KERRVILLE—The Floyd A. & Kathleen C. Cailloux Foundation (the Foundation) announced that nine grants to eight organizations totaling $1,550,000 have been awarded during the fourth quarter of 2005. The awards range in size from $10,000 to $1,000,000. Among grants approved by the Foundation Board of Directors to organizations in Kerrville are awards to Schreiner University, Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Regional High School, Habitat for Humanity- Kerr County Affiliate, the Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show, New Hope Counseling Center, and the American Cancer Society- Kerr Unit. Church of the Hills of Ingram and Texas Rio Grand Legal Aid based in Weslaco, Texas also received grants.

 The Foundation has awarded a $1,000,000 grant to Schreiner University to help build the new Mountaineer Center for Recreation and Athletics on the Kerrville campus. Plans for the new athletic facility include a new gym, weight room, aerobics room, indoor racquetball courts, locker rooms, and sports medicine instructional areas. A $500,000 portion of the award will be a challenge grant and the University will be seeking donations and grants to match the one-to-one challenge. The new facilities are critical to the University’s plan to reach student enrollment and retention goals. Schreiner University is a four-year, private, coeducational liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The University offers graduate degrees in education, professional certifications, and baccalaureate degrees in the humanities, and natural sciences and social sciences. There are currently 822 individuals enrolled at the University.  

An additional $25,000 grant was awarded to Hill Country College Fund (HCCF) for scholarship and scholarship endowment support at Kerrville’s Schreiner University. The major portion of the grant will be used for scholarship awards in 2005 and 20% will go into the HCCF Endowment Fund. The HCCF provides need-based financial assistance for residents of seven Hill Country Counties including Kerr, Bandera, Kendall, Gillespie, Kimble, Edwards, and Real. Approximately 33% of the student population directly benefit from the HCCF each year.

The Foundation awarded a challenge grant of up to $200,000 to Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School (OLH) toward their annual 2005/2006 fund drive. The School has until June 30, 2006 to match the grant. OLH is a private Catholic high school providing a college preparatory education to students from varied social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. The school opened in 2002 on 85 acres east of Kerrville and now has more than 70 students enrolled. It is the only Catholic high school within a 70-mile radius of Kerrville and the only college preparatory school of any type within 50 miles.

 A grant of $125,000 was approved to Habitat for Humanity- Kerr County Affiliate (HHKC) to create a 3,300 square foot resale shop for building and construction materials that will be called the “ReStore” at 103 Business Park West in Kerrville. This concept has been successful in other cities as a source of funds to subsidize home construction and operating costs. The ReStore should open in 2006 and the organization hopes to earn enough each year to fund the construction of one house. HHKC was incorporated in 1989 under a charter from Habitat for Humanity International to help eliminate poverty housing by building adequate, affordable housing in partnership with people in need. Families are required to contribute 300 volunteer hours to help construct their home. The organization has more than 100 volunteers and a waiting list in excess of 100 applicant families in need of affordable homes.

 The Church of the Hills of Ingram’s Happy Jack’s Learning Center was awarded a grant for $100,000 to start up a day care center for low-income families in Ingram. Grant funds will help pay to renovate and furnish two buildings to meet day care licensing standards. The Center will have the capacity to serve 77 children from infants through four-year olds as well as after school care for older children. The Center is seeking approval from the Child Care Delivery System (CCDS) to offer subsidized day care in an area of Kerr County where the need for subsidized care is great.

 The Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA) of Weslaco, Texas to support the Legal Assistance to Rural Shelters Project (LARS) strictly in Bandera, Gillespie, and Kerr Counties. TRLA provides direct civil legal representation, operates hotlines and other phone-based services, engages in community legal education, and provides transactional legal assistance to low-income entrepreneurs. Clients include battered women, disabled children, abused seniors, and others who would otherwise have no access to legal representation in civil matters. More than 80% of all cases involve domestic violence. LARS is the only project in Texas that links attorneys providing free civil legal aid for low-income rural victims of violence directly to rural shelters throughout Texas.  TRLA will be working with the Hill Country Crisis Council in their Kerrville and Bandera offices to assist domestic violence victims in this area.

 The Foundation will provide a $20,000 grant to the Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show in Kerrville. These funds will be used to augment sales at the 2006 stock sale. The 2006 event will be the 62^nd show for the organization. More than 1,000 young people from Kerr and 30 additional counties participated in the annual stock show and sale in 2005. The Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show is an all-volunteer organization. The livestock auction total is expected to bring in more than $600,000 in 2006. 

The New Hope Counseling Center (formerly known as the Hill Country Christian Counseling Center) was awarded a grant of $20,000 to help disadvantaged children and their families pay for counseling. The organization, created in 1992, provides individual and family counseling, play therapy for children, premarital counseling, vocational counseling, and retirement counseling. Fees are based on a sliding scale and 70% of clients have financial need.

 A grant of $10,000 was awarded to the American Cancer Society- Kerr Unit in Kerrville. Grant funds will be used locally to provide information, volunteer services, educational materials, and products such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, colostomy supplies, prostheses, and wigs, for patients in Kerr County. The organization assisted more than 600 individuals in Kerr County last year. The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 to disseminate knowledge concerning the prevention of cancer; to investigate the disease; and to compile statistics. The Kerr Unit was established in the 1960's. 

 Floyd A. and Kathleen C. Cailloux created The Cailloux Foundation in 1994. The Foundation’s mission is to perpetuate the Cailloux’s vision through the betterment of individual lives, with emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged children. Mr. Cailloux was co-founder of Keystone International and was instrumental in the company becoming a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of industrial valves for general industry. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Cailloux moved from Houston to Kerrville, where they became very involved in charitable endeavors in the Texas Hill Country and around the state. The Foundation continues these endeavors by awarding grants to eligible nonprofit organizations mainly in the Hill Country. The Foundation is unable to make awards to individuals or groups that are not classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

 The application process for the Foundation consists of an initial letter of inquiry from a nonprofit organization to help Foundation staff determine if a project fits within its guidelines. If a project does fit the guidelines, a full grant application is provided for the agency to complete. Please read the application process section on this site for more information regarding inquiries to the Foundation.n