Church outreach
Help your parish connect with families in poverty
We thank you for your thoughtful consideration of welcoming a CFCA priest to your parish. By sponsoring a child, youth or aging person for $30 per month through our Hope for a Family program, your parishioners will be able to:
- live out the Gospel call to walk in solidarity with people living in poverty.
- form a real connection with someone across geographic and economic divides.
- receive letters and a photo from their friend every year.
How the CFCA weekend works
- Our priests are available for all weekend services to assist or to fill in for an absent priest.
- Our priest's homily connects with the Sunday Scripture and the social teachings of the Catholic Church.
- We cover all costs, including travel, and no collections are taken up.
- All of our priests are in good standing with their bishops and religious superiors.
- Spanish-speaking bilingual priests are available.
Mary, a CFCA sponsor, meets her sponsored
child Graciela on a mission awareness trip
to Guatemala.
Who we are
In his 2009 World Day of Peace address, Pope Benedict XVI said, "What the fight against poverty really needs are men and women who live in a profoundly fraternal way and are able to accompany individuals, families and communities on journeys of authentic human development."
For almost 30 years, Christian Foundation for Children and Aging has brought hope to these individuals, families and communities living in poverty in the 22 countries where we work. Founded in 1981 by lay Catholics acting on the Gospel call to serve the poor, we have grown into a movement of more than 250,000 sponsors supporting more than 300,000 children, youth and aging individuals around the world.
What we do
Our unique style of sponsorship is effective because project coordinators and staff members listen to our sponsored members and their families, then tailor benefits and services to meet their specific needs. In many projects, parents of sponsored children are given opportunities to participate in skills training or livelihood initiatives, so that they can begin to rely less on sponsorship and more on the their own abilities to provide for their families.
Through letters, photographs and prayer, sponsors and their sponsored friends walk together in solidarity with each other.
Endorsements
Archbishop Naumann endorses CFCA sponsorship
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan.
"I would encourage anyone to get involved with CFCA. It is a great way to express the Catholic nature of our faith by linking up with a brother or sister in Christ in another part of the world. The CFCA model of one-on-one support and communication with a child or an elderly person or a seminarian in another part of the world makes us aware that we belong to a spiritual family that spans all the continents of the world."
- Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
Read Archbishop Naumann's endorsement letter
What pastors say
"With CFCA, we have the opportunity to put our faith into action and our prayer into works by living out who we are called to be. I think any pastor would do well to expose parishioners to the opportunities that are afforded to them through CFCA. Reaching out to children and elderly around the world is an important thing because it ties us in to the notion of universal Catholicism and to be people of faith united as one."
- Father Don Farnan, Pastor
St. Thomas More Parish, Kansas City, Mo.
"I was away during the weekend of the visit, but my inquiries revealed that the visiting priest did so well explaining the program and how it can help enhance the faith of any sponsor. I really thank you for devoting your time and talents for poor kids and aging from various developing countries. It is a very difficult apostolate but the impact/effect is tremendous as the beneficiaries find new life and feel God's love around them. …"
- Father Michael C. Mbonu, Pastor
St. Edward Church, Fairfield, Ill.
