Funding helps communicators, volunteers

Two groups dedicated to women religious are receiving or distributing funding for the purpose of invigorating women's communities: the Communicators for Women Religious and the Catholic Volunteer Network's "From Service to Sisterhood" program.

Communicators for Women Religious (CWR) in December received Hilton Foundation funding in order to broaden and deepen the organization's impact. Meanwhile Catholic Volunteer Network (CVN), through assistance from the Hilton Foundation, in November awarded $375,000 in grants to 16 communities of women religious for establishing volunteer programs.

The Communicators for Women Religious is a professional organization for those who do communications work for communities of Catholic sisters. With its $1.5 million grant, CWR plans to establish a physical office presence, hire full-time staff, and launch programs and outreach initiatives that are outlined in its new three-year strategic plan. Learn more at c4wr.org

The volunteer programs that have been funded by Catholic Volunteer Network's "From Service to Sisterhood" program are all sponsored by religious orders of women. The funding initiative is aimed at increasing the vitality of communities of sisters. A study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate has shown that young people who do a year or more of volunteer service join religious communities much more than non-volunteers. Learn more at catholicvolunteernetwork.org.