"It's a fresh take in the Church," she said.
Often times when the conversation comes up in the Church, people with same-sex attraction may feel "on the receiving end of ministry" rather than a part of a community, she said.
Ochoa said their ministry wants to encourage Catholics and Christians to be unashamed to talk about their experience of same-sex attraction, and also to be unafraid to proclaim Christ and the Church's teaching related to same-sex attraction.
Ochoa said the outpouring of excitement and support after their project won the OSV prize was very encouraging for them.
"The whole community was really moved. It's really more than $100,000...it's people's lives changed, it's hearts knowing that they have a space in the Church, and recognition that we're loved in God's eyes," she said.
Juan Diego Network
José Manuel De Urquidi, founder and CEO of JDN, told CNA the project's goal is to "evangelize, inform, and entertain Latinos"- both in Latin America and in the USA- with high-quality, engaging podcast content.
In the Latino world, De Urquidi said, people tend to be culturally Catholic, but not well-formed in the faith.
In addition, he said, Latinos are consuming more and more podcasts, and the quality of Latino Catholic podcasts is generally not very high.
"It seems that the New Evangelization has not been reaching Latinos. So that's the idea," De Urquidi told CNA.
De Urquidi said he strayed briefly from the faith intellectually as a teen, and later went to law school, worked in the financial world for a time, and even started a craft brewery. He later earned a Master's degree in Mass Communications, and started a podcast, which grew into the Juan Diego Network.
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De Urquidi has been growing JDN for the last year. He said one of the goals is to help Latino Catholic speakers, authors, and influencers start and maintain their own podcasts, at no cost to them.
With the grant he won at the competition, De Urquidi hopes to expand JDN's podcast offerings with new, highly produced podcasts and through more partnerships with Latino leaders. They also plan to host virtual summits to foster community among Latino Catholics, he said.
"The New Evangelization will get to Latino millennials and Gen Z, we are sure of it, and we are just a small part of it," he said.
Catholic Sprouts
Bill and Nancy Bandzuch's two-year old company began with a daily podcast for kids, Catholic Sprouts, which features story-based lessons designed to teach the Catholic faith.
The niche that their project fills, Nancy said, is a need for a systematic program for parents on how to be the primary faith formators for children.
Nancy launched Catholic Sprouts as a side project a few years ago, while working as a stay-at-home mom to their five children.