My wife, Pat, and I just returned from an important trip to Rome – a trip of gratitude, to give thanks for God’s guidance in acquiring a “Building For Life” with assistance of the Knights of Columbus Church Loan Program. The new headquarters for the Austin-based John Paul II Life and Family Center (JPII Life
and Family Center) will enable us to continue the work of the Center in saving babies’ lives, caring for mother and child, and providing education about life in the womb. This is continuing the JOURNEY that we launched many years ago and that we have continued for many years. For us, it’s one more evidence of what has become our motto in faith: In Life The Journey Is Everything.
KC Loan Makes Purchase Possible
Thanks to the assistance by the Knights of Columbus, the Center was able to purchase a 19,000 square foot building in the heart of the medical district in Austin, conveniently near Ascension Seton main hospital.
To understand the significance of how this came to be and to understand the pivotal role that individual Knights, Councils, the Austin Chapter, State Council and Supreme Council played in making this a reality, I need to take you back several months.
Legatus Medjugorje Pilgrimage
In October 2023, Pat and I went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje to pray, asking our Mother Mary to
intercede with her son Jesus to give us an answer to a question. We sought to know whether or not we were headed in the right direction to take serious RISKS to purchase this 19,000 square foot building in order to provide more space to better serve both pregnant women considering abortion and also those in normal pregnancy. Since its launch, the St. John Paul II Life and Family Center has saved the lives of more than 2,500 babies and has served thousands of frightened, pregnant women who needed help.
The answer we received while at Medjugorje was a clear and resounding “YES” to proceed with buying the building – an $8,500,000 investment. This amount included $2,000,000 for renovation and $6,500,000 for the building. At the time of our pilgrimage we had less than $3,000,000 committed. Needless to say, there was an enormous gap of funding needed, a seemingly impossible-to-quickly-fill multi-million dollar gap.
But we trusted that if we received a clear and resounding “YES” to proceed in the purchase of the building, somehow we would be led to finding the quickly needed funding.
Priest’s Help Very Valuable
God began to lead us immediately, it seemed. And He did so in quite unexpected ways, beginning with the pilgrimage priest chaplain. Before becoming a Priest, this chaplain had been head of the Prudential Life Insurance Real Estate Division.
I met with Fr. Phil on the last day of the pilgrimage to learn from him. After showing him brochures about the Center and the building, Father Phil responded, “You don’t know this, but I’m meeting with the Knights of Columbus (K of C) Investment Department head next Thursday. Would you like me to tell him about this?”
“Absolutely!” I responded, barely believing my ears. Thursday passed and on Friday I received a call that “He really liked it; I think you ought to call him!”
I called the Knights immediately, which led to the Center submitting a 90-page loan application that included letters of support from several Bishops, the State Deputy, Austin Chapter President, Council Grand Knights, and individual KC Members.
How the Marathon Became a Sprint!
The building’s name is the “Marathon Building,” and it truly was a marathon to get the purchase and renovations timely completed.
Starting in January 2024, we began the sprint part to the finish line. Just over 60 days from the
submittal of the loan application, the Center closed on a $6,000,000 loan from the K of C Investment Department on February 22, 2024, took possession of the newly renovated 3rd floor the same day, moved from the prior location of the Center and the Vitae Clinic (which saw patients up to noon on Friday, February 23, 2024), and reopened in the new building on Monday, February 26, 2024 at noon. We saw 40 patients that first afternoon in the new building!
That’s what can happen when people work together to make a good thing happen and when God says ‘Yes.’ God rewards faith, not fear!
We trusted in God and took some risks. As St. John Paul II said from the beginning of his pontificate, “Be Not Afraid!”
To this day, we continue the journey!
Moving Boldly Forward
So, what now for the St. John Paul II Life and Family Center and Vitae Clinic? The Center provides Education and Care for pregnant mothers, and for the wider community as the opportunity arises. Especially now, with its greatly expanded presence and ability to serve, in a new permanent and large facility, the journey forward is amazing!
The Knights of Columbus Loan allows the Center to have two years to complete its Capital Campaign.
For providing Care, the Center and Vitae Clinic, with its two full-time physicians and nurse practitioner, continue to save babies and serve women for up to three years after the baby’s birth.
For providing Education, the Center produced “A Glimpse Inside™” – four short videos narrated by the Center’s physicians showing the human reality from conception to birth; and instructing women and their husbands on Natural Family Planning methods and Natural Procreative Technology, helping to strengthen the family.
Bottom line: While the enormous relief of purchasing the new building is complete and our core operations are continuing and expanding, the necessity of raising the remaining millions to pay back the loan remains to be done so that we can serve many more women and families.
What Can Individuals Do to Help?
The JPII Life and Family Center is thankful to its many patrons who have helped during its 14 years of operation. Now we need our supporters to continue to walk beside the Center in this continuing last leg of our marathon to save babies and families on an ongoing basis in these difficult times in which we live. 
We need you to come do a tour of our new “Building For Life” and to invite your friends to learn about the Center, the work we do and to become active supporters as well. We are confident God will continue to bless the Center and the women who rely on the Center for their care.
Please visit jpiilifecenter.org or use the QR Code to learn more about how you can help. Let’s cross the finish line together, for the sake of a cause much greater than any of us alone!
With tremendous gratitude, Tim Von Dohlen
RELATED RESOURCES:
- Visit https://buildingforlife.jpiilifecenter.org/ to learn more (statistics, real results, sustainability…together we CAN CONTINUE TO make a real difference for women and babies)
View Articles If you’ve met Tim, you know that his life was shaped by good values that were imparted to him by his parents and he... MORE »
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