State Projects

 Request Memorial Mass Cards

The Memorial Scholarship Fund is a State Project that has the goal to aid in higher education of members and family members of Texas Catholic Daughters. Texas CDA developed the project to:

• Honor Past State Regents
• Engage members to give the gift of prayer
• Provide graduating seniors, who are related to CDA members, the opportunity to apply for scholarships.

The Texas State Court Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1980 as a tribute to the living and deceased Past State Regents of Texas. This project is funded from contributions made by local courts, individual members, and specified donations. Bereavement, anniversaries, get well, birthday, and new baby greetings are excellent ways to share prayerful thoughts while providing the support of higher education to our members and family graduating seniors.

1. For a minimum of $3.00, an individual member or court may enroll an individual or a group; living or deceased. A Mass Enrollment provides their being remembered for the period of one year in the Holy Mass offered the first Friday of each month by the current State Chaplain.


2. The monies generated from this project are dispersed in scholarships to graduating high school seniors. In order to be eligible for scholarship awards, a court must contribute a minimum of $50 per year

Monies collected from April 1 to March 31 of the following year will determine the amount and number of scholarships to be awarded.

With the funds raised from donations to Memorial Mass Enrollments, the Catholic Daughters of Texas have facilitated many students to reach their educational goals.  The state goal for scholarship money collection is $110,00.  Together we can do this!
 

Scholarship Contest Requirements

2024 Scholarship Application Form

The local court regent must be familiar with the current year guidelines, theme, and deadline dates to ensure that the youth/scholarship chairman carries out her duties. She should empower her chairman with current information; provide her with the forms found in the current Texas Information Notebook, explain the importance of the program, the guidelines, deadlines, and distribute applications to all the students who are eligible to apply for a scholarship. All current guidelines, theme, deadlines, and application forms may be found on the website under in the Forms Library.

The Memorial Scholarship Contest is open to all Texas courts that actively participate in the program. It is an annual contest and all chairmen should be familiar with all current guidelines and deadlines.

Mass enrollment forms should be submitted monthly with a court check. The enrollment forms may be copied. Additional Mass Enrollment cards may be requested from the Mass Card Chairman or online. 

Checks for all scholarships are made payable to the institution of the recipient's choice. The scholarships will be awarded by April 30th annually. All applications must be submitted to the State Chairman by January 30 each year. The institution's name and address for registration in the fall must be submitted by the annual July 1 deadline.

Texas CDA Habitat for Humanity

Seeking to put God's love into action,
Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.

Mission Principles:

• Demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ
• Focus on shelter
• Advocate for affordable housing
• Promote dignity and hope

At Habitat for Humanity, we build. We build because we believe that everyone, everywhere, should have a healthy, affordable place to call
home. More than building homes, we build communities, we build hope and we build the opportunity for families to help themselves.

Your donation will help families break the cycle of poverty and build long-term financial security. With an affordable, stable home, families have more to spend on food, medicine, child care, education and other essentials. Your support can help us do more in all the many ways that Habitat builds.

Thanks to you, Habitat is transforming the lives. Decent, affordable housing dramatically changes a family's life:

• The cycle of poverty is broken
• Health, physical safety and security improve
• Educational and job prospects increase
• A sense of stability and dignity grows
• Money freed up for other essential needs

"Rich and poor have a common bond: the Lord is the maker of them all"
Proverbs 22:2

Missions of Mercy (MOM) seeks out the poor and underserved within the State of Texas and assesses each project so that all CDA members have the opportunity of sharing their time, talent, and treasure with those who are in need.

The main objective of the MOMS committee is to engage Texas Catholic Daughter members, and courts, in a "hands on" approach to the needs within in our state. Listed below are the four MOM projects. Adopt one or all, and get INVOLVED! We suggest contacting the mission, ask what their immediate and long term needs are. Then be creative in your approach to collect the needed items, and actually visit the mission. It is definitely an "eye opener". If a visit is not possible, items can be mailed by UPS. Check with a MOMS chairmen to see who is making a visit. You may have the opportunity to join your sisters in a joint project or deliver your donations to them.

Along with these missions, each court or district is encouraged to seek out your own "mission of mercy". We suggest adopting a family, monthly birthday parties at a living assistance center, cooking a meal a month at a homeless shelter, passing out water to the homeless on a hot day, assisting in a pregnancy program; each court is aware of needs in their immediate area. Appoint an enthusiastic chairman to come up with ideas on how to become an active MOMS court. It is up to all of us to help those who have not. Visit our MOMproject page to learn more about each project.

We respectfully suggest that your court host a fundraiser specifically for MOMS and donate the proceeds to your favorite project(s). Along with these four missions, each court or district is encouraged to seek out their own "mission of mercy" project, one that meets and responds to the needs of your parish community and outreach ministry.

Suggestions can include projects like adopting a family; monthly birthday parties at a living assistance center; cooking a meal a month at a homeless shelter; passing out water to the homeless on a hot day; assisting in a pregnancy program or hosting a Baby Shower; or having a monthly craft day at a day care or assisted living center. The list of opportunities is endless and comes alive with the amazing ideas of your Court Members!

Each court is aware of needs in their immediate area. Appoint an enthusiastic chairman (cochairs) to come up with ideas on how to become an active MOMS court.

"If someone has worldly means, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him (refuses him compassion), how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us not love in word and speech, but in deed and truth."
- 1 John 3:17-18

For more information on Texas MOMS, please contact:

1 Timothy 5:8

Responding to the Word of God and to a need for support and service to the less fortunate, the confused, and the suffering, this committee was formed to work along the lines of the state and national projects. Texas has gone above and beyond the norm to extend the hand of God to those in need. Please join us in “Unity and Charity” as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.

"Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share…" 1 Timothy 6:18

The American Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit organization with a goal to deliver brand new, free wheelchairs and mobility aids to physically disabled children, teens and adults throughout the world who are without mobility or the means to acquire a wheelchair. The American Wheelchair Mission will continue to change the lives of entire families with the gifts of hope, dignity, freedom and independence.

You can help us change lives with the Gift of Mobility!

As we travel around the world delivering wheelchairs, we change lives in an immediate and tangible way. Children can go to school for the first time because they received a wheelchair. Adults can go to work to provide for their families, and the elderly can get out of a bed they may have been confined to for years. The joy of spending time outside with family and friends, or just sitting in the sun are gifts we can bring into the hearts of so many... so easily. We are answering the prayers of entire families with gift of mobility.

Monetary donations can be sent to:
American Wheelchair Mission
c/o Chris Lewis
2505 Anthem Village Dr., Suite E
Henderson, NV 89052-5529

The brand new wheelchairs we deliver would sell for $500 in a medical supply store, but we purchase them by sea containers of 100 to 280 wheelchairs, deliver them directly to the country of destination and can do this for an average of only $150 per wheelchair

Support us by shopping at Amazon.com! Shop Now
 

Christopher J. Lewis, President and Chairman of the Board

His father, Jerry Lewis, was the number one box office star in the world, and had just completed his first 8-hour televised “Marathon” to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Chris became involved in the fundraising effort early in life, and has worked on the MDA Labor Day Telethon since 1972.

He spent years handling his father’s film and television distribution, then came the opportunity to help create a worldwide wheelchair delivery mission. Working with other organizations, Chris helped to create and sustain a philanthropic mission which delivered over 760,000 wheelchairs to people in more than 150 countries. Chris has now created the American Wheelchair Mission to expand the outreach worldwide.

He is a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus, a member of the Rotary Club of Los Angeles and lives in Henderson, Nevada. [email protected]

Baby Blue has arrived!

This new Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center
has now joined our Big Blue Bus in offering
help to girls who are facing a crisis pregnancy!

The Houston Coalition for Life is a 501c(3) organization which represents dozens of Houston area churches and thousands of individuals dedicated to ending abortion in Houston.

Vision:
A community that loves, respects, and protects every human life from conception until natural death.

Mission:
Ending abortion in Houston... peacefully and prayerfully.

History:
The Coalition for Life (in Bryan College Station) was born in 1998 when Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas announced it would build an abortion facility in Bryan-College Station. Since that time, Christians have worked together to lovingly and effectively offer women and men better choices. Today, thousands of individuals are working to end abortion in Houston and the effort continues to spread across Southeast Texas!

In 2002, Helen, a student from Aggie Land, brought the peaceful and effective strategies she learned from Coalition for Life to help end Planned Parenthood's harmful influence in Houston! Prolifers, who had been praying on the sidewalk in front of the abortion facility, rallied with this new organization: Houston Coalition for Life. The new 501(c)3 helped groups and individuals coordinate a collaborative prayer presence outside Planned Parenthood abortion facility and offer assistance to the girls, meeting them right there on the sidewalk. Houston Coalition for Life also offered sidewalk counselor training and up-to-date life affirming resources for both the prayer warriors and the girls facing a crisis pregnancy. Houston Coalition for Life asks individuals to stand with them in the gap and offer assistance to these girls at that last minute to let them know they are not alone. We hope and pray that each girl will choose life for her unborn child and be protected from the tragedy of abortion!

In 2005, Houston Coalition for Life was delighted to welcome Christine Melchor as the new Executive Director. Christine had been involved with the prolife movement in the Houston Area since 1980. She started the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants within the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston in 1985 and was the President until taking on the position of Executive Director of Houston Coalition for Life.

Conscious of the great power of prayer, the Houston Coalition for Life continues to maintain a peaceful and prayerful presence coupled with sidewalk counseling at Planned Parenthood's abortion facility in Houston.

We also maintain and run two mobile crisis pregnancy centers. In February, 2011 the Big Blue Bus began offering free pregnancy tests and free ultrasounds and Christian Counseling outside the huge Planned Parenthood on I45. The Big Blue Bus is now parked six days a week next to this Planned Parenthood.

As of November 2014, Baby Blue, a renovated RV, travels to park near other abortion facilities and offers these same services in hopes that girls, who are tempted to abort, will choose life for their children.

The focus of Houston Coalition activities remain on addressing the Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast, the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere. By praying for and lovingly offering alternatives to mothers approaching Planned Parenthood, both mother and child can be spared the exploitation and horror of abortion.

Numbers from the Big Blue Bus:

• 2011:   453 women visited our mobile unit to receive a pregnancy test. Of those women, there were 201 positive pregnancy tests and 180 mothers (90%) confirmed they were continuing pregnancy.
• 2012:   1830 women visited the bus for a pregnancy test with 593 positive tests and 540 women (91%) continued pregnancy.
• 2013:   1720 visits, including 784 positive tests and 754 ladies (96%) chose life!
• 2014:   2656 visits, including 1156 positive tests and 1052 ladies (over 90%) of choosing life!

- See more by clicking here. At Houston Coalition for Life, we believe the abortion battle is a spiritual one.

And for a spiritual battle, you need spiritual leadership, prayer warriors, and volunteers. Houston Coalition for Life is offering an opportunity to share in our life-saving efforts with our mobile crisis pregnancy center (bus) where we provide free pregnancy tests and free ultrasounds to pregnant women. Parked at Planned Parenthood in Houston TX, the largest late-term abortion clinic in this hemisphere, we have had more than 5,000 visits to our mobile CPC since March 2011. Some are pregnant, some are not and some are just curious. In every case, they hear the word of life.

Now, you can share this good news and give a gift that will save lives. Our goal is to have our bus parked next to Planned Parenthood every day they are open. The daily operational cost of our bus is $250, and sponsoring a day is a unique way to honor your loved ones, both living and deceased.

We will send an acknowledgement to your gift recipient or their family and invite them to visit our bus. Both recipient and giver will receive a report of activity for the month of their gift.

The recipient’s name will be placed in a special framed picture on our bus on the day they are being honored.

This is a beautiful gift for your pastor or other clergy who may not know about our life-saving work. It is also a gift for any dear friend or loved one that can be purchased as a group or by individuals. But, in any case, it is a gift that tells of your love for the unborn and your gratitude for the gift of life.
 

Please join us and see our new location!

Blue Blossom Pregnancy Center
3933 North Main St.
Houston TX 77009
713-395-1330
 

At the 2017 CDA State Convention held in April in Corpus Christi, the membership approved to add a new State Project -- the Eternal Word Television Network, better known as (EWTN). EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, reaching over 268 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. The mission of EWTN is to communicate the teachings and the beauty of the Catholic Church and to help people grow in their love and understanding of God and His infinite mercy.

Texas CDA offers financial assistance to eligible disaster survivors who are CDA members.

The Texas CDA State Board maintains and distributes contributions from the local courts and members throughout Texas. The CDA Texas Disaster Relief has been instrumental in the aid and support to areas in Texas that were stricken by Tornados, Hurricanes, Floods, and other devastating incidents.

The Texas CDA State Board maintains and distributes contributions from the local courts and members throughout Texas. The CDA Texas Disaster Relief has been instrumental in the aid and support to areas in Texas that were stricken by Tornados, Hurricanes, Floods, and other devastating incidents.

Promoting Literacy Across Texas (PLAT)

As part of our state-wide initiatives to improve the lives of those around us, Texas CDA will continue to promote literacy among all age groups. No one needs to conduct more research to learn that without basic reading and writing skills, and opportunities to improve them, people will have difficulty finding employment to support themselves and become productive members of society. This is one of the reasons why CDA in Texas did not limit previous literacy activities to children.

During 2019, the National Education Agency decided to rebrand Read Across America in order to become more diverse. However, if you think about it, CDA was ahead of that curve. We included all age groups; we crossed socio-economic lines; we included private, parochial, and public schools; we distributed religious as well as secular reading material; and we held activities year-round, not just on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Our activities have always been diversified as well, limited only by each court’s imagination, interest, and resources.

Participating courts continued to receive a certificate, and this will continue. However, in an effort to diversify your opportunities to report, this year we are accepting video reports, as well as the traditional paper reports. No matter how you report, please remember to include the court name, number, city, as well as the regent/PLAT chairman contact information. Please try to have your reports submitted by the end of March 1, 2024 (but since this is NOT a contest, the submission dates can be diversified!) Download PLAT Reporting Form

Anne Martin

[email protected] 

361/648-2008

Download Respect Life Reporting Form
Respect Life Monthly Challenge Archive