August 4, 2015 // Uncategorized

St. Mary’s Heritage Fund awards 30 grants totaling $159,825

Todays Catholic

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has awarded 26 grants totaling $159,825 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 $7,000

• St. Joseph, Fort Wayne — $5,000 to subsidize students, grades 7 and 8 attending St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School

• St. Mary Mother of God, Fort Wayne — $2,000 to assist with operating expenses of the  Ave Maria House

Schools receive $106,325

Fort Wayne:

• Bishop Luers High School — $13,000 for tuition assistance

• Queen of Angels — $4,000 for tuition assistance to low-income students who do not receive state vouchers

• St. Joseph — $17,500 for transportation program for students

• St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel — $2,000 to provide tuition assistance through SGO

South Bend:

• Corpus Christi — $3,000 for tuition assistance

• Holy Cross — $5,500 to provide 230 student religion textbooks and 10 catechists editions for the Alive in Christ Program and materials for Theology of the Body curriculum

• Our Lady of Hungary — $8,000 to provide an opportunity for kindergarten students to attend school who do not have a pathway to gain a School Choice Scholarship

• St. Adalbert — $1,825 for textbooks for seventh-and-eighth-grade catechetical instruction

• St. Adalbert — $6,500 to develop and implement a bi-lingual education program that reflects the Spanish-speaking identity of the school

• St. John the Baptist — $4,000 for tuition assistance

Area:

• Marian High School, Mishawaka — $13,000 financial assistance for increasing number of minority students

• Mishawaka Catholic — $4,000 for tuition assistance for grades K-8

• Mishawaka Catholic — $4,000 to support families who cannot afford tuition of an early childhood education

• St. Louis Academy, New Haven — $3,000 to provide one semester of bus transportation and cost of half an aide on the bus for students, many with special needs and disabilities

• St. Mary of the Assumption, Avilla, — $3,000 to fund the SGO Awards and tuition assistance fully

• St. Michael, Plymouth — $7,000 to hire a part-time person with teaching and school experience to work as a parent-training specialist

• St. Vincent de Paul, Elkhart — $7,000 for tuition assistance for Hispanic and other minority students

Agencies receive $46,500

Fort Wayne:

• Catholic Charities — $8,000 for food pantry in South Bend

• Franciscan Center — $4,000 for supplies for Medicine Cabinet and Food Pantry

• Matthew 25 — $5,000 to provide medications to patients and to keep patients on need medications

• Society of St. Vincent de Paul — $3,000 for workshop that enables the building of bunk beds and dressers

• Society of St. Vincent de Paul — $5,000 to find assistance with gas, insurance and maintenance costs of “Care-van”

• The Rose Home — $4,000 to resident assistance fund

• Vincent Village — $2,500 to provide licensed Level 3 childcare for homeless children living at Vincent House

South Bend:

• Society of St. Vincent de Paul — $2,500 for “Bridges Out of Poverty” program

• St. Joseph Regional Medical Center — $5,000 for dental clinic at Sister Maura Brannick Health Center for half the cost of a dental chair and for dentures for those in need

Area:

• Hannah’s House, Mishawaka — $2,500 for “Baby Love” and “Learn and Earn” programs

• St. Martin’s Healthcare, Garrett — $5,000 for dental X-rays, exams and treatments, vision exams for diabetic patients, and medication for patients

The $3-million endowment fund was established in 1997 at the groundbreaking for the new St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church in downtown Fort Wayne to help provide financial assistance to the poor and needy throughout the diocese. The St. Mary Mother of God 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 $3,897,857.88 from interest gained on the fund’s principal.