In our latest edition of The Good Word, mailed earlier this summer, we showcased how the Catholic Foundation has continued advancing our mission in spite of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Our day-to-day operations remain largely uninterrupted with the use of technology and close coordination of the entire staff. Meantime, the new era of remote work and videoconferencing calls for meetings and events remains very effective.

When it comes to career success, our three Wednesday, Sept. 2 panelists have valuable insights to share about managing your personal strategic plan for today and the future. All are invited to attend this free, Zoom-based Catholic Community Network panel from 9 to 10:30 a.m. with Q&A .

All are welcome to attend one or all four free online seminars involving End-of-Life issues from a Catholic perspective in September. The online webinar series, “THE CONVERSATION: A Catholic Perspective on End-of-Life Issues” begins on Monday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. The three other webinars take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, Monday, Sept. 21 and Thursday, Sept. 24.

We invite you to attend the 14th annual Advisors Series for Estate and Wealth Management Professionals as we present this year’s session live and online versus in-person on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from noon to 2:15 p.m.

With appreciation to Catholic Foundation donors past and present, and in recognition of long-term relationships cultivated by the staff, 2019 was an outstanding year. We invite you to read our 2019 annual report and learn more about the impact of The Catholic Foundation, our many 2019 milestones and how we’ve positioned the Foundation for several new initiatives.

When shelter-in-place guidelines closed area churches in March, Dallas Bishop Edward Burns recognized an opportunity to televise the weekly Mass, and The Catholic Foundation agreed to partner with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas as the financial broadcast sponsor of televised Sunday Masses on local television. “When we were asked to shelter in place, we felt it was very important for us all to pray in place,” said Matt Kramer, President and CEO of The Catholic Foundation, reflecting on the spring decision to serve as the broadcast sponsor of the Masses concelebrated by Bishop Burns and Bishop Kelly and aired on Sunday at 11 a.m. on KDFI, channel 27 or 7 depending upon your video service provider, and replayed at noon. In late August, The Catholic Foundation extended its sponsorship through the end of 2020, that includes the Spanish language Mass aired on KUVN, Univision channel 23, at 8 a.m.

Last year, Texas artist Kimberley Peterson had a vision. In it, Kimberley visualized she could help remind people through art that they can be both physically present, as well as spiritually present, which is “where the miracles happen.” Taking her vision to heart, her masterpiece has since greeted tens of thousands of visitors at The Catholic Foundation Plaza in the Dallas Arts District as the 2019 winner of the Catholic Foundation Art On The Plaza competition.

Our quarterly Catholic Community Network panel involved a blue-ribbon panel of nonprofit and Catholic school leaders who shared their insights about ways to thrive, not just survive, from lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conversations about illness, death and dying are never easy. Whether death comes suddenly or after prolonged illness, most of us are not comfortable discussing our medical wishes or end-of-life plans with our loved ones. However, being prepared ensures that your final wishes are followed.

To streamline our grant application process, we introduced a new step last year known as a Letter of Intent (LOI) that enables grant seekers the opportunity to share project summaries before submitting a full grant application.