Announcing seed grant recipients
This year, Call To Action launched a new seed grant program. This pilot program was designed to provide modest financial support to individuals, groups, and grassroots organizations who share our mission and work for justice in their local communities.
Call To Action was thrilled at the response to our call for applications. We received dozens of excellent proposals from intentional communities, mutual aid groups, leadership development projects, inclusive worshiping communities, researchers, and more. Though we could only fund a small percentage of the applicants, we hope to support more projects through future seed grants.
Our first three accepted projects address power and privilege through anti-racist and anti-oppressive lenses. In Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, these communities are working for justice within the Catholic Church and beyond.
Benincasa Community – Guilford, Connecticut
Dedicated to the works of mercy and justice, members of this lay community are guided by four pillars: contemplation (prayer), learning (study), activism/service (works), and right relationship (community). Their influences include the Catholic Worker movement, Dan Berrigan's Jesuit community, and the Dominican Sisters of the Northeast.
Call To Action awarded Benincasa Community a seed grant to support its work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Benincasa Community and the CIW have worked together for years and recently piloted a program to introduce Catholic college students to workers on industrial farms. As part of the program, students protest a local Wendy's, leaving handwritten notes and materials for customers and employees about the CIW boycott of Wendy's and the importance of the Fair Food Program to ensure humane wages and working conditions.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church Migrant Team – Washington, DC
The Holy Trinity Catholic Church Migrant Team currently supports 14 asylee families as they adjust to life in the United States. The Team helps asylum seekers on the margins as they come out of detention at the border. Volunteer mentors and a pro-bono team of professionals provide accompaniment, connections to resources, and financial support.
Drawing on their experience, the Migrant Team has created an extensive “how-to” guide for churches that want to support asylees. Call To Action awarded a seed grant to support the Migrant Team in printing and publishing this guide.
Black Religious Images Project, St. Mary Magdalene Parish – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Black Religious Images Project at St. Mary Magdalene Parish was created to examine the lack of images of Black and Brown people in church buildings. Alongside other projects like the parish’s Josephite African American Heritage Calendar, it promotes representation in religious art.
The Project plans to prominently install portraits of Black saints and people of faith in the church and at its two associated schools, Sister Thea Bowman Academy and St. Bede School. Pairing the portraits with biographies, the Black Religious Images Project will educate students and parishioners about the impact of Black leaders in the Catholic Church. Call To Action’s seed grant will support the installation of portraits at the churches and schools.
