Diocese awards poverty relief grants
Four local groups that help area residents in need will receive grant money as part of the Diocese of Greensburg’s Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund.
Nearly $40,000 was awarded to five nonprofit organizations, including four in Fayette County, working to address poverty in the diocese.
Among those groups receiving grants were the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Holy Trinity Conference of Connellsville; Feed the Flock Community Ministry in New Salem; East End United Community Center in Uniontown; the Pregnancy Support Center of Alternatives _ Yes in Connellsville; and the Organization for Neighborhood Enrichment, which operates as the Absolute Value of One in Latrobe.
“This is a very exciting time for the diocese and for Catholic Charities,” Raymond E. Riffle, managing director of Catholic Charities, said. “For a long time, we have wanted to help the people who help the poor in our diocese.”
Specifically, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Holy Trinity Conference, received $7,000 to help low-income residents with heating costs.
The Feed the Flock Community Ministry, which is an ecumenical ministry of St. Thomas Parish in Footedale, New Salem Presbyterian Church, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church and Grandy’s Pizza, all of New Salem, and New Salem Neighborhood Watch received $4,200 to support a monthly food bank for the New Salem area in Fayette County.
The East End United Community Center received $9,301 to help fund the Financial Legacy Building in the African-American Community program, which provides financial literacy training for young to middle-age adults.
The Pregnancy Support Center of Alternatives _ Yes, received $10,000 for its Life Skills Center, which helps parents gain life skills to help sustain their household and families.
Applications were reviewed by the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund Committee, which forwarded its grant recommendations to the Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg for its approval. Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt gave final approval to each grant.
The Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund was announced by Brandt at the 2010 Communities of Salt and Light Award dinner. The fund is supported by a collection taken at Masses the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.
Hollie Uccellini, chairwoman of the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund Grant Committee, praised the work of the committee.
“We then looked at the group of people who were going to benefit from the grant, whether the project was sustainable after the grant funds were spent and whether the need was being met by another nonprofit organization or government agency,” she said.
Uccellini said that while one person’s small, individual donation probably can’t feed 100 people in Footedale, the grants show that combined efforts can make a big difference. “With this grant, now we can feed 100 people in Footedale for a year,” she said.