By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Report

Low-income individuals who seek services from Catholic Charities of Louisville will soon find they are being encouraged to address the personal hardships they are
experiencing.

Thanks to a $50,000 grant awarded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), Catholic Charities is developing a new program that aims to bring about “systemic” change to lift low-income individuals out of poverty, said Deacon Lucio Caruso, director of mission for Catholic Charities. The CCHD is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a yearly collection is taken up in parishes across the country — in the Archdiocese of Louisville that collection was taken up Nov. 17-18.

Catholic Charities has hired Tialisha Lumpkin — a recent graduate of the University of Louisville — to fill the role of community organizer, said Deacon Caruso. Lumpkin, whose educational background is in political science and economics,  was hired in July.

Deacon Caruso said this new grant and program “addresses one of the things I’ve heard (from employees) many times at Catholic Charities. ‘We keep seeing the same people. We’re really not making a real difference.’ ” Read more >