Last December, two organizations supporting immigrants in Central Minnesota held a joint event that aimed to bring East African and Latino workers together in solidarity.
Since then, the Greater Minnesota Worker Center and Fe y Justicia (Faith and Justice) have worked together to inform workers of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace and train future leaders.
Both organizations have received community development grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in the past year. Since 1970, CCHD has been the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops.
National CCHD grants range from $25,000 to $75,000, with smaller local grants also available. Both support efforts that demonstrate a commitment to the dignity of the human person.
The Greater Minnesota Worker Center and Fe y Justicia offer joint programs that provide training to immigrant workers to help them become leaders in their communities. The goal, according to the Fei y Justicia website, is that they advocate for themselves and others with strength and dignity.
“We give training to the workers and we teach them how to do one-on-ones, public relations and help them to know their rights,” said MaElena Gutierrez, director of Fe y Justicia. “If you know your rights, you will be more confident to [stand up for yourself]. Greater Minnesota Workers and Fe y Justicia — we are doing that together.”
Since that initial solidarity event in December, these organizations have also been working to build individual relationships between workers. Ali Ahmed, director of the Greater Minnesota Workers Center, said this is an opportunity to bring immigrant communities together to “understand each other, appreciate their cultural diversity, and also educate each other,” he said. “We’re also doing relationship building among these two communities so that, no matter the different experience they came from, they understand they’re here together.”
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is committed to supporting organizations led by low-income individuals as they work to break the cycle of poverty and improve their communities.
“These organizations – separately and collectively – work largely with two of the most marginalized populations in our diocese, which is a key call of our Catholic Social Teaching,” said Kateri Mancini, director of social concerns for the Diocese of St. Cloud. “They also are doing community organizing work, rather than direct service, which allows for subsidiarity and building up the voice of those closest to the needs, which is also a key tenant of our social teachings.”
Although the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is a program of the Catholic bishops, the funds that CCHD grants to organizations impact more than the Catholic community, Gutierrez said.
“It’s broader than that,” she said. “We go to other churches around the area that [serve] Latinos. We go to them because they also need to understand the laws and how they can benefit, how they can work together to stand up for themselves.”
Many community members and workers have gone through the leadership training process with the help of the funds and resources provided by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
“There are a lot of successes with the help that we have gotten from CCHD,” Ahmed said. “We can see that workers are beginning to get a better living wage. Workers, especially those who are parent workers, are also able to afford better housing because of the wages and economic improvement that they’re getting.”
The incredible results of the work they are doing, make these organizations wonderful examples of what CCHD funding is designed for, Mancini said, and they are worthy of our prayers and financial support.
To hear more about the work of Fe y Justicia and the Greater Minnesota Worker Center, listen to our podcast, “Together in Solidarity: How CCHD helps fund the work of Fe y Justicia and the Greater Minnesota Worker Center.”
Pictured above: MaElena Gutierrez, director of Fe y Justicia and Ali Ahmed, director of the Greater Minnesota Worker Center.
Thank you for this article about how campaign for human development is still alive and well considering there was some funding being cut on the national level. I’m grateful to hear it’s active here and connecting with Faith and Justice organization..