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To the Heights Award

In 2023, the Church Properties Initiative partnered with MDKeller, a holding company co-founded by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and Austin Wright, to create the To the Heights Award, presented at the 2023 Fall Conference. The award recognizes an outstanding, innovative, and bold use of church property. 

Applicants from around the world submitted applications for consideration based on five criteria, namely that the project must be: 

• A bold vision

• Distinctively Catholic

• An innovative use of Church property

• The highest and best use of the property

• Geared towards scaling and financial/environmental sustainability

Five finalists were selected from a field of 130 submissions for the most thorough review, with deep weight placed on the level of impact that the $10,000 would have on the projects. The voting was incredibly close among all five options, with the Serenelli Project ultimately claiming the inaugural award. Meet the finalists here and learn more about how they are putting property to work for the New Evangelization. 

Redemptive Real Estate

The Serenelli Project's mission is to create a stable community of prayer, work, discernment of God’s call, and recovery for those coming out of prison. As the inaugural recipient of the To the Heights Award, Marty Arlinghaus, the founder of the Serenelli Project, received $10,000 and a signed cleat from MDKeller co-founder Harrison Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs.