The BOOST 2.0 program created by Catholic Charities earned a $100,000 grant from Catholic Charities USA during the national organization’s Annual Gathering in Cleveland on Oct. 5, 2023.
Luis Santiago, director of our Southside Family Center in Hartford, and Ivelisse Acevedo, the center’s Lead Family Specialist, were at the conference to promote BOOST, which is a partnership with Hartford’s Capital Community College that was created to help young families who struggle due to low incomes and little education.
Participants receive training that puts them on pathways to careers providing wages that are sufficient to support families. With a focus on families with children, the goal is to achieve positive outcomes for parents as well as children to lift the whole family and break the cycle of poverty.
The Catholic Charities grants team submitted an application for the contest last February. The CCUSA Innovation Challenge encourages member agencies to develop innovative, integrated service-delivery solutions that focus on workforce development, one of the CCUSA’s strategic priorities.
This grant will play a crucial role in our team’s efforts to improve the community. The program organizers and grants writers deserve a huge thanks from all of us.
In the photo below are, from left: Ivelisse Acevedo, CCAOH Chief of Operations Liz Bryden, CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson, and Luis Santiago. Also at the annual conference was Joel Cruz, our Senior Director of Family Strengthening Programs and the Institute for the Hispanic Family.
