Office for Social Ministry
OSM Grant Guidelines

OSM Grant Guidelines

Parish Social Ministry Grant Program

GUIDELINES

The Office for Social Ministry offers to parishes, mini-grants of up to $3,000 to foster the social mission of the Catholic Church in parishes and the community.
Download Guidelines (pdf)

FUNDS FOR THIS PROGRAM are derived from two primary sources:

Operation Rice Bowl:  Each Lent parishes of the Diocese of Honolulu participate in Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Operation Rice Bowl (ORB), the educational program of prayer, fasting, learning, and giving.  Seventy-five percent of the funds collected through this Lenten initiative goes to the national CRS office to fund development projects overseas.  Twenty-five percent remains in our diocese and disbursed to parishes as mini-grants.  Operation Rice Bowl is coordinated by the Office for Social Ministry.

Weinberg Kokua Fund:  Thanks to an endowment given to the Office for Social Ministry and Catholic Charities Hawaii by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, we are able to share the annual interest earnings from the endowment to fund our PSM grant program.

MINI-GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS…

Must be carried out under the auspices of a Catholic parish in the Diocese of Honolulu.  Grant applications must be signed by a pastor as well as by the Social Ministry/project director or coordinator.

Must address socio-economic issues that reflect an aspect of the poverty efforts of the Catholic Church.

Must operate in accord with Catholic Social Teaching and remain in keeping with the Church’s mission.  OSM seeks to ensure that funds provided through this grant are not used in ways that are contrary to the social and moral teaching of the Catholic Church.

Please send completed and signed applications and direct any questions about grant eligibility and guidelines to:

Office for Social Ministry, Diocese of Honolulu
6301 Pali Highway
Kaneohe, HI   96744

or call (808) 203-6702. 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

  • Parishes are eligible to apply for a grant to the Parish Social Ministry Section once a year. This however does not imply subsequent years’ funding.
  • No proposal which excludes on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation will be considered.
  • The Office for Social Ministry Team will recognize the ordinary standards with respect to potential conflict of interest in considering allocations to programs/projects related to any committee member.
  • A signature is required on the application form by either the Pastor or Parish Administrator indicating his/her knowledge and approval of the grant application.
  • Those parish programs, projects or parish organizations who are awarded a grant will be asked to submit a simple activity report 12 months following the receipt of a grant award.
  • Reports to be submitted to OSM should explain the use of the grant and other related outcomes.

A few ideas for possible grants…these are simply ideas!

  • A parish may want to collect school supplies for a parish community that has faced a disaster (e.g. Thailand) and use a grant to help defray shipping charges.
  • A parish or cluster of parishes may want to finance an immersion experience for youth of the parish. Grants could be used to help defray some of these expenses.
  • A parish may want to purchase materials in Spanish to initiate faith formation classes for low-income Hispanic members in their parish.
  • A parish may want to develop a “twinning relationship” with a parish with low-income neighborhoods. A seed grant could help a project like this get started.
  • A parish may want to use a grant to start up an outreach program in their parish, providing emergency food, clothing, etc.
  • A parish may want to use the grant to purchase listening devices for the hard-of-hearing who attend weekend masses.
  • A parish may want to organize a Register to Vote Campaign for those who come to your outreach program.
  • A parish may want to purchase garden supplies to start a sustainable project donating fresh produce to the parish food pantry or nearby meal program.
  • A parish offering Deaf Ministry may use the grant to purchase resources such as sign language videos or books for education and awarenepurposes.
  • A parish could use funds to defray costs for hosting workshops in bereavement, prison ministry, disabilities, care giving, etc.

Use your creativity to start a new project (Seed), or support an existing program (Supplemental)