Special to The Texas Catholic
The Catholic Foundation awarded $1.4 million to 30 Dallas-area Catholic schools and churches, plus community organizations during its 2023 spring grant ceremony April 21 at St. Cecilia Catholic School.
Funded by the Foundation’s unrestricted Philanthropy Fund as well as funds established by individuals and families to carry out their charitable goals, the grants will support various projects including HVAC repair, tuition assistance, liturgical music, facility renovations, a new school van and more.
The grants also go toward the Dallas Bishop’s Burse which can be used at the bishop’s discretion to assist local charitable organizations. In addition, to the grants assist the Foundation’s President’s Discretionary Fund that serves local organizations and projects in need, the Work of Heart Awards that recognize full-time employees at Dallas-area Catholic schools and a designated high school tuition assistance program in which funds provide preference to students whose parents work in some capacity for the Diocese of Dallas.
“The Catholic Foundation takes great pride in the generous philanthropy displayed by our donors, both past and present, who invest in the future of local churches, schools and nonprofit organizations,” said Matt Kramer, president and CEO of The Catholic Foundation. “Each year, Foundation grants help to fund key projects that involve everything from facility repairs to other projects that help churches, schools and nonprofits prepare for growth and that’s what makes the grant distributions so impactful in the fast-growing North Texas region.”
Twice per year, The Catholic Foundation distributes community grants to local Catholic churches and schools and nonprofit organizations. Grant requests are reviewed by the Board of Trustees’ Distribution Committee, followed by documented site visits by Trustees through which the recipients and funding amounts are determined.
Over time, The Catholic Foundation has provided more than $267 million in grants to religious, charitable and educational organizations. In 2022, The Catholic Foundation awarded 2,400 grants totaling more than $19.4 million.
The 2023 spring grant recipients are as follows:
- Bishop Lynch High School: Café & Library Renovations
- Catholic Charities Dallas – Brady Center: Senior Services (Funding from the Louise Emma Buhrer Endowment Fund, the Harper Senior Citizen Fund and the Cardis & Grace DeLee Stubbs Fund)
- Catholic Music Initiative: Liturgical Music (Partial funding from the Bernard Bradley Endowment Fund)
- Catholic Schools Office – Diocese of Dallas: Educational Programs (Partial funding from the Joe & Hazel Fechtel Fund)
- Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church: New Pews (Partial funding from the Osborne Family Endowment)
- Holy Trinity Seminary: HVAC Repair (Partial funding from the Roper Fund)
- Immaculate Conception Catholic Church: Security for Parish Campus
- Notre Dame School of Dallas: School Van
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church: Church Renovations
- Regina Caeli Academy: Mobile STEAM Program
- Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ Catholic Parish: Church Expansion
- St. Mark Catholic School: Gym Bleachers
- St. Mary of Carmel Catholic School: School Furnishings (Partial funding from the William & Mary Jane Jaspersen Fund)
- St. Monica Catholic School: Security for School
- St. Patrick Catholic School: Auditorium Renovations
- St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church: Church Renovations
- The Homiletics Institute at the University of Dallas: Support for Start Up
- Ursuline Academy: Construction – West Campus
The tuition assistance recipients received funding from either the Louise Emma Buhrer Endowment Fund, Dorothy Irving Memorial Fund or Michele McCusker Memorial Fund and are as follows:
- Good Shepherd Catholic School
- Holy Family Catholic Academy
- Holy Trinity Catholic School
- Immaculate Conception Catholic School
- Mount St. Michael Catholic School
- Santa Clara of Assisi Catholic Academy
- St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic School
- St. Cecilia Catholic School
- St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School
- St. Mary’s Catholic School
- St. Mary of Carmel Catholic School
- St. Paul Catholic Classical School
- St. Philip & St. Augustine Catholic Academy
