The Serenelli Project, a local Catholic prison re-entry apostolate, won the inaugural MDKeller “To the Heights” award presented at the Notre Dame University’s Church Properties Conference on October 30th. MDKeller is an American holding company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Kansas City, Missouri, co-founded by two-time Superbowl champion Harrison Butker, kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. The contest received more than 130 applicants from 5 continents around the world, and offered a $10,000 prize to the winner. The criteria were to have a bold vision, be distinctively Catholic, have an innovative use for church property, fulfill the highest and best use of the property, and to have an eye towards scale and sustainability. Serenelli Project will put the money towards the purchase and rehab of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sedamsville, which has been abandoned since 1989. Their vision is to make the church the chapel for the monastic community that they are forming for people returning to society from prison. The residents and other members of Serenelli Project will learn the skilled trades by performing the work on the church under the direction of professionals as part of the life of prayer and work that they envision.

What do we want to talk about?
-the need for volunteers in several areas: manual/skilled labor, group/program facilitators, mentors, and many more areas

-we are hiring! Our first, full-time position, a General Manager for the Serenelli Project.

-we want to bring companies and businesses, especially trades and construction, into the work of Serenelli Project to help provide a labor stream for them.

– We want to pray for people’s intentions, especially people involved in crimes. We always pray for victims’ healing and salvation and for sinners and criminals, for their conversion. We invite people to come pray with us: First Fridays at 5:30pm

-We need support from donors to accomplish our vision. It is a large initial investment, but we are setting up a system that will be able to sustain itself once it is going.

For more on The Serenelli Project click here