Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
May God bless you! The Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) will be taken up in parishes this weekend. This Collection supports works of charity and justice in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching by funding community groups whose goals are to solve problems and change policies that keep individuals in poverty. Collection proceeds have provided access to invaluable resources for those who struggle in poverty and have made positive strides in helping those in poverty help themselves.
Twenty-five percent of CCHD donations remain at home, and in our Archdiocese local CCHD collection dollars fund Centro Latino, which exists in order to assist Hispanic people and others in need in the counties of Oldham, Shelby, Henry, Spencer, and Trimble. This is accomplished through education, advocacy and empowerment, which includes helping clients navigate the courts, social service departments, immigration service, medical clinics, housing, and so on.
In addition, local CCHD dollars fund Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together (CLOUT). Over its more than 25-year history, CLOUT has won solutions to addressing challenges in the areas of housing, criminal justice, discipline in schools, predatory lending, public transportation, and health insurance for children in need.
In the last couple of years, CCHD has undergone a serious and substantive review and renewal that is designed to reaffirm its Catholic foundations. This review also served to strengthen CCHD’s policies, practices, and tools to ensure that CCHD is a faithful, effective and accountable work of the church that carries out its essential mission in full conformity with Catholic social and moral teaching. I support this renewal and encourage you to read more about it here.
Please defend human dignity and help take poverty off the map through your support of the upcoming CCHD collection. For more information about CCHD and the groups it funds, please visit this site.
Sincerely yours in our Lord,
Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.
Archbishop of Louisville
