As we tentatively emerge from the Covid pandemic, many of us are starting to think about new routines and new projects we’d like to begin, and thankfully we are happy to announce new funding that may help.
Hopefully, new plans involve living more simply and caring for the Earth. As the Vatican says on the Laudato Si’Action Platform, the pope’s encyclical “provides the moral and spiritual compass we urgently need as we recover from the pandemic and build a better world for generations to come.”
If Laudato Si’provides the compass, the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters are providing the capital, or at least a beginning for your efforts.
The Victory Noll Sisters Small Grants Program is a fund of more than $100,000 that offers small grants of up to $1,000 to U.S. groups to seed sustainability and climate justice projects inspired by Laudato Si’. If you are a Catholic parish, diocese, school, religious community or other Catholic organization, in the United States, you are eligible! The priority deadline to apply is October 14th, 2021.(If funding remains thereafter, grants will be awarded on a rolling basis until the funds are exhausted.)
Here’s a short list of the types of activities that could be funded — and this list is certainly not exhaustive! If you are planning/organizing an activity that is not listed, feel free to apply and we will consider.
- Projects/programs that connect to the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP)
- Advocacy and dialogue with church and political leaders on our call to care for creation and our vulnerable neighbors
- Support for events (educational events, rallies, fairs, festivals) that connect to Season of Creation, Feast of St. Francis, Earth Day, or any of the seven Laudato Si’ Action Platform goals.
- Participation in existing creation care events with the intention of lifting up the Catholic voice within them
- Prayer services and liturgies related to creation care
- Retreats, workshops, or forums to promote understanding, bridge-building, and healing related to creation care
- Service projects (tree-plantings, cleanups, community gardens, etc.)
- Carbon reduction activities
- Classroom instruction/curriculum related to creation care
Consider applying today as one of your first new projects! Apply here.
