Dear Friends,
Aaron Montes of KTEP interviewed me for a segment focusing on our effort to Restore Sacred Heart Church. It aired on KTEP 88.5 FM on May 17 but you can listen to the 8-minute discussion here:
Many thanks to Aaron for inviting me for the interview!
GENERAL UPDATE
I am pleased to report that we have raised nearly $500,000, including more than $90,000 in more than 250 donations from individuals. This is a great start!
Because Sacred Heart Church is now within a National Register Historic District, we expect to sell the state tax credit on the tax credit market for more than $650,000. We plan to hire a firm in Houston to assist us with the three-part application to the THC.
We are applying for around $700,000 worth of grants between now and the end of this year, following our strategic grant writing plan. Many thanks to Janine Young and Leslie Bergloff for their fine work so far, and to Gary Williams and Bernie Sargent for their advice and assistance.
We just learned that we won $10,000 from the Hervey Foundation. Again, thank you Janine and Leslie!
I am also pleased to report that J. P. Bryan has donated another $10,000 to our project, our fourth private donation in that amount.
We are in the process of engaging a fundraising specialist, and we will have an announcement about that soon.
Our research team, led by Dr. Miguel Juarez, is making steady progress. Dr. Mark Calamia is assisting with the oral history component. We continue to enjoy the support of the UTEP College of Liberal Arts.
We plan to design and sell merchandise through our web portal in support of our project and will be making an announcement about that soon. Prof. Anne Giangiulio and Mason sales will be leading that effort.
Martina Lorey has taken on the task of producing a professional video about the church and its history, which will include drone footage from Luis Amador.
As I previously announced, Viri Solano of Univision El Paso and Saul Saenz of ABC-7 have joined our Advisory Council and we are fortunate to have them on board!
Pablo Lopez and others on our Advisory Council have assisted us in reaching out to key members of the Segundo Barrio community.
Bishop Mark has been extremely supportive from the very beginning and we are grateful to have him on our Executive Committee.
Frank Ainsa, Jr. has provided us with invaluable legal support.
Linda Caro and Sofia Larkin have spent much time administering our account and processing donations.
Sergio Ornelas volunteered many hours assisting with our architectural condition assessment.
All 29 members of our group have contributed substantial time and effort, and my Co-Chair Fr. Garcia and I are grateful to all our colleagues.
Fr. Garcia is the most amazing priest ever and a true friend, and I am honored to Co-Chair this project with him!
We will hold a full meeting of our group soon after my return from Italy in June.
TO DONATE
To donate to our cause, please visit our webpage here:
www.restoresacredheartchurch.org
Have a great weekend!
Max
Max Grossman, PhD
Board of Directors, Preservation Texas
Vice-Chair, The Trost Society
Co-Chair, Restore Sacred Heart Church