Marty Denzer/Key photo Bishop Robert Finn talks with Chuck Sailors, founder, CEO and president of the Kansas City Urban Youth Center at the annual CCHD awards banquet July 19.

CCHD funds programs that empower people to make decisions; seek solutions to problems, and find ways to improve their own lives and their neighborhoods.

In remarks before presenting the grant awards, Bishop Robert Finn described service as “truly a human endeavor.”

“In our faith,” he said, “we see our service as a way of affirming the dignity of every human person.” Physical and spiritual needs are filled ¾ a human endeavor enriched with deep spirituality.

“The Catholic Campaign for Human Development was founded to help people help themselves,” the bishop continued. “To give them a start, to help them produce what they need to provide for themselves, their families and their communities.”

People in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph contribute to the funds awarded by the CCHD. Bishop Finn said the annual second collection for CCHD is the second largest of the external collections in the diocese, second only to Catholic Relief Services.

Each year, usually in November, parishes across the country take a second collection for CCHD. Of the funds collected, 25 percent stays in the dioceses to fund local projects that benefit the community. The remaining 75 percent goes to the National CCHD organization to support anti-poverty initiatives across the U.S.

Grants are awarded in two categories: Community Organizing and Economic Development. Applications must be completed and criteria met before a grant is awarded.

Community groups receiving diocesan area CCHD funded grants include:

Amethyst Place, $5,000, received by Lisa Mizell, Executive Director.

Amethyst Place provides housing to women in alcohol and drug recovery. The agency facilitates their transition to successful independent living and offers support to women as they strive to establish healthy relationships.

Seton Center, $5,000, received by Sharon Valleau.

For 40 years, Seton Center has offered faith-based social services (food, clothing, health and dental care, emergency assistance and an alternative high school) to the historically marginalized and those in need in the urban core of Kansas City.

Troostwood Youth Gardens, $3,000, received by market manager Ericka Wright.

The corner of 51st Street and Paseo was a weed-filled vacant lot, until Ericka Wright offered neighborhood youth an opportunity to learn organic urban farming and market what they grow.

Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, $5,000, received by Donnie Morehouse, Executive Director.

MADP has a goal ¾ to end the death penalty in the state of Missouri, and the group has committed to changing hearts and minds of fellow Missourians through education and organizing.

Two groups received grants funded by the National CCHD organization in support of local anti-poverty initiatives:

Kansas City Urban Youth Center, $30,000, received by Chuck Sailors, founder, Chief Executive Officer and President.

The Urban Youth Center provides after-school and summer programs and weekend activities to at-risk young people in Kansas City’s urban core. Offerings include tutoring; a community garden program; various athletics, and community organizing training for youth who commit to positive change in their schools.

Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation, $45,000, received by Jim Jakoby.

Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation is a grass-roots non-profit organization which supports and champions local people in sustainable business enterprises. They do this through no-cost coaching and guidance. The organization’s goal is the economic revitalization of six rural Northwest Missouri counties: Andrew, Atchison, Nodaway, Gentry, Holt and Worth.

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