Dallas Fort Worth Nonprofit Business Journal

Tag: Catholic Charities Fort Worth

  • Catholic Charities Fort Worth comes to Denton and Cooke counties

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth comes to Denton and Cooke counties

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth is expanding their services into Denton and Cooke counties. For more than a century, they’ve been committed to relentlessly ending poverty through holistic, evidence-based solutions. Now, they’re bringing that same mission-driven support to the Denton and Cooke communities.

    The expansion means more families will have access to the tools, resources, and encouragement they need to build brighter futures. From providing life-changing education, employment, and financial resiliency programs, Catholic Charities meets people where they are and walk alongside them on their journey out of poverty.

    Denton and Cooke counties are communities full of resilience and potential, and Catholic Charities is honored to partner with local leaders, organizations, and neighbors to make lasting change. Together, they can strengthen families, uplift communities, and break the cycle of poverty.

    Source: Press release

  • Catholic Charities Fort Worth to continue Fortress’ legacy of service

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth to continue Fortress’ legacy of service

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW) and Fortress Youth Development Center are partnering to ensure that Fortress’s legacy of service continues to shape the future
    of Fort Worth families, transforming a moment of transition into a long-term investment in what comes next.

    Following its closure in September 2025, Fortress made the intentional decision to extend its impact beyond its 20 years of direct service. As part of that vision, a restricted endowment, The Fortress Fund, has been established and will be held and administered by Catholic Charities Fort Worth.

    The Fortress Fund will provide ongoing, sustainable support for programs that help low-income working families build bridges from poverty to promise, continuing the mission that defined Fortress since its founding in 2005.

    “This moment feels like both a closure and a powerful new beginning,” said Stacy Agee Martin, Executive Director of Fortress. “As we entrust this next chapter to Catholic Charities Fort Worth, I do so with deep gratitude and hope. Through our partnership with CCFW – specifically the childcare specialist who connected families to our care – I’ve seen firsthand their commitment to thoughtful, family-centered work. I am confident The Fortress Fund will be stewarded with integrity, ensuring the Fortress legacy continues for generations.”

    In addition to establishing the endowment, Catholic Charities Fort Worth has acquired the former Fortress campus, creating new opportunities to build on what Fortress started and to serve families in new and expanded ways. Planning is already underway to thoughtfully reimagine how the space can best support the evolving needs of the community, with more details to be shared in the months ahead.

    Beginning in March 2027, distributions from The Fortress Fund will directly support families served through CCFW’s programs. These funds will be used to provide critical resources such as childcare assistance for low-income working families, financial support for education and career advancement, and services that strengthen emotional and financial resilience.

    “The Fortress Board of Directors is delighted to partner with Catholic Charities of Fort Worth to preserve the 20-year legacy of Fortress’ service to the Fort Worth community,” said Kirk Lundblade, longtime Fortress board member. “Given CCFW’s strong presence in the community and its like-minded commitment to Fortress’s mission of ‘building bridges from poverty to promise’, we feel this organization is ideally suited to manage the fund and make distributions to deserving recipients.”
    “Investing in children and families at critical moments in their lives is something we have the privilege of sharing in common with Fortress,” said Heather Reynolds, President and CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth. “We are excited to continue running this race and cannot wait to share more as we reimagine the space for the future needs of this community.”

    Fortress announced its closure in September 2025 after months of sustained efforts by community partners and donors to maintain operations. Over its 20-year history, the organization served more than 1,700 children and youth, providing high-quality early childhood education and critical support that enabled parents to pursue education and employment.

    Through this partnership, that impact will continue, ensuring that the legacy of Fortress remains an active, evolving force for good in Fort Worth.

    Source: Press release

  • Catholic Charities of Fort Worth Struggles to Meet Demand

    Fox News reports – with over 3000 people already on the wait list, and more mounting from the ice storm, Catholic Charities needs help.

  • Catholic Charities Fort Worth Implements Stay the Course™

    The University of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Leadership for Economic Opportunities has shared that Catholic Charities Fort Worth has implemented the pilot project of Stay the Course™ along with Tarrant County College.

    Stay the Course™ address the personal, non-academic, social, and institutional barriers to success for low-income students in college. The program has two key components: full-service, wrap-around case management and access to emergency financial assistance. Eligible students are invited to express interest in the program. 

  • Catholic Charities Fort Worth Hires New CEO

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW) has shared the hiring of Michael P. Grace as their newest President and Chief Executive Officer.

    Mr. Grace is a serial entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in business development and leadership roles in industries including oil and gas, social media, music production, mining equipment and food processing. He previously served as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gulf Shore Venture Partners, LLC, and consultant for Capra Foods, LLC and Texas Aggregate Producers, LLC.

    Mr. Grace also served as a combat medical specialist in the U.S. Army.

    “Michael wants to end poverty, knows what it takes to run a business, and knows how to leverage people to meet big goals,” says Paul Boyd, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer of CCFW.

    Mr. Grace started with the organization on May 16, 2019.

  • Catholic Charities Fort Worth Partners with J.P. Morgan for Workforce Development

    The Fort Worth Business Press reports a new partnership has formed between Catholic Charities Fort Worth, J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Fort Worth and Tarrant County College District to address poverty and the middle-skills job gap in Fort Worth.

    The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce recently shared research from J.P. Morgan which shows 22% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population aged 25 or older lack a high school diploma and a large number of people do not have basic academic and job readiness skills.

    This lack of skills is creating a gap in the job market for employees in the middle-skills range. J.P. Morgan is investing $7 million in programs to train the labor force in healthcare and advanced manufacturing and will also support programs to address poverty and education.

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth’s Stay the Course is a community college persistence program to ensure completion of an associate degree or certification from a community college. The program provides case management and emergency financial assistance.

    J.P. Morgan also invested in Tarrant County College to address workforce gaps. Tarrant County College uses the Catholic Charities’ caseworker model to assist students in completing their degree requirements.