July 11, 2013 // Local

St. Mary’s Heritage Fund awards 27 grants totaling $172,000

Todays Catholic

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has awarded 27 grants totaling $172,000 from the St. Mary’s Heritage Fund to various organizations from throughout the diocese, including parishes, schools and agencies. The following were awarded grants upon the approval of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades:

Parishes receive $20,800

• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne — $4,000 for National Conference of Burmese American Catholics

• St. Joseph, Fort Wayne — $7,500 for tuition assistance

• St. Mary, Fort Wayne — $3,000 for transportation, housing, food assistance and utilities for Ave Maria House Emergency Assistance

• St. Bavo, Mishawaka — $2,500 to help Vietnamese single parent send children to Mishawaka Catholic School for 2013-2014 year

• Holy Cross, South Bend — $3,800 for cameras and recording unit for school security.

Schools receive $112,000

Fort Wayne:

• Bishop Luers High School — $20,000 for tuition assistance

• Queen of Angels — $5,000 tuition assistance to low income students who do not receive state vouchers

• St. John — $7,500 for tuition assistance for families in need

• St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel — $2,000 financial assistance to needy families

• St. Therese — $7,500 financial assistance to families in need

South Bend:

• Our Lady of Hungary — $8,000 for a part-time resource person

• Our Lady of Hungary — $2,000 for a full-time aid

• St. Adalbert — $12,500 to provide 25 families with $1,000 scholarships for tuition assistance

• St. John — $7,500 for tuition assistance

Area:

• Marian High School, Mishawaka — $10,000 financial aid for minority students

• Marian High School, Mishawaka — $10,000 financial support to purchase a food truck

• Marian High School, Mishawaka — $10,000 tuition assistance

• St. Vincent de Paul, Elkhart — $10,000 for aid for Hispanic and other minority families

Agencies receive $39,200

Fort Wayne:

• Catholic Charities — $10,000 for food for the food pantry in St. Joseph County

• Clinica Madre de Dios — $5,000 to provide medications and testing supplies to poor and uninsured diabetic patients

• The Franciscan Center — $1,500 to help with startup costs to open a thrift store

• Matthew 25 — $4,000 to provide medications to Burmese and Hispanic patients

• The Rose Home — $3,500 to resident assistance fund to assist residents with first two weeks of expenses at The Rose Home

• Vincent Village — $7,000 to provide child care to preschool homeless children at Vincent House

South Bend:

• Christ Child Society — $1,700 to provide hand-made winter scarves with distribution of coats, hats and mittens for children living in poverty

Area:

• Hannah’s House, Mishawaka — $2,500 to provide group counselor services to pregnant women and new mothers who are homeless, abused and need support

• St. Martin’s Healthcare, Inc., Garrett — $4,000 for improved health and wellbeing of patients. Health care of uninsured patients in DeKalb County

The $3-million endowment fund was established in 1997 at the groundbreaking for the new St. Mary’s Catholic Church in downtown Fort Wayne to help provide financial assistance to the poor and needy throughout the diocese. The St. Mary’s Parish complex was completed in October 1998 and dedicated on May 2, 1999, after a fire destroyed the church and soup kitchen on Sept. 2, 1993. The St. Mary’s Heritage Fund was created through the collaboration and planning of the late St. Mary’s pastor, Father Tom O’Connor, and parishioners using money received from fire insurance on the historic church. Since its inception, the St. Mary’s Heritage Fund has awarded annual grants totaling $3,577,032.88 from interest gained on the fund’s principal.