Who: Charity Guild of Catholic Women
What: Annual Children’s Charities Grant Presentation
Where: Charity Guild Shop, 1203 Lovett
When: February 4, 2019
Why: To award $586,000 in grants to children’s charities in The Greater Houston Area
On February 4, the Charity Guild of Catholic Women awarded $586,000 to 47 non-profit organizations to help children in need in the Greater Houston Area. The presentation took place at the Charity Guild Shop located at 1203 Lovett Blvd. The Charity Guild was originally founded in 1922 to support what is now the San José Clinic. The Guild continues their support to SJC but the impact has expanded as the resale shop has grown in size and reputation.
The Children’s Charities Grant presentation reflects the significant partnership of volunteers, consignors, customers and community. Presenter Joanne Creasey, ofWest University, serves as this year’s president. Alice Arbour led this year’s Children’s Charity Committee charged with reviewing more than 70 grant request applications. Since 1996, the Charity Guild of Catholic Women has donated nearly $5.9 million to 148 local non-profit organizations with proceeds from their volunteer-run Charity Guild Shop. With almost 600 members from 64 parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Charity Guild of Catholic Women have logged 94,735 hours of volunteer service in the shop since May 2018.
The grants are used to support programs that provide food, safe and acceptable housing, affordable healthcare, adequate clothing, satisfactory education, supportive recreation or enrichment services, or restorative and psychological assistance. A few of the awardees at this year’s event include San Jose Clinic, the Holocaust Museum Houston Engines of Change Program; Second Servings food rescue and Sharing Baskets initiatives; Social Motion providing social skills training to youth with autism; Santa Maria Hostel, providing counseling services for youth impacted by maternal substance abuse; and MECA supporting the center’s arts and academic programs.
“The grant that we receive this year will enable us to create a College Counseling Center, opening the doors for young women and men, many of whom are first-generation college applicants.”
Among this year’s Catholic School beneficiaries was St. Theresa Catholic School. They will use their grant to update the school emergency communication system. Melissa Ilski, Principle, included in her remarks “This new system will allow emergency calls and campus alerts to be made from every phone on site, reinforcing that safety is critical to learning.” Saint Pius X will use the grant to help develop a college center for their students. Carmen Garrett Armistead, Head of School, stated “The grant that we receive this year will enable us to create a College Counseling Center, opening the doors for young women and men, many of whom are first-generation college applicants.”
