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<br/> <br/> Normal <br/> 0 <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> false <br/> false <br/> false <br/> <br/> EN-US <br/> X-NONE <br/> X-NONE <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/>st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }<br/> <br/> <br/><br/> <br/> <br/> /* Style Definitions */<br/> table.MsoNormalTable<br/> {mso-style-name:"Table Normal";<br/> mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;<br/> mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;<br/> mso-style-noshow:yes;<br/> mso-style-priority:99;<br/> mso-style-qformat:yes;<br/> mso-style-parent:"";<br/> mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;<br/> mso-para-margin:0in;<br/> mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;<br/> mso-pagination:widow-orphan;<br/> font-size:11.0pt;<br/> font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";<br/> mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;<br/> mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;<br/> mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";<br/> mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;<br/> mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;<br/> mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;<br/> mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";<br/> mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}<br/> <br/> <br/> Hope for the Future aims to assist in funding the Catholic<br/>education of more than 3,000 school-age children in San Antonio, whose poverty-stricken families are<br/>seeking tuition assistance for an opportunity to send their child or children to<br/>one of the 45 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. For Hope for the Future to give tuition<br/>assistance to all the financially deserving families who apply, we estimate we<br/>will need $4.4 million in funding. Hope<br/>for the Future is very cognizant of this great need for help in our community, because<br/>for two years we have been providing tuition assistance to as many deserving<br/>children in San Antonio<br/>as our resources will allow. Hope for<br/>the Future received tuition assistance requests from 1,170 students in 2009. Because of the generosity of many<br/>corporations, foundations and individuals, we were able to make the Catholic<br/>school dream a reality for 401 students. Yet, unfortunately, funding levels did not<br/>reach the other 769 eligible students. As<br/>we meet many of these families and review their applications, we are keenly<br/>aware of the great sacrifices our “Hope for the Future” parents make to enroll<br/>their students in a Catholic school. Additionally,<br/>teachers, administrators and parents share with us that the “Hope for the<br/>Future” students are models of gratitude and achievement. Affording these children the opportunity to<br/>attain a Catholic school education at one of our schools, is critical to the<br/>forward progress of a large section of our community, which ultimately has a<br/>ripple effect throughout our city and beyond our borders. <br/> <br/> Created under the guidance of the Most Reverend José H.<br/>Gomez, the Archbishop of San Antonio and community leaders, Hope for the Future<br/>is uniquely designed to accomplish the goals of filling Catholic classrooms and<br/>maintaining the strong traditions of faith, service and moral and spiritual<br/>development that are the hallmarks of a Catholic education. His vision is being realized everyday as more<br/>and more financially deserving students are proudly attending the Catholic<br/>school of their choice in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. To assure the continued realization of the<br/>Archbishop’s vision, we pursue our goals through several development measures,<br/>including solicitation of donations from businesses, alumni, parishes and<br/>individuals, as well as grant requests from generous foundations like the<br/>Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation, Inc. Hope for the Future also is under the<br/>direction of a vibrant, creative and hard-working board of directors, whose<br/>ideas are securing more funding, and providing a greater network, more outreach<br/>and lines of volunteers. Through them,<br/>we have implemented fundraising opportunities including sponsorships of one or<br/>more students, or a school, the annual Khaki & Plaid Party, and a 5K run,<br/>all benefiting Hope for the Future. <br/> <br/> We support, promote and work hand in hand on partnerships<br/>with Catholic universities, foundations, corporations and individuals. We also are an integral part of the think tank<br/>that makes up our administrative team of superintendents and principals. The superior quality of our Catholic school<br/>education enhances our support in the community and inspires benefactors to<br/>donate generously to our cause. It is<br/>because of the excellent educational opportunity offered through our 45 Catholic<br/>schools that we have a waiting list of students who rely on us as their<br/>"Hope for the Future.” <br/> <br/> A 2009 Notre Dame University study shares with us exhaustive<br/>research on the invaluable resource Catholic schools are to inner-city children,<br/>particularly those in low income neighborhoods. One study in Allentown, Pennsylvania<br/>revealed that Hispanic Catholic children would be 42 percent more likely to<br/>graduate from high school and two and half times more likely to graduate from<br/>college if able to attend a Catholic school in their neighborhood. Similarly, a recent study in Los Angeles found that 98 percent of<br/>low-income, minority children who attend Catholic schools graduate from high<br/>school in four years, compared to only 66 percent of public school students. <br/> <br/> Here in our Archdiocese of San Antonio, the story is much<br/>the same for financially disadvantaged families. Our Catholic school principals are frustrated to<br/>see families walk away from a Catholic school education because they cannot<br/>afford to cover the tuition. As their children’s primary educators, these<br/>parents know the Catholic family of teachers and administrators will always be<br/>at their side in educating and nurturing their child academically, spiritually<br/>and morally. For these low-income<br/>families who cannot afford to send their children to Catholic schools without<br/>tuition assistance from Hope for the Future, a public school is the only<br/>alternative. Unfortunately, public<br/>schools have not met the expectations of parents in educating and developing<br/>their children. Our Catholic schools far<br/>exceed the local public schools in many areas, particularly in strong<br/>academics, flourishing family involvement, character building through self<br/>expression in music, dance, art and performance, exceptional cultural, moral<br/>and spiritual development and most specifically, in keeping students in school<br/>through graduation. The drop out rate<br/>for San Antonio<br/>inner city public high schools is as high as 28%. In the Catholic schools, over 70% of our<br/>elementary school graduates go on to attend Catholic high schools, which have a<br/>0% drop out rate and an overall graduation rate of 99.1%. <br/> <br/> It is our “Hope for the Future” children whose extraordinary<br/>success and enduring gratitude, inspire us to reach our potential for charity<br/>and goodness. We humbly take up their cause everyday, knowing each student who<br/>is given the challenge of a Catholic school education, will rise in ways<br/>greater than those measured in a classroom. <br/> <br/> |
