Diocesan Resources
CCHD Newsletter Helping People Help Themselves Issue 24.3 (2024)
CCHD Newsletter Helping People Help Themselves Issue 24.3
Faith in Action: Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award Recipient Ivonn Rivera by Rhina Guidos
This issue profiles Ivonn Rivera, a San Jose, California, community leader and recipient of the 2023 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, recognizing her efforts to improve safety and quality of life in her low-income neighborhood through faith-based community organizing.
Ivonn Rivera, a mother of four originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, became frustrated by persistent crime, vandalism, and unsafe conditions in her neighborhood of Cadillac-Winchester in San Jose. Rather than leave the area, she joined the Silicon Valley Sponsoring Committee (SVSC), a faith-based community organization supported by CCHD. Through SVSC training, she learned how to:
- Listen to community concerns
- Organize neighbors
- Meet with elected officials
- Advocate for practical solutions to local problems.
Rivera integrated faith and organizing by creating Misas del barrio, neighborhood Masses held in homes rather than exclusively at the parish church. After each Mass, residents participated in listening sessions where they discussed community challenges and identified local leaders. These gatherings:
- Built trust among neighbors
- Increased community participation
- Encouraged residents who felt ignored or marginalized to speak up.
Restoring Dignity and Hope
- Many neighborhood residents, particularly Spanish-speaking immigrants, believed their concerns would not be taken seriously because of language barriers or social status.
- Rivera helped demonstrate that organized communities can influence public policy and improve living conditions.
- Her efforts strengthened relationships among neighbors and created a renewed sense of dignity, empowerment, and belonging.
This issue demonstrates how faith-inspired grassroots organizing can transform neighborhoods. By combining prayer, relationship-building, leadership development, and advocacy, Ivonn Rivera helped her community move from frustration and fear to collective action and tangible improvements. Her story exemplifies CCHD’s mission of empowering people to become agents of change in their own communities.