Fontbonne receives humanities grant

Fontbonne University has been awarded a $100,000 Humanities Connection grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, supporting an interdisciplinary academic project exploring memory and identity. This is the second NEH grant awarded to the university in the past four months; in December, Fontbonne received an NEH Humanities Access grant to its Bosnia Memory Project, founded in 2006. In the three-year, NEH-funded project, "Primary Source: Memory and the Construction of Identity across Time and Place," the departments of history, philosophy and religion, English and communication, and behavioral sciences will develop courses around the theme of memory. The project, which also will include the Jack C. Taylor Library and a partnership with the Missouri History Museum, will commence in May and conclude in May 2020.

Legislative issue

Catholic Charities of St. Louis and the Missouri Catholic Conference are asking people to contact their state senators regarding House Committee Bill 3, which would eliminate eligibility for a tax credit for low-income seniors and disabled people who are renters, even though they pay property taxes in the form of higher rents. The Missouri Senior Citizen Property Tax Relief Tax Credit, approved by voters, currently provides a tax credit for a portion of real estate taxes or rent paid. To qualify, an elderly or disabled renter must have an annual income of $27,500 or below if single or $29,500 or below if married. For more information, visit www.mocatholic.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

City/county divide

Peace & Justice Commissioners Jason Purnell and Jesuit Father Chris Collins will be among the panelist at "The Common Good: A discussion on the City and County Divide," on Wednesday, April 12, at the St. Louis University Center for Global Citizenship. The panel will address the question: How does the structure of St. Louis's local government affect our ability to seek the common good? SLU sociology professor Daniel Monti, Ferguson Commission co-chair Rich McClure and Better Together executive director Nancy Rice also will be panelists. The evening starts at 5:45 p.m. with an informal gathering, followed by the discussion and audience questions from 6:15-7:30 p.m. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.stlouisreview.com/bAT.

Risen Jesus Party

The Daughters of St. Paul will host their annual Risen Jesus Party for youngsters aged 3-7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 15, at Pauline Books & Media in Crestwood. The free party includes prayer in the sister's chapel, story time, a photo shoot with Jesus (costumes provided) and more. For information, call (314) 965-3512.

Life in the Spirit

St. Agnes Parish in Bloomsdale will host Life in the Spirit seminars each Wednesday 7-9 p.m. from April 19-May 31. The seminars will include teachings and reflections on how to draw closer to God, how to recognize and be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and how to deepen prayer and faith life. The free seminars will meet in the cafeteria at the school, 40 St. Agnes Drive. For more information, call Lynn Davis (573) 883-0439 or Janet Schwent (573) 535-8543.

Retreat weekend

The Koinonia Retreat Weekend for divorced or separated Catholics and other Christians will be held Friday-Sunday, April 21-23, at Todd Hall Retreat Center, 320 Todd Hall Center Drive in Columbia, Ill. Father John-Paul Hopping, pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Richmond Heights, will be the spiritual director for the weekend. The weekend costs $110, which includes room, double occupancy, and six meals. For a brochure and registration, call Jean at (314) 704-1870 or Carol at (314) 775-1253. A $50 deposit will reserve a space.

Inspiring hope

"Inspiring Hope and Building Confidence," a concert to benefit Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in the lower level of Assumption Church, 4725 Mattis Road in south St. Louis County. It will feature vocalists Danielle Krispin and Michelle Westerman with pianist Nancy Pyle and features music from "Aida," "Godspell" and "Wicked" and composers Mozart, Gounod and Bolcom. Admission is free and donations are sought to benefit the program, which serves those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through pregnancy loss, stillbirth or in the first few months of life.

Summer job opportunities

STL Youth Jobs, a youth employment program for young people ages 16-24, is launching its fifth summer of providing training and summer job opportunities to youth. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay has challenged are businesses and foundations to provide 800 jobs. In 2016, STL Youth Jobs received 2,156 applications and only 584 youth could be placed in summer jobs. The mayor along with community partners launched STL Youth Jobs in 2013 to begin addressing the growing skills gap as well as the high rates of youth violence and youth unemployment in the region. STL Youth Jobs provides every young person with paid employment, job readiness training and career and mentoring support from a job coach, financial literacy training and education and connection to a free checking and savings account. St. Louis area youth can complete an application between now and April 30. Participants typically work 20 hours per week for eight weeks. Businesses can sign up to fund and/or provide jobs. It costs $2,500 to fund one program participant. Among last year's major sponsors were the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Incarnate Word Foundation, Mercy and SSM Health. For more information, visit www.stlyouthjobs.org, follow on Twitter @stlyouthjobs or visit www.facebook.com/stlyouthjobs.