Home mission dioceses are located all across the United States, including the Deep South, Appalachia, and the Rocky Mountains. These dioceses lack the resources to provide their faithful with basic pastoral care, including the sacraments, religious education, and ministry training. Home mission dioceses often struggle with priest shortages, parishioner poverty, unemployment, difficult and isolated terrain, religious hostility, and other circumstances that make it difficult to practice the faith. The Catholic Home Missions Appeal strengthens the Church in the United States by providing yearly grants to support programs in home mission dioceses, which make up over 40% of all US dioceses. In the Diocese of Oakland, the Catholic Home Missions will be celebrated with World Mission Sunday which is always on the next-to-last Sunday of October.