Vol. 2, No. 2 Summer 2000
The Incarnate Word Foundation awarded 49 Annunciation Grants at a ceremony at Tower Grove Palm House, July 12. Awardees, which received a total of $267,091 in grants, comprise agencies that serve St. Louis City and surrounding Missouri counties of the St. Louis metropolitan area, other areas of Missouri, and East St. Louis, IL.
Annunciation Grants, which are awarded semiannually, are limited to $10,000 or less. The next deadline for applications is October 1, 2000.
The Diocese of Belleville received an Extraordinary Grant of $50,000 in July to pilot a new model for in-school counseling at two inner-city Catholic schools. Southside Regional Parish School of Religion at St. Mary Magdalen Church will use a $20,000 Extraordinary Grant to provide religious education to children attending public schools. Extraordinary Grants, which exceed $10,000, generally fund new projects and demonstration programs.
Marian Middle School received an Incarnate Word Grant of $50,000 to support operations of a new Catholic school for girls. Incarnate Word Grants emphasize the development of partnerships between the foundation and the grantee that extend beyond financial support of a particular program.
Adult Day Care
Arlington United Methodist Church
At-Risk Youth
BREM Catholic Social Ministry
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Jamison Memorial Human Resource
New Jerusalem Cathedral Church of God in Christ
St. Vincent de Paul Church
Community Health and Wellness
Baptist Charities of Greater St. Louis
Cardinal Ritter Institute
Community Health in Partnership Services
CSJ Care
Ecumenical Ministries of Callaway County
Family Center
Society of St. Vincent De Paul
St. Agatha Center
St. Louis Area Agency on Aging
St. Stephen Protomartyr Catholic Church
Day Care
Cornerstone Center for Early Learning
Shaw Avenue Children's Center
Developmentally Disabled
St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association
Domestic Violence
Legal Advocates for Abused Women
Education
Holy Trinity Catholic School
St. Ignatius Church and School
St. Pius V Parish School
Vincent Gray Alternative High School
Employment
Griffin Center
Third Baptist Church
Women in Charge
HIV/AIDS
Alexian Brothers Salus Place
Housing
East Side Heart and Home
Peter and Paul Community Services
Room at the Inn
St. Louis Women's Build
Hunger/Shelter
Jefferson County Rescue Mission
Immigration
El Puente
Redemptorists
Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church
St. Louis Area Women Religious Collaborative Ministries
War Trauma Recovery Project
Incarceration
Criminal Justice Ministry
Lutheran Ministries Association
Maternal/Child Health
Nurses for Newborns
Mental Health
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
Physically Disabled
Gateway to a Cure
Public Policy
Adoption and Foster Care Coalition of Missouri
Citizens for Missouri's Children
Congregations Allied for Community Improvement
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resources
Violence Prevention
Care and Counseling
St. Engelbert Catholic School
The foundation is offering a free workshop, "Building Better Boards for Not-for-Profits," on October 3 and again on October 4, 2000, from 9 AM to 2 PM at the Thompson Center in Ladue. Presenter Virginia Klein of Entrepreneurial Leadership Development will discuss assessing the board, incorporating diversity, recruiting a "dream team," and ensuring board commitment to the organization. Space is limited to one person per agency. To make a reservation for either the October 3 or October 4 workshop, call Jackie Metzler immediately at 314-621-4090.
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHTMarian Middle SchoolMarian Middle School, a new school for girls in grades 5 through 8, will open in fall 2000 in South St. Louis. The school was founded to help average or above-average students who are having difficulty succeeding in the regular classroom. With small classes and individual attention, Marian will offer a supportive learning environment that reinforces girls' self-esteem, which often begins to erode at about the fifth grade. Based on the Nativity Mission School model, which began on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the 1970s, Marian will offer a rigorous learning environment that will prepare students for acceptance to college-preparatory high schools. The school will serve 30 students initially, with an eventual goal of 60. Three programs supplement the traditional 8 AM to 3 PM school day. The After-School Program, open till 6 PM, will provide tutoring, sports, drama, music, art, and supervised study. The girls will also participate in Saturday events such as field trips and community service and in a four-week summer program. The school's staff includes one full-time and one part-time teacher, a principal who will also teach, a full-time social services director, a director, and volunteers. Students from local Catholic girls' high schools will work with Marian students, giving them role models near their age. Eight communities of women religious came together to sponsor Marian Middle School: Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union, Sisters of Loretto/Loretto Community, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and School Sisters of Notre Dame. All have a long history of service in the St. Louis area and outstanding reputations for their ministries of education, social work, health care, and prayer. "We are excited about this new opportunity to fill a need of girls in economically disadvantaged areas of St. Louis," said Sr. Madonna O'Hara, OSU, president of the board of Ursuline Academy in St. Louis, and a member of Marian's founding committee. |
The Incarnate Word and Lutheran Charities foundations are conducting a joint community needs assessment in Jennings, a community in north St. Louis county, to determine what spiritual, emotional, and physical services are needed for older adults. With this information, churches and community organizations can plan programs and apply for grants to fund them. The foundations anticipate that the programs will be based in churches, which will work with other groups to offer services.
Jennings has a stable, racially mixed population, with a sizeable number of elderly residents. Information from Jennings should be applicable to other communities, said Rev. Gladys Jones, who is conducting the needs research with Leah Sweetman, project coordinator. Sweetman said the foundations are playing an advisory role. "Community churches and other organizations will decide what they can and want to do."
The Incarnate Word Foundation supported the first Faith & Health Conference April 11-13, 2000, in St. Louis. The conference, cosponsored by the St. Louis Faith and Health Consortium and the Deaconess Foundation, examined how human services agencies and faith communities can work together to improve the health of communities. Speakers discussed parish nursing, prevention, spirituality and healing, accountability, and social reform, among other issues in promoting community health and well-being.
The Rev. Michael J. Lydon, pastor, St. Pius V Catholic Church, and the Rev. Thomas W. Wyrsch, pastor, Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church, presented one of four workshops on congregation-based ministries in St. Louis that are uniting health and faith communities. Their communities have recently experienced influxes of immigrants and refugees from many places, including Eastern Europe, Africa, Vietnam, and Latin America. Both churches have congregations who live in the neighborhood and have a stake in relationships in the neighborhood. Each parish runs an elementary school, which accepts non-Catholic as well as Catholic students.
In both church and school, the pastors have made many efforts to emphasize respect for persons of other religions and races. "We have an opportunity to create a healing environment and heal prejudice," said Fr. Wyrsch.
"In our school, we hope that from exposure to various ethnic groups these children will grow up more compassionate than if they went to a school with only one ethnic group," said Fr. Lydon. His school also works with the Division of Family Services to teach parenting skills such as hygiene and nutrition, and it has a half-time counselor who addresses abuse and neglect.
Both parishes participate in C4, an ecumenical group of 20 churches in South St. Louis. The organization encourages leaders to be public in their faith and active in addressing social issues that affect the health of communities, such as urban sprawl, drug houses, and trash.
Fred Bleeke, president/CEO, Lutheran Charities Foundation; Bridget McDermott Flood, executive director, Incarnate Word Foundation; and Michael Anderson, manager, Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation, gave practical advice for agencies seeking funding for their programs.
Individuals give significant amounts--$140 billion in 1999--so organizations should develop a constituency of persons who care about their programs, Bleeke said. Foundations can give programs a start, but ongoing support from individuals is important.
About 125 hospital-conversion foundations (those created with the assets of a hospital sale, including Lutheran Charities, Incarnate Word, and Daughters of Charity, and many of which are interested in faith and health needs) exist in the United States. Grant seekers can find help in the National Guide to Funding in Health (The Foundation Center, New York), Bleeke advised.
Flood emphasized the importance of building relationships with funders. Grant applicants should research funders to find those whose mission and geographical parameters match those of their organization. The key to success, she said, is program planning. "Without a clear, credible business plan, the grant won't get anywhere."
Michael Anderson said the Daughters of Charity Foundation of St. Louis concentrates on healthy communities. The foundation pulled coalitions from neighborhoods, businesses, human services agencies, health providers, and educators to discuss community needs and how to meet them. The foundation will work with them for five years.
Fall Annunciation Grants Deadline: October 1, 2000
Please note: Applications that are incomplete at the deadline will not be considered for funding.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI, Chairperson
Linda M. Allin
Patrick J. Cacchione
Sr. Bernice Coreil, DC
Peter J. Genovese
Sharon M. Homan, PhD
Sr. Mary Kay McKenzie, CCVI
H. C. Milford
Camilleann Nelson
Sr. Mary Pezold, CCVI
Sr. Yolanda Tarango, CCVI
Thomas A. Villa
STAFF
Bridget McDermott Flood, Executive Director
Jacqueline Metzler, Executive Assistant
Leah Sweetman, Project Coordinator, Joint Senior Project
e-mail: iwfdn@swbell.net
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