Local grants awarded to fight poverty

When a recent graduate of North High School was shot and killed at Salem State University last month, his friends were struggling to cope, according to Father Jonathan J. Slavinskas, pastor of Our Lady of Providence Parish at St. Bernard Church in Worcester. The parish gym was a favorite place for Carl-Hens Beliard, 18, and his friends to shoot hoops.
“They don’t know how to process the loss of their friend’s life … It’s good that we have the gym at St. Bernard’s so they can put all the emotions onto the court, to be with one another, starting, of course, with prayer for their friend.”
The gym was one of 17 programs which received grants from this year’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development on Monday. 
“We are so grateful for the donations which help us keep the gym doors open for youth to have a safe space,” noted Father Slavinskas.
A total of $21,000 was awarded on Monday by Bishop McManus at the St. Peter Parish gym in Worcester, which represented the local portion of the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection taken up in 2022. 
“I am always inspired at how these grants, no matter how small they may seem, are catalysts of support for great programs and services for the people they serve,” said Bishop McManus. 
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic bishops, working to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ "... to bring good news to the poor ... release to captives ... sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free." (Luke 4:18) It began in 1969.
Seventeen grants were awarded. A $3,000 grant was awarded to St. Peter’s Free Medical Program; a $2,000 grant was awarded to St. Bernard’s gym for youth outreach at Our Lady of Providence Parish in Worcester; two $1,500 grants were awarded to Southbridge Senior Citizens Latino program, sponsored by St. John Paul II Parish, and St. Peter’s ESL Program in Worcester.
Thirteen $1,000 grants went to Pernet Family Health Service, Worcester for maternal and child healthcare; the Marie Anne Center After School Program; the Marie Anne Center ESL Program;  "Bucky’s Food Pantry" at St. Bernard’s Church; Utility payment assistance at Catholic Charities locations in Leominster and Worcester; Food for the homeless at Catholic Charities, Southbridge; Food for undocumented families at Catholic Charities, Milford; Our Neighbor’s Kitchen at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon; St. Anthony’s Pantry at Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester;  “Keep people in their Housing” at St. Vincent de Paul in Uxbridge; John XXI Community Breakfast at St. Patrick, Whitinsville and for the “spiritual growth” of clients at Visitation House, Worcester.
Since 1969, CCHD has addressed poverty by attacking its root causes and funding community projects that promote independence as a means of finding a permanent end to poverty. The national theme is “Help Those on the Margins.” 
This year’s CCHD collection, which will be taken up in parishes on the weekend before Thanksgiving, Nov. 18-19, is the primary source of funding for its anti-poverty grants and education programs. In the Diocese of Worcester, 75% of the collection is reserved for use with local programs. The remaining 25% is sent to the national office for grants awarded around the country. Learn more at www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development.