By Seth Gonzales
Special to The Texas Catholic
COPPELL — Help is on the way for 31 north Texas Catholic churches, schools, and nonprofits as The Catholic Foundation awarded $1.47 million in financial assistance for a range of projects that include campus enhancements, transportation assistance, and security during a luncheon at St. Ann Catholic Church on April 10.
The disbursement also includes tuition assistance for 17 diocesan schools.
“For all 17 of the schools, it really does allow families who might otherwise not be able to afford a Catholic education,” Kristy Martinez, principal of Holy Family Catholic Academy in Irving, said. “It enables them to send their children to a Catholic school.”
Martinez said roughly 80 to 85% of families at her school receive some form of tuition assistance. Demand, she said, remains high and may get higher as the school reaches the final stages of accreditation from the International Baccalaureate, enabling the world-renowned curriculum to be taught at Holy Family.
“In our community, we have families from all over the world including Nigeria, French Congo, India; and often they don’t have many resources at their disposal. So when they come asking to send their child to our school, we’re able to tell them we’re able to help them,” Martinez said.
Since 1955, The Catholic Foundation has been integral to ensuring financial support for a wide swath of communities in the Diocese of Dallas, providing more than $25.6 million to organizations in 2024 and $219 million over the last ten years. Twice each year, the foundation holds award ceremonies for its grant recipients.
“It’s great to see the joy in people’s faces,” Matt Kramer, president and CEO of The Catholic Foundation, said. “The only downside to it is that we can’t meet all the needs of everyone who comes to us for help. It’s amazing to see the breadth of our diocese and the work that’s being done out there.”
Among the recipients is the Catholic Housing Initiative, a nonprofit that began in 1990 with the mission of providing senior and affordable housing to low-income residents in north Texas who cannot afford it. Notre Dame Court is a 68-unit multi-family community with 75 residents in south Dallas that is owned by CHI and is receiving assistance for a new roof.
“It’s one of the beatitudes,” Sister Mary Anne Owens, SSND, president and director of the CHI, said. “I see it as a way to help the homeless and the poor. Everybody deserves a decent place to live.”
Kramer said members of the foundation’s board of trustees made site visits to applicants who were being considered for the awards. It never fails, he said, that each visit produces unique stories of faith, dedication, teamwork, pride, and perseverance.
One of those visits was to John Paul II High School in Plano, where president Casey Buckstaff demonstrated the school’s need for security equipment and enhancements at the East Sports Complex, which holds fields for baseball and softball as well as tennis courts. The grant they will receive will enable the school to lay fiber optic cable connecting the complex to the main campus.
“Safety and security, now more than ever, is integral to what our parents are feeling when they let their kids out of their cars in the morning and what the kids want to feel when they walk through the doors,” Buckstaff said. “So anytime we can be conscientious, and we have the resources, it’s really important for us.”
Cutline for featured image: Representatives from parishes, schools, and nonprofits that received grants from The Catholic Foundation pose with their plaques following the foundation’s 2025 Spring Grant Award ceremony, held April 10 at St. Ann Catholic Church in Coppell. The Catholic Foundation awarded $1.47 million in financial assistance for a range of projects that include campus enhancements, transportation assistance, and security. (JAMES A. MARTINEZ/The Catholic Foundation)
