The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the anti-poverty effort of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  CCHD addresses the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community – controlled self-help organizations.

Recently, there has been controversy regarding the relationship between CCHD and ACORN.   Due to some funding decisions by ACORN and a couple of other organizations that were contrary to the Church’s beliefs, that relationship was severed in June 2008.  Furthermore, this prompted an investigation by CCHD to investigate all the organizations that received grants to ensure they continued to be in line with the teaching of the Church.  During this investigation, three programs were found to be in violation.  All have been de-funded, and the funds have been reimbursed to CCHD.

Furthermore, no donor dollars contributed to Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs have ever been funneled to CCHD.  All donor dollars go directly to the programs of Catholic Charities:  The Marian House Soup Kitchen, Marian House Community Outreach, Marian House Client Services, Marian House Life Support, Life Connections and Family Immigration Services.  Our Parish Social Ministry program is 100% funded by the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs.

Please know that your donations go directly to the programs of Catholic Charities,  In fact, almost 100% of our administrative costs are funded by the Diocese, so more than 95% of your donations go directly to the programs that help the people in our community who need help the most.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please call Phil Harrington, Director of Parish Social Ministry, at 719-866-6529.

To read the letter regarding the CCHD issue from Most Reverend Bishop Michael J. Sheridan, Bishop of Colorado Springs, click here:  Bishop Sheridan CCHD Statement (12-02-09)

To learn more about USCCB and CCHD, click here.

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