Four individuals and one nonprofit organization are being honored by the Catholic Commission of Cuyahoga County. Normally the recipients would be honored at a lunch program in June. However, this year’s luncheon was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic so the 2020 awardees will be recognized during the June 2021 program.
The awardees were chosen because they demonstrate a strong and active commitment to the concept of social justice in harmony with biblical values and are a positive force for systemic change through community or church, organizing and education, legislative involvement and personal example.
The Bishop Clarence G. Issenman Award recipient is Chris Knestrick, executive director for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. For more than 15 years, he has shown a commitment to providing outreach to and advocacy for the unsheltered and advocacy.
The Renee Jones Empowerment Center received the 2020 Harry Fagan Organizational Award. The center is dedicated to working with vulnerable people who have been trafficked and focusing its efforts on advocacy and support for their urgent and unique needs.
Chloe Becker, a 2020 graduate of Magnificat High School, is the recipient of the Sister Kathleen Ryan Youth Justice Award. She created a mural celebrating black saints and leaders in the Catholic Church in response to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pastoral letter, “Open Wide Our Hearts, a Pastoral Letter on Racism.” Chloe used members of the St. Adalbert Parish community as her models. It was her Agape Experiment, which is a theology research based approach to make the world more loving and just.
This year’s Faithful Servant Awards were presented to Cathey Ullom and Alex Spenik.
Ullom, a parishioner at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, dedicated years of service to the homeless and poor in the St. John community and at the Bishop Cosgrove Center on the Near East Side. She organizes an annual Easter meal that includes providing Easter baskets for the children who attend.
Spenik, a student at Saint Mary Seminary, has given his time to being in solidarity and walking with immigrants by attending hearings with them and visiting them in detention centers as they await their hearings. He has also travelled with Catholic Relief Services and diocesan missions to Latin America.
The Catholic Commission of Cuyahoga County seeks to provide opportunities for Catholics to live out their faith with purpose to empower, promote Gospel values and honor the dignity of the person. The commission works through the leadership of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Social Action Office to educate, advocate and create opportunities for community collaboration and development.