I’d be happy to talk about the importance of the mini grants. They are critical to groups like Stamford Young Adults. Here are some quick things that I could highlight that have happened as a result of the money we received:
- We were able to hold monthly faith on taps. We used grant money to purchase pizza (as the event is held at dinner time and some people might forgo attending otherwise) and to pay stipends to speakers who spent a good amount of time preparing their talks/traveling to meet us. Our presenters included Fr. Francis Hoffman (Vicar of Clergy) who spoke about church structure, Noelle Amann who spoke about the pro-life movement, works with the Sisters of Life and is starting a pro-life women’s health organization in Stamford, Meredith & Kevin Michel who do marriage prep and gave a talk on Catholic dating, engagement & marriage, the Salesian Sisters who spoke about vocations, Fr. John who spoke about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Workers Movement, and Fr. Ford who gave a talk about prayer and relationship with God.We had roughly 20-40 people at each of these faith on taps, which is a phenomenal showing for Tuesday nights. The topics were excellent for faith formation/growth in the spiritual life.
- We were able to start a monthly young adult mass at Holy Name (it will be moving to the Basilica in December). We used grant money to pay a musician and a stipend to the parish, and added an additional holy hour with confessions and adoration before mass from 6-7. We have roughly 25-50 people at this mass each month. It has proven an excellent opportunity for people to receive Christ’s healing through confession and the Eucharist, as well as his graces/love through adoration. We hold a post-event social after mass and may use money in the future to purchase appetizers, since the social is where we have opportunities for fraternity and evangelization.
- We received approval to spend money on a young adult dance party at Holy Spirit to celebrate the airing of Restless Catholic Young Adult’s 100th We used funds to purchase pizza. Approximately 53 people showed up, learned about Restless’ mission and as a result of the party, two people asked to be part of the podcast in the future. One of the guys who will be joining the Restless team was a former atheist, turned Catholic. I imagine that when he shares his experiences of how God has worked in his life, he will be a source of hope and encouragement to listeners and potentially trigger additional conversions (as they will truly see that nothing is impossible with God).
Again, so thankful for these funds because without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do the above (spiritual formation, bringing people to the Sacraments, evangelizing through radio)!
written by Diane Kremheller
