Meet CCI member Father
Eugene Kutsch
 Fr.
Eugene Kutsch has spent his life ministering to those around Iowa.
He became an ordained priest in 1951, pastored at a number of parishes
across the state and served as the Dean of Men at Loras College
from 1956-69. After several decades of servanthood and community
organizing, he retired to Dubuque in 1999. While he continues to
be involved in church ministry and preaching, Fr. Kutsch also enjoys
keeping abreast of current social issues both nationally and worldwide,
walking daily and playing an occasional game of golf.
Fr. Kutsch
is one of the founders of Iowa CCI. In 1974, he and another priest,
Fr. Thomas Rhomberg, attended the Catholic Community on Urban Ministry
Convention at Notre Dame University. This was where they were introduced
to the idea of community organizing. They brought that experience
back to Waterloo and shared it with others, most notably Fr. Vince
Hatt, Fr. Joe Fagan and Jim Thomas (who worked with welfare recipients).
Together, they formed what started as a social action group and
developed into a local community organizing project, and then grew
into what is now a powerful statewide organization – Iowa
Citizens for Community Improvement.
1.) What
was your vision in forming Iowa CCI?
Community organizing was the means by which we wanted to empower
those who were powerless to overcome the [unjust] systems that were
in control of their lives. There was a skill and thrust for doing
that. We wanted to be part of the issues that were neglected and
ignored by community and government leadership.
Iowa CCI did and still continues dealing
with the issues that have a great impact on people that are being
neglected by other community efforts, such as predatory lending,
neighborhood issues and abandoned housing.
2.) Looking
back at the years, what has you most excited?
What CCI’s 30th Anniversary celebration represented last summer.
CCI has been through tough times – staff have been reduced
to bare bones operation – but we have now built a substantial
organization. Iowa CCI became membership-based so members could
have a say in what we do, a stake in some areas of government and
a lot of credibility in Iowa.
I am excited that we deal with issues that
aren’t being dealt with by government agencies – factory
farms, Hispanic issues in both Marshalltown and Des Moines and urban
issues. CCI has lasted and has really become a strong organizing
effort and has stood the test of time.
3.) Why do you think it’s
good that CCI has diverse members?
Initially we just had urban people involved in neighborhood issues,
and now CCI has really expanded. It’s been tremendous. The
more diverse our membership is, the stronger the organization will
be. Powerlessness is not an isolated reality in a community, but
it’s something that is very much present in various societies
and communities. Community organizing really helps us to take control
over the unjust forces that can run our lives.
|
