CCUSA to launch nationwide storytelling exhibit thanks to grant from Lilly Endowment

General

April 23, 2025

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) announced this month to the Catholic Charities network that it will launch a nationwide storytelling exhibit, People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, in 2026. Designed to amplify the profound impact of Christian service, the ambitious project is made possible thanks to a 2024 grant of nearly $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through an invitational round of its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.

The cornerstone of People of Hope will be an immersive experience that will tour the United States for two-and-a-half years, highlighting sacred stories of service — moments that reveal the power of volunteering, the awe of encountering others at their most vulnerable and the transformation that occurs when we live out our faith through service. The exhibit, housed in a retrofitted tractor trailer, will share professionally produced, first-person accounts from staff and volunteers of Catholic Charities agencies across the country about meaningful and memorable encounters with families and individuals in need. Visitors will be invited to record their own inspirational stories of service, and a national advertising campaign will supplement the traveling exhibit.

“We are incredibly grateful to Lilly Endowment for offering us the opportunity to shine a light on the transcendent power that springs from the simple but profound act of helping another human being in need,” CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said. “Through this exhibit, we hope to inspire more people of hope all around the United States to seek out opportunities to love and serve our neighbors, to be Christ-like in response to human suffering, deprivation or injustice.”

In a national survey conducted earlier this year by Campos, a market research and strategy firm based in Pittsburgh, on behalf of CCUSA, only 11 percent of respondents reported that they volunteer their time at a local organization or event. But 67 percent of those surveyed said they were “very open” or “somewhat open” to volunteering. Among those who are open to volunteering, three motivations were rated as the most likely to inspire them to do so: “to help others,” “to express empathy for those who need help” and “to feel more connected to my community.”

“Generosity is humankind’s birthright, and volunteer work allows us to be generous with our most valuable assets: our time and attention,” Robinson said. “As I travel around the country visiting our local Catholic Charities agencies, all the volunteers I encounter tell me some version of the same message: that, paradoxically, they are the true beneficiaries of their encounters with those they serve.”

Through People of Hope, CCUSA aims to highlight not only the profound impact Christian service has on the people involved and their communities but the myriad opportunities to engage in service across the country through Catholic Charities agencies and other mission-aligned organizations. The Catholic Charities network, which includes 168 independent local Catholic Charities agencies, served more than 16 million people last year thanks in part to the efforts of more than 200,000 volunteers.

In November 2024, Lilly Endowment awarded grants to CCUSA and 11 other organizations as part of an invitational round of its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life. After spending several months further developing People of Hope, CCUSA unveiled the project to the diocesan directors of its member agencies at its annual Spring Gathering this month. Selected stories of service from Catholic Charities staff and volunteers will be professionally recorded this summer at CCUSA’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, and the traveling exhibit will launch in the spring of 2026.

About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion.  A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.

About CCUSA

Founded in 1910, CCUSA is a national membership organization that supports and represents 168 Catholic Charities agencies across the United States. Collectively, the Catholic Charities network each year serves more than 16 million vulnerable people, regardless of their faith or background, through food and nutrition programs, affordable housing, disaster relief and a variety of other humanitarian services.