Collection helps poor help selves

According to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), "self-help" isn't just a section in a bookstore.

"It's the old adage -- teaching someone to fish versus handing them a fish. Only, we want them to get salmon and red snapper and everything else," explained ARISE spokesman Rev. Van Stewart, pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in Schenectady.

ARISE is an interfaith empowerment group dedicated to improving the economic and social development of the Capital District's poorest areas.

Helped by donations

ARISE is one of many groups in the Albany Diocese that have received funding from CCHD, a yearly collection that will be taken up at Masses on Nov. 22-23.

According the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, CCHD is the largest private grantor to projects developed with the express purpose of lifting up the poor. Grants are given to organizations working to break the downward spiral of poverty by fostering economic growth and political awareness among the poor.

In the Diocese, such groups have campaigned for affordable housing, cultivated job opportunities and advancement, developed programs for inner-city children, and fought against the influence of gangs in city neighborhoods.

Investment

According to Mary Coppola, associate director of diocesan Catholic Charities, 44 Diocese-backed projects have been the recipients of more than $2 million in grants from CCHD over the years. Last year, Catholics in the Diocese contributed $103,717 to CCHD.

Some of that money has been re-invested in programs like ARISE, which last year helped secure a $250,000 grant for after-school programs at Carver Community Center in Schenectady.

One of ARISE's main goals is to "train people how to organize themselves so they can claim the power that they have naturally been given, being citizens and constituents of this state," Rev. Stewart explained. "We want to inform people as to the kinds of things they can do for themselves."

CCHD grants have also bolstered the following organizations:

* United Tenants of Albany (UTA), which has been a driving force behind the crusade for affordable housing in Albany. The UTA, founded in the early seventies by Roger and Maria Markovics, works to protect tenants' rights and improve housing conditions within the city;

* The Capital District Community Loan Fund, an organization that "provides lending opportunities to minority and women-owned businesses" among other small entrepreneurs, according to Ms. Coppola. The fund has made over $10 million in loans in the areas of housing and business;

* The Albany Community Land Trust, which "prevents homelessness by helping low-income tenants purchase their buildings and avoid displacement," said Ms. Coppola. The Trust develops affordable housing on community-controlled land and is directed by a board of directors and Trust homebuyers, many of whom are low-income wage-earners;

* The Public Policy Education Network and the Faithful Citizenship program, initiatives of the Diocesan Public Policy Committee. Faithful Citizenship urges Catholics to participate in the political process. It teaches participants "that every person, through their Catholic faith, is called to be aware of what the issues are, and to become educated so that when you are at the voting booth you can vote your conscience and live out your responsible citizenship," said Ms. Coppola.

The Public Policy Committee keeps members informed on laws going through state and national legislatures, sends out action alerts for Catholics to write their legislators, and promotes voter "awareness, education, and the social teaching of the Church," said Ms. Coppola. "The goal is to provide systemic change."

Initiatives like ARISE are "about empowerment instead of just advocacy," said Rev. Stewart. "By empowerment, you are helping people to stand up for themselves. It's not always about winning the big battles. It's about helping to change mindsets about accessibility to power, getting people to know they have the access to the power if they so choose to go after it."

(At their annual fall meeting last week, the U.S. bishops elected Bishop Howard J. Hubbard as chairman of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. "I have been on the committee since 1978," he said. "It is a privilege to be chairman. I hope I can advance the Campaign's work in addressing the systemic causes of poverty and social injustice.")

(11/20/03) [[In-content Ad]]