September 2009

Self-Development of People announces grant recipients

$140,000 awarded to fund 7 self-help projects in the U.S.

by Margaret Mwale

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - The National Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has approved grants totaling $142,948 to seven self-help projects in the United States. Money for the grants comes from the PC (USA)’s One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering.

Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (POWER) members marching in Seattle. Photo by Monica Peabody.

SDOP, funded primarily through the OGHS offering, enables members and nonmembers of the PC(USA) to establish partnerships with economically poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people in order to help them achieve sufficiency.

Grants were approved at a meeting of SDOP’s National Committee last week in Seattle, Wash.

Projects funded range from assisting a farmer’s cooperative to purchase watering equipment and startup seed for a greenhouse to a capacity building project in which immigrant women learn English, advocacy skills, leadership and job-procurement skills.

Groups awarded funds at the September 19, 2009, meeting:

• Homeless United for Change, Springfield, Ill. $20,000 to assist in the empowerment of a group of homeless citizens and supporters to build an advocacy organization that will impact their future. Components include leadership development/training and community education and involvement.
• The Day Worker Center of Mountain View, Mountain View, Calif. $40,000 to enable a Day Worker Center to advocate for social justice, engage in community outreach and support a worker-made documentary video in collaboration with a local TV channel.
• Central El Paso Human Rights Committee, El Paso, Texas. $16,848 to assist women and families learning about their human and constitutional rights with childcare so they can attend the meetings.
• People’s Farmers Cooperative, Nesmith, S.C. $20,000 to assist a farmer’s cooperative to purchase watering equipment and start up seed for a greenhouse that was donated to the group.
• Community Action Group, Miami, Fla. $16,100 to enable a group of Haitian men and women gain financial knowledge to overcome obstacles that keep them economically poor. The group wants to gain knowledge in the areas of personal and business finance and eventually start cooperatives to improve their economic condition.
• Cooperative Economic for Women, Revere, Mass. $20,000 for a capacity building project in which immigrant women learn English, advocacy, leadership and job procurement skills. They are also learning about domestic violence prevention, immigrant rights and educational advocacy.
• HUD Tenants Coalition, Newark, N.J.  $30,000 to assist a coalition of tenant leaders from privately owned, government-assisted buildings representing 40 different housing complexes totaling 7,000 residents. These leaders meet to share common concerns and exchange information on available technical assistance and training, information and support and to develop individual and collective strategies for action that will improve housing conditions and preserve their buildings as affordable housing.

Monica Peabody, photo courtesy of POWER.

Guests invited to the meeting included Compassion, Peace and Justice Associate Director Toni Carver Smith; the Reverend Dennie Carcelli, former Self-Development of People West Partnership advocate; Bethany Furkin, Presbyterian News Service reporter and Valerie Small, manager for General Assembly Nominations. Also invited to the meeting was Monica Peabody, executive director of Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (POWER), a group previously funded by the National SDOP Committee. The group of single parents was awarded over $14,000 in 2002 to assist it in developing training programs that enabled group members to become spokespersons about welfare and family support programs. Trained group members tell their “stories” about real-life problems and situations to varied audiences as a result of the welfare system in order to improve care giving and the valuing of families in our society.

In other business, SDOP’s national committee:

• SDOP hosted a community workshop for community-based groups interested in learning about possible future partnerships.
• The National Committee also approved $99,745 for the International Task Force to allocate to groups with which they are working with in the Dominican Republic, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Liberia and Sierra Leone projects are part of the West Africa Initiative (WAI) a collaborative effort involving three offices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — Self Development of People (SDOP), Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) and the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP). Read more about the WAI. By the end of the year SDOP’s work in the Dominican Republic will result in over 7,000 people having access to clean water. Learn more about both of these initiatives.
  

SDOP has awarded grants totaling more than $740,000 in 2009. To learn more about Self-Development of People contact the national office at 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396, or call toll-free: (888) 728-7228 x5782 (English); (888)728-7228 ext. 5790 (Spanish) or Fax: (502) 569-8963.