This vision seeks to provide every child with the opportunity to experience an authentically Catholic education, regardless of their needs. 

Bishop Earl Boyea’s resolve to form young people who can bring the love and truth of Jesus Christ to our modern society forms the foundation of this ambitious campaign. Bishop Boyea, our diocese, and our parishes are committed to making a Catholic education ever more on-mission, affordable, and accessible, ensuring that a Catholic education is possible for all families and all children.

The priorities for the Stewardship for Saints and Scholars campaign are to make our diocesan schools more:

• On-Mission: Attract, form, train, and retain excellent, faithful teachers and administrators.
• Affordable: Substantially grow financial assistance available to current and new school families.
• Accessible: Improve assistance for children with special needs, while also providing funds for infrastructure updates to better service the regions.
• The Local Initiatives campaign priority will help parishes enhance Catholic education in their own unique ways, whether that’s investing in a parish school, religious education/faith formation, parish-sponsored homeschool initiatives, or other urgent, local needs.

Why is this effort so important? Bishop Boyea has said: “The odds are much better, much better, for those who pursue a Catholic education to persist in their faith, to persevere in their faith.” 

This statement underscores the importance of the “Accessible” priority, which will help to ensure that all children, including those with special needs, have access to the faith-based education that can shape their future and strengthen their spiritual foundation. 

The number of children with special needs continues to rise, and with it, the desire of families to provide a Catholic education that nurtures both the mind and the spirit. However, the resources to support these children in Catholic schools have often been limited, leading to difficult choices for families who must decide between the spiritual environment they desire and the specialized services their children need.

The Accessible initiative seeks to bridge this gap by expanding services for children with special needs through the “Serving God’s Children” Fund, which will start at $2.5 million. This fund will provide up to $100,000 per year in grants to schools and parishes specifically to serve these students. Up to $12,500 per year also will be available in grants for teacher training and resources, ensuring that educators are equipped to meet the unique needs of their students.

“We want to be accessible to all students, but without that financial support and programs, it’s challenging,” said Chris Wells, principal of St. Joseph Catholic School in St. Johns. The Accessible initiative is designed to make strides  that no child is turned away from a Catholic education because the necessary support isn’t available.

This initiative is not just about providing financial support; it’s also about creating an inclusive environment where every child can thrive. Ann Gifford, whose daughter Phoebe has Down syndrome, knows firsthand the difference that such an environment can make. 

“One of my first prayers — I think probably the second day she was on this earth — was that she could come to St. Joseph’s,” Gifford said in a campaign video. Phoebe’s siblings all attended St. Joseph. For the Gifford family, the faith-based environment was non-negotiable, despite suggestions that a public school might better meet Phoebe’s needs.

Wells said that while St. Joseph has offered much to Phoebe, she has brought incredible value to the community. Stacey Kurncz, a teacher aide, said Phoebe has helped teach her fellow classmates to be patient, kind, and to have compassion — values that can be difficult to impart to young people today.

Beyond supporting individual students, the Accessible initiative also focuses on strengthening the regional diocesan high schools, which serve as cornerstones of Catholic education in the Diocese of Lansing. 

Each of the four regional high schools will have access to up to $2 million to address major projects that will enhance their mission. 

The Diocese of Lansing’s Stewardship for Saints and Scholars campaign, and the Accessible initiative within it, is a call to action for all of us. It’s a call to recognize the value of every child, to support their spiritual and educational growth, and to ensure that no child is left behind. By contributing to this initiative, we are not just supporting a program. We are investing in the future of our Church, our children and our world.

As Bishop Boyea reminds us, “We need the resources to make sure that can happen, or to at least have the possibility of it happening.” The Accessible initiative is our opportunity to make that possibility more often a reality, ensuring that every child, regardless of their abilities, has access to the education that will help them grow into the saints and scholars our world so desperately needs.