Welborn Baptist Foundation Awards $60k Grant To Catholic Charities

The Welborn Baptist Foundation has awarded a two-year, $60,000 grant to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Evansville for its Emmaus Project, which is slated to start in early 2018.

The project includes the development and implementation of a program using Christian mentors to guide new, at-risk employees of local businesses in the Foundation's service area – particularly Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson and Spencer counties in Indiana. Forty mentor/worker matches will be made over a two-year period.

An individual mentor will meet with his/her at-risk employee of a local business for 18-24 months.  During that time, it's expected that mentors will help guide their partner in developing and sustaining positive work habits and finding work-and-life balance. Mentoring is inherently an evangelization tool, and faith experiences may also be shared between the pair.  

"The project is unique in three respects," says Sharon Burns, Diocesan Director of Catholic Charities. "This program focuses on one-to-one adult mentoring, which is new in Evansville.  We are also collaborating heavily with local businesses to guide young, inexperienced or troubled workers in developing work habits that can sustain them and their families. And, mentors will participate in a monthly faith-sharing group in order to connect their spiritual beliefs with their experiences as mentors."

“In alignment with our desired impacts in the Christ-Centered Living impact area, the Welborn Baptist Foundation is pleased to provide a grant contribution towards the start-up of The Emmaus Project,” said Elizabeth Tharp, Senior Program and Learning Officer.  “We will be eagerly watching this program for its potential to support our community neighbors among the most in need of securing stable employment and increasing self-sufficiency.  We are particularly interested in the program’s potential to be collaborative with others serving similar populations and how, as part of comprehensive wrap-around support services, this program matches participants with mentors who desire to serve others in a proximate way as an outgrowth of their Christian faith.”

The Emmaus Project is one component of a larger social-enterprise-business training Catholic Charities has developed to mitigate the effects of multigenerational

poverty through job-training and work-mentoring programs. The social enterprise business is expected to begin operations in early fall 2018.

For more information or to volunteer as a mentor, please visit www.ccevansville.org/socialenterprise or contact Burns at saburns@evdio.org or 812-423-5456.