FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Zakrzewski, 501-618-0234
katie@catholicclimatecovenant.org
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On December 12, Catholic Climate Covenant announced the recipients for the second round of the 2024 Victory Noll Sisters small grants program.
This $20,000 grant helps a diocese or Catholic organization with a net zero emissions/ decarbonization project. Interested applicants answered a series of questions posed by Catholic Climate Covenant regarding carbon emissions reduction measurements, ties to Catholic Social Teaching, and other metrics for determining impact and success.
Covenant staff were so impressed with this year’s applicants that we’ve decided to award two applicants with a $20,000 grant each.
One of the grant recipients is the Waukesha County Creation Care Network, which was formed by parishioners in St. Michael, St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres, and All Saints parishes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Network submitted a project to reduce the operational expenses of the four parishes and encourage carbon emissions reduction throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Network will also serve as an educational agent for parishes and the broader community by publicizing the results of this net zero initiative, connecting the effort to Catholic teaching on the environment, and providing workforce development by engaging local labor to promote economic growth and environmental sustainability.
The second recipient was the joint team of the Archdiocese of Omaha, and the Dioceses of Fort Wayne-South Bend and Gary, Indiana. The team proposed a new net zero assessment/strategy initiative that will provide the Archdiocese of Omaha, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, and the Gary Catholic Communities with funding to utilize Constellation Energy’s Navigator Carbon Accounting Platform to conduct baseline carbon emissions assessments of and provide net zero pathways for all ~500 buildings in the Archdiocese of Omaha and 279 parish convent/rectory, school, and office buildings in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Constellation will also conduct an emissions appraisal/net zero pathway for 10 buildings that make up the Diocese of Gary’s Cathedral of the Holy Angels campus.
Dan Misleh, Founder and Executive Director of Catholic Climate Covenant, said:
“We are grateful for the opportunity to deploy the Victory Noll Small Grants program to prime the pump for diocesan efforts that begin a commitment to net zero emissions. This net zero commitment is something that scientists are telling us is key to keeping global temperatures from rising to increasingly life-threatening levels.”
Through the generosity of the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, also known as the Victory Noll Sisters. In their honor and to advance creation care projects throughout the country, the Covenant has awarded over $250,000 worth of grants in the last three years in their name. Most of these grants were in the $1,000 range.
This round of applications for net zero commitments was a continuation of Victory Noll Sisters grants allocated earlier in the spring. Those earlier grants were awarded to 91 recipients. Awardees were selected based on an array of criteria, ranging from the proposed project’s connections to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, the engagement of Catholic youth, and the lifting of environmental justice issues, among other factors.
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About Catholic Climate Covenant
Catholic Climate Covenant is a national U.S. nonprofit founded with the support of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006 that inspires and equips U.S. Catholics and institutions to care for creation together. Through 20 national partners, we guide the U.S. Church’s response to climate change and integral ecology through faith-driven education, advocacy, and resources.
www.catholicclimatecovenant.org.
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