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Father's Day, June 17
"Good Work" Gives Durham Dad a Hand Up in Business
For 25 years, Charles Gooch worked in food service at a university. It was a steady job, but Charles wanted and needed more to provide for his family. He wanted to own his own real estate restoration and rental business, but lacked business experience. Then he heard a radio ad for Good Work, an economic development project funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Like other community-based projects funded by CCHD, Good Work provides business skills training and access to business loans to low-income entrepreneurs. Charles now has a successful business and, over the years, has served as a mentor for others in the Durham, North Carolina area. "Each year, CCHD funds community development projects like this that assist low-income men and women thoughout the United States," says Fr. Robert Vitillo, Executive Director, CCHD. "CCHD projects provide access to small business training classes on everything from taxes to permit procedures and marketing to microcredit."
Fr. Robert J. Vitillo is available at 202-541-3367.
Newlyweds are Focus of New Study
The June wedding was lovely and the honeymoon a dream. Now the happy couple begins the hard work of building a marriage. What challenges will they face in the early years? According to Time, Sex, and Money, a new study from Creighton University's Center for Marriage and Family, newly married couples say that balancing job and family, frequency of sexual relations, and financial issues are their top concerns. Other issues include balancing household tasks, communication, and parents and in-laws. The study, based on a nationwide survey of couples married from one to five years, includes a demographic profile of this group and suggests what types of church programs appeal to the newly married. "The first tip is to keep such programs short and focused," says Sheila Garcia, Assistant Director, Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth.
Sheila Garcia may be reached at 202-541-3041.
World Refugee Day to Reaffirm Refugee Protection
On UN World Refugee Day, June 20, 2001, the U.S. Catholic bishops will call for renewed efforts by the United States to protect and support the more than 14 million refugees worldwide. Their statement, up for adoption by the full body of bishops meeting June 14-16 in Atlanta, cites the precipitous drop in United States refugee admissions and overseas assistance to refugees over the past 10 years. "Without U.S. leadership," says Mark Franken, Executive Director, Migration and Refugee Services, U.S. Catholic Conference, "refugees worldwide will continue to languish in camps indefinitely, without sufficient basic needs assistance and long term solutions." 2001 marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark United Nation's convention relating to the status of refugees. The resolution, Renewing U.S. Leadership in Refugee Protection, also suggests that the United States should take the opportunity of this anniversary year to take steps to recommit our nation to the protection of the human rights of refugees.
Mark Franken may be reached at 202-541-3169.