Organizations receive local CCHD funding |
 |
 |
|
Written by ANGELA KESSLER, Chronicle Editor
|
|
Friday, 05 September 2008 01:00 |
Two Toledo organizations have been awarded grants from the local funds of the Catholic Campaign for Human Dignity (CCHD).
The Senior Outreach department of St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center is using its $4,500 grant to expand a program to seniors and Second Chance, a program of Toledo Area Ministries, is entering phase two of its Women’s Empowerment Project with a $7,473 CCHD grant.
Senior Outreach
This is the third year the Senior Outreach program has received a grant for for its senior empowerment program. All three years, grant funding has helped develop and expand a program for the elderly living in public housing.
"We always look for an avenue that we can work with the seniors to get them out of that constantly thinking about the health care pieces and get them to think about life and where they want to be," says Bev Bahret, program coordinator of Senior Outreach.
Working with seniors referred to Senior Outreach, Ms. Bahret found a major concern for seniors in the area is working with their finances. Knowing that, a proactive financial education program was developed and offered to low-income seniors.
While Senior Outreach is primarily a case management program for those referred through St. Vincent Medical Center, the grant-funded program is for those "who are in housing who may be not going in and out of the emergency room or in and out of the hospital, but really have financial issues: they are losing their housing, they are not able to manage their budget, they are not able to afford their medication," Ms. Bahret says.
The program helps teach people how to budget a limited income, get their bills paid and hopefully have some money left over at the end of the month, she says. Additionally, many of the participants have opened a savings or checking account for the first time in their lives.
At first, the idea was to offer financial management classes to residents at two Toledo public housing complexes, but Ms. Bahret says she soon learned that first a lot of groundwork needed to be laid.
By the end of the second year of the program, 42 residents of Vistula Apartments and Madonna Homes were being served. This year’s grant will help expand the financial education program to three more housing complexes in Toledo: Alpha Towers, Covenant House and Tenyck Towers.
Second Chance
This is the second year Second Chance has been awarded a CCHD grant. During the first phase of its Women’s Empowerment Project, grant funds were used to advertise a hotline for girls and women who wanted to find a way out of the sex trade.
The advertising campaign was successful and women were typically referred to First Source employment agency for mainstream work opportunities, says Germaine Kirk, coordinator of the CCHD program for Catholic Charities of Toledo.
"They found that women couldn’t jump from the street to First Source without difficulty," she says, adding that basic work ethics such as being on time, staying at work all day and dressing appropriately are lacking.
"Phase two is that bridge," Ms. Kirk says. The program funded by CCHD dollars is to help educate women on these skills and get them to be accountable.
The women will start by spending four days a week in classes and one day a week working for a local nonprofit program partner. As the women advance through the program, they will gradually spend more time working and less in the classroom until they are working five days a week, Ms. Kirk says.
Once their employment skills are to a point where they are ready to get a job, they will be referred to First Source, she says.
CCHD grants
Local CCHD grants are awarded annually to organizations that help break the cycle of poverty by addressing the underlying issues and empowering the people being served. Programs must be in conformity with the teaching of the Catholic Church. Funding comes from a parish collection taken each November.
Applications for local grants are available in January and due in March.
----
For complete details of the grant application process, contact Germaine Kirk at 419-244-6711, ext. 431 or gkirk@toledodiocese.org.
|
|
Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 09:00 |
