CHARLOTTE — The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is one of the Church’s primary means of fighting poverty at the grassroots level – both here in the Diocese of Charlotte and across the United States.
The annual collection, which will be taken up Nov. 21-22, is a source of both national and local funds to support organizations that address the root causes of poverty in America. Seventy-five percent of the funds collected go to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to support national grant funding, and the other 25 percent remains in the Charlotte diocese to fund local anti-poverty efforts.
Recipients of recent grant funding include Morganton-based The Industrial Commons, which coordinates the Carolina Textile District that is comprised of member textile organizations such as
Opportunity Threads in Valdese.
Opportunity Threads, a past multi-year recipient of a National CCHD Economic Development grant, is committed to sustainable textile manufacturing practices, fair wages and cooperative employee ownership and profit-sharing. It was among several Carolina Textile District member organizations that turned to making much-needed personal protective equipment for North Carolina medical facilities and schools at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.
Local CCHD funds are distributed to local non-profit organizations through Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s CCHD Program. Last spring, local CCHD grants totaling $32,700 were distributed to 14 non-profit organizations fighting poverty in Boone, Davidson, Charlotte, Forest City, Greensboro, Hickory, High Point, Lenoir, Morganton, Spindale and Winston-Salem.
One of the 2020 recipients was the Senior Mobile Food Pantry of Yokefellow Caldwell County Inc. in Lenoir. Sharon Harmon, its executive director, said, “Your gift is timely as we continue to serve the community during COVID-19 as an essential service… Thank you so very much for your support of this food pantry program!”
— Joseph Purello, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Joseph Purello is director of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy.
Learn more
Local CCHD grant applications for 2021 are due Feb. 15. Each grantee partners in some way with a Catholic parish or entity of the diocese familiar with the work of the non-profit, and the parish provides a letter of endorsement with the grant application.
Find out more information about Catholic Charities CCHD local grants at www.ccdoc.org/cchdcrs.
In addition to its grant programs, CCHD also provides educational information on domestic poverty.
To learn more about poverty in the United States, go to the USCCB-sponsored website www.povertyusa.org.