As a ministry of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the Foundation's mission is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. We hope to provide support for St. Louis, East St. Louis, and the greater Missouri community where help is most needed. We plan to support or create faith-based ministries that foster healthy lives, promote spiritual growth, and support the building blocks that create healthy communities.
The Incarnate Word Foundation Board of Trustees has articulated the following values to guide the foundation in its activities and strategic planning:
-Compassion
-Dignity
-Respect
-Dignity
-Diversity
-Respect
-Relationship/Collaboration
-Community focus
-Effective stewardship
-Holistic approach
-Community focus
-Systemic change
-Responsiveness
-Systemic change
-Inventiveness
For more than 100 years the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word have cared for the people of St. Louis and the surrounding communities. When the sisters' Incarnate Word Hospital, a part of Deaconess Incarnate Word Health System, was sold in 1997, the foundation was established, with an endowment of $33 million, to continue their mission of caring in the area.
Since its inception, the foundation has supported community organizations that address the root causes of problems with the goal of building healthy communities. In awarding grants, the Incarnate Word Foundation has focused on programs that serve the economically poor, women and children, and the elderly, and whose mission and values are compatible with those of the foundation.
In its first year of operation, the foundation awarded 106 Annunciation Grants (grants of less than $10,000) to area agencies and groups, as well as one "extraordinary" grant of $100,000 to Catholic Charities to establish a computer networking system. In the near future, it will award Incarnate Word Grants (grants of more than $10,000) to agencies interested in partnership.
A driving belief of the foundation is that collaboration among community organizations is essential if they are to maximize their financial and human resources. Thus it has actively pursued opportunities to bring groups and individuals together. In 1998, the foundation convened leaders of more than 25 agencies, associations, and religious, educational, and health care institutions to participate in five roundtable discussions on effective ways to serve disadvantaged populations. Collaboration: Planting the Seeds of New Hope reports the insights from these meetings. In summer 1999, 56 leaders participated in six roundtables on issues in caring for young people. A second resource, Children of Promise, will summarize these discussions.
The foundation provides a variety of educational opportunities for its grantees and prospective applicants. These include grantwriting workshops and workshops on program evaluation conducted in conjunction with the Saint Louis University School of Public Health.
Believing that it can achieve more by working with other foundations, the Incarnate Word Foundation joined with six other St. Louis health foundations in 1999 to fund Nurses for Newborns and Abraham's Children, a partnership that seeks to reduce infant mortality.
The foundation serves as a voice for the disadvantaged and for the foundation's grantees. In that role, it has highlighted the activities of Catholic and other faith-based agencies in its communications with other funders, agencies, and the public.
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