Local News
CCHD Grants Benefit Local Programs
Published: August 2, 2012
ATLANTA—A chess program that encourages conflict resolution. A Catholic celebration of Earth Day. A center that aids refugees to learn job skills.
These programs and others benefited from recent awards from the local Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Some $37,500 was given to nine programs that aim to transform people’s lives and break the cycle of poverty.
Orrin Hudson started Be Someone, Inc., in 2001 using chess as a way to engage young people to learn life skills.
“It’ll allow me to work with several hundred kids,” he said about the $5,000 grant.
Marist Father James Duffy holds the 2012 CCHD local grant check for Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Atlanta. Father Duffy is the pastor of the Atlanta church, which will use the money for a JustFaith program.
Hudson said he goes to schools in DeKalb County to share a message that encourages children to take responsibility. By learning the game of chess, Hudson teaches the students life lessons: decision-making skills, critical thinking and problem solving.
“Heads up. Pants up. Grades up. The big one is, never give up,” said the former Alabama state trooper turned chess coach and motivational speaker.
Passionist Father Jerome McKenna, pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Church, posed with Jessica Darensbourg with the Atlanta parish’s 2012 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The church will use the money for programs on JustFaith, immigration support, and Financial Peace University. (Photos provided by the Atlanta Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Ministries)
Some 25,000 children have taken the program, Hudson estimates. His goal is to reach 1 million children. He said he knows he’s successful when a parent thanks him when a youngster is making better choices, hanging out with the right crowd. “I stick with kids to the end,” said Hudson.
Holding a grant check from CCHD for Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center, executive director Maria Cressler is surrounded by Ignatius House staff members. They plan to use the funds to develop a spirituality project with JustFaith and the homeless.
Be Someone, Inc. is one of nine local programs assisted by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic bishops. The money comes from the annual collection taken up in local parishes.
The list of the local award-winners follows:
Be Someone, Inc., Lithonia, $5,000, for a youth chess program to teach life skills.
Multicultural Center for Health, Education and Community Development, Inc., Clarkston, $10,000, for a program to assist refugees and immigrants to learn job skills.
Ignatius House Retreat Center, Atlanta, $3,500, for a spirituality project with homeless and JustFaith.
Catholic Center at the University of Georgia, Athens, $2,000 for JustFaith and
LIMEX programs.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta, $2,000, for a Catholic Earth Day program.
Our Lady of Assumption Church, Atlanta, $1,000 for their JustFaith program.
St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Smyrna, $5,000, for JustFaith and Travelers Together.
St. Paul of the Cross Church, Atlanta, $5,000, for programs on JustFaith, immigration support, and Financial Peace University.
St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, $4,000, for programs on JustFaith and Transformation Parish Social Justice Program.
For more information about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, go to www.archatl.com/ministries/sjm/cchd/. Kat Doyle, the director of Justice and Peace Ministries for the Atlanta Archdiocese, can be reached at (404) 920-7897 or kdoyle@archatl.com.
