Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center

The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center serves as a faith-based conservation land trust. The center acquired its first nature sanctuary in 2022, the 149-acre Churchill Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Brookfield, NH, donated by Anne and James Martin. In 2023, the Martins donated $28,000 to cover expenses associated with the sanctuary and $60,000 for a dedicated stewardship fund.

The center operates a program-related online store that offers garden and habitat signs, garden stones, and seeds for Mary Gardens and Saint Kateri Habitats.

The center runs an education and outreach program that promotes Catholic faith, integral ecology, environmental justice, biodiversity, climate change, Indigenous Peoples Program, Mary Gardens, and Saint Kateri Habitats for people and wildlife. The center offers guidance about native plants, habitat restoration, renewable energy, and the veneration of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. The center works with non-profit partners to conserve Church-stewarded lands using geographic information systems (GIS) and other planning and conservation methodologies. The center received a grant of $3,175 from the University of Notre Dame to develop a GIS land conservation model for Catholic dioceses and parishes.