Matthew 1914 Project

Our mission is to provide Arizona Catholic schools with the resources and support for the success of students with special needs because we believe that a Catholic education should be accessible to all children. The Gospel and Pope Francis have called for inclusion - and we sincerely believe that if a school doesn't do its best to participate in inclusive efforts for children with special needs, they are not living up to our Catholic identity. That's where The Matthew 19:14 Project comes in.

Matthew 19:14 reads: "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" The Matthew 19:14 Project was first established in 2014 as Arizona Catholic Schools Disability Fund. Our founder, Dr. Lisa Fischer, has a personal connection to our mission. Dr. Fischer attended a Catholic High School here in Arizona and struggled as she received no support to accommodate for her hearing loss. The school and the diocese were unable to provide support as Catholic schools do not receive any funding for special education. This is were The Matthew 19:14 Project is able to support.

We work with our Arizona Catholic Schools through semi-annual grant cycles. Staff at the schools are invited to apply to our grant cycles to receive funding for materials, services, trainings, or other related needs to support their exceptional learners. In our most recent grant cycle, we were able to award over $51,000 to our local schools with our goal to continue to bring more support to all of our local Catholic schools. In order for us to continue this mission, we are in need of your support.