace ReConnections - The H.E.L.P. Project
Anthony Scott Washington -- (937) 277-9141 www.workplacereconnections.org
The H.E.L.P. (Helping Ex-Offenders Live Productively) Project is a vehicle for formerly incarcerated individuals to gain conceptual tools and practical skills to live in society following release from incarceration. H.E.L.P. provides a mechanism for large numbers of formerly incarcerated persons to become agents of their own change.