The Sister Margaret Cafferty Development of People Award, named in memory of the late Presentation Sister who served as Executive Director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Committee for CCHD, honors an individual or group who exemplifies a commitment to the development of people and the elimination of poverty. Recipients of this award have made significant contributions to human development and have offered heroic responses to the needs of the economically disadvantaged. The award was established in 1987 and was called the Development of People Award until 1997, when it was renamed in Sister Margaret Cafferty’s honor after her death.
The Cafferty award is given during the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering to an individual or group who has been or is presently involved in developing innovative strategies to accompanying poor and low income persons as they struggle to improve their situation and to change the structures that made and keep them poor; or an individual or group who has been or is presently creating community-based, self-help models among poor and low income groups that can be replicated in other parts of the country.
This year, award winner is… Women’s Justice Circles; Low-Income Women’s Empowerment from the Archdiocese of Seattle.Justice for Women: Low-Income Women’s Empowerment has been organizing in the Pacific Northwest arch/dioceses of Seattle, Spokane, Yakima and Portland.
Through Women’s Justice Circles, Justice for Women grassroots organizing takes place in 42 cities in Washington state and the greater Portland area (and in Peru and El Salvador). They have partnerships, networks and/or Circle sites with 55 Catholic parishes.
Circles members consistently present at Journey to Justice Days and at Washington state Catholic Advocacy Day at the state capitol not just giving voice to the voiceless but being the voice of the low-income community, loud and clear.
The issues that the women have engaged in through the organizing process include: educational system changes, public education about immigrants who have children with disabilities, and urban Native American poverty.
Women who are migrant workers, immigrants, homeless, survivors of domestic violence and/or working in low wage jobs have joined other women across the economic spectrum to name their issues and work collectively to take practical steps for self-sufficiency and community change. Justice Circle participants analyze their situation, gather information, design campaigns, recruit others, and take concrete steps that lead to systemic change in areas including housing, education, transportation, domestic violence, and immigrant community issues.
Justice Circle successes include:
• Restored state funding for affordable & farm worker housing
• Secured funds for emergency shelters
• Changed the Section 8 Housing application process
• Modified transit systems in Olympia and Spokane to better serve people on the margins
• Enhanced community safety in multiple cities
• Created district & state-wide school system changes affecting immigrants & communities of color
• Domestic Violence—Membership on Seattle’s City Commission; collaboration with Pasco City Council for public education on violence prevention; changes in a city’s law enforcement practice.
