The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) announced September 25 the distribution of nearly $9 million in grant money to local projects that work to break the cycle of poverty in the United States. CCHD, the anti-poverty program of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, is one of the largest private funders of self-help programs that are controlled by the poor. Since its inception in 1970, CCHD has given more than $280 million in grants to some 7,800 projects designed to eliminate the root causes of poverty and alleviate its effects.

This year, CCHD grants totaling $8,909,000 will go to 326 projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The projects are conceived and implemented by local groups in urban and rural areas who are committed to affordable housing, living wages, accessible health care, improved schools and access to social services. CCHD grant funds come from an annual parish collection in Catholic churches, generally on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Twenty-five percent of the donations remain in the diocese to fund local CCHD initiatives and the remaining 75 percent is distributed nationally. Funded projects undergo a thorough review process and are selected based on need and without regard to religious affiliation. More information about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and its anti-poverty grants and educational programs can be found at its websites: www.usccb.org/cchd and www.povertyusa.org .

Although Archbishop Pietro Sambi said he was aware of New Orleans' plight when he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be papal nuncio to the United States in early 2006, it was not until he took what is locally called a "misery tour" Sept. 14 that he realized the extent of the damage.

"You cannot measure the extent of it until you come on the spot," he said near the end of a tour that took a dozen bishops through some of the worst damage wreaked by Hurricane Katrina Aug. 29, 2005, and the subsequent flooding caused by the failure of the levees.

Archbishop Sambi and other bishops were in New Orleans to celebrate the archdiocese's three archbishops and 100 years (combined) of their episcopacies. Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, current head of the archdiocese, was first ordained a bishop in 1981, as an auxiliary for Boston. His predecessor, retired Archbishop Francis B. Schulte, was also first ordained a bishop in 1981, as an auxiliary for Philadelphia. Retired Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans was ordained an auxiliary for Washington in 1956.

Sixteen bishops who had not been to New Orleans since Katrina took tours that were offered on Sept. 13 and 14, Archbishop Hughes said.

Archbishop Sambi said it was only when he was on the tour that he

could "measure and see the extent of the damage." He was also struck

by the "quantity of suffering, for persons, for houses, for the city."

He was impressed, he said, by the number of volunteers, the unity and collaboration that is going on. "Many of the people are beginning the rebuilding for themselves and out of sentiment for the city."