Microenterprise Impact

Helping the Poor Achieve Greater Self-Sufficiency

At Cross Catholic Outreach, we ultimately want families to become self-sufficient so they no longer need to rely on others for support. Our microenterprise programs play an important role in achieving this goal. They allow our ministry partners to offer job training and equip individuals with the resources to launch small businesses or be more productive when working the land.

In 2022, U.S. Catholics supported nine of these microenterprise programs in eight countries, empowering families to make the most of their God-given potential.

For example, in fiscal year 2022, you and other generous Catholics funded social and economic empowerment programs in Ethiopia that provided women with training, startup capital and mentorship to launch small businesses. In Haiti, we partnered with Father Glenn Meaux’s Kobonal Haiti Mission to empower more than 1,000 people with small-business loans.

9
Projects

8
Countries

Grants Provided

$236,045

Issued in Microloans

1,210
People

Received Loans

New Jobs Created

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY IN NICARAGUA

AMIGOS FOR CHRIST

Imagine if your livelihood could be threatened by something as uncontrollable as the weather. In the Chinandega area of Nicaragua, subsistence farmers live with that fear because they depend on rainfall. Too much or too little water can destroy their harvests, and when that happens, even supplying a family’s daily bread can become impossible.

Amigos for Christ has developed a highly effective way to ensure Nicaraguan families can overcome farming challenges such as this. It involves supplying them with livestock — in this case, pigs — and providing them with training to raise the animals. At the end of a five-month period, the beneficiaries are able to sell the pigs for a profit on which to live comfortably — as well as invest in the future of their children!

During the 2022 fiscal year, Amigos for Christ helped eight families create their own pig farming businesses, with each farm housing around 75 pigs. Thanks to this program, the families increased their income by 54% in just one year!

Fast Facts

History

Cross Catholic Outreach has partnered with Amigos for Christ since 2008. We have collaborated on animal husbandry programs since 2013.

Community

Amigos for Christ is a lay ecumenical ministry working alongside 29 impoverished rural communities around Chinandega, Nicaragua.

Values

Amigos for Christ embraces the key values of following Jesus, being transparent, striving for excellence, pursuing growth and connecting cultures.

Other Outreaches

In addition to microenterprise, Cross Catholic Outreach supports Amigos for Christ programs for food, housing and water.

Donate To Make A Difference

Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2023, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.