Impact Stories

Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarion is dedicated to providing opportunities to carry out their mission of “Inviting People to Christ, Uniting People with Christ, Igniting People for Christ”. Knowing that many of their parishioners could not attend Mass in person for a variety of reasons, they seized the opportunity to apply for a Catholic Foundation Education grant.

Saint Michael Parish in Greenville is known for providing life-long faith formation activities to the rural community it serves. Finding a way to keep in touch with a parish of over 1,250 families and provide Catholic faith resources to groups all at different stages of their faith life was challenging. A Catholic Foundation 2019 Education Grant enabled the purchase of a subscription to Flocknote/Word on Fire ENGAGE, an online communication and faith formation resource. Little did they know what a blessing it would become.

When Michele Smith, religious education leader at Saint Callistus Parish in Kane applied for a Faith Formation grant with the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania in 2019, she never imagined that a global pandemic would alter her plans for implementing a parish-wide faith-formation plan. With the GIFT program already on her radar, Michele decided to adapt it for use with her elementary religious education students.

Faced with limited resources to lead thirty diverse schools that educate over 5,000 students, as Superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Erie, Jim Gallagher has an important job at a critical time for Catholic education. Today one of his key supporters is someone he’s never met.

Last year $55,000 was distributed from the Catholic Foundation’s education endowment to augment the Bishop’s Tuition Assistance Program which helps ensure Catholic education remains affordable for families.

John Brady's involvement and faithful service over the years at Saint Thomas Parish in Corry was rewarded with a scholarship from the Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish Memorial Scholarship Endowment fund held at the Catholic Foundation.

Saint Callistus Parish in Kane used their 2019 endowment distribution to meet an unexpected parish need.

Saint Catherine of Siena Parish, DuBois received a $1,470 Catholic Foundation grant in 2019 to help provide faith development, faith sharing and continuing education for parishioners in the eastern vicariate interested in furthering their faith.

Because of an education grant from the Catholic Foundation, Sue Berdis, faith formation coordinator at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Erie, PA, was able to attend the Mid-Atlantic Congress in February, 2020.