Catholic Health Initiatives Presents 38 Grants For Building Healthy Communities

Catholic Health Initiatives has awarded grants of more than $5.4 million from its Mission and Ministry Fund for the planning, development and implementation of initiatives to promote healthy communities across the country and around the world. I

In addition to those annual grants from its longstanding Mission & Ministry Fund, CHI this year provided a $2 million donation to Mercy Housing, Omaha, Neb. The organization also pledged $333,000 in a donation for disaster-relief efforts in Haiti as part of a three-year commitment to channel $1 million for humanitarian efforts in that country through the Campaign for Rebirth and Renewal, a program sponsored by the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Relief Services.

The $5.4 million in grants this year from the Mission and Ministry Fund will underwrite a wide array of programs designed to improve the health of communities. Established in 1996 by CHI’s founding congregations, the Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 311 grants totaling more than $38.4 million.

This year’s grants will fund initiatives as diverse as spiritual programming for older adults and a program that provides care and support to children in Belize who are infected with, or greatly affected by, HIV/AIDS.

“In name and in spirit, the Mission & Ministry Fund grants we award each year truly represent the mission of Catholic Health Initiatives, which is to create and nurture healthy communities,” said Kevin Lofton, president and chief executive officer of CHI. “We know that each of these grants will support that mission and help us thrive and grow as a national health care ministry.”

The grants his year also include 19 that will be used to fund violence prevention programs. The prevention of violence – including domestic violence, child and elder abuse, gun violence and school violence – is a priority for CHI, which has 72 hospitals in communities across the nation.

Mission and Ministry Fund grants support innovative projects designed to improve the health of a community, often by serving disadvantaged individuals and populations. Applications may be submitted by Catholic Health Initiatives’ affiliated facilities, participating congregations and associated organizations. All supported initiatives must meet an identified community need, invite collaboration with community partners and be replicable in other communities.

The 2011 Mission and Ministry Fund grants include:

Project Grants

Centura Health at Home, Denver, CO, $325,848 (over three years)
The Gardens at St. Elizabeth

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $64,100 (over three years)
Martin de Porres Institute for Maturing Spirituality

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $13,800
Shepherd’s Corner Ecological Center

Franciscan Foundation, Tacoma, WA, $45,589
Drug Free Community

Franciscan Foundation, Tacoma, WA, $96,164 (over two years)
Live Right, Grow Right

Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, NE, $540,987 (over three years)
Community Health Access Team (CHAT) Pathways Community HUB

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, Louisville, KY, $690,103 (over three years)
Upstream to Equity: A Partnership for Community Change

Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga, TN, $103,098 (over three years)
Improving Health and Wellness in East Chattanooga

Mercy Foundation, Roseburg, OR, $299,122 (over three years)
Healthy Kids Outreach Program

Mother of God Monastery, Watertown, SD, $172,500 (over three years)
Empowering Immigrant Women in Northeastern South Dakota

Saint Joseph Health System, Lexington, KY, $350,273 (over three years)
Integrated Patient Management through Rural Outreach Services

Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, Lincoln, NE, $315,404 (over three years)
Hope Through Healing & Wellness: The St. Gianna Women’s Homes Project

Samaritan Health Foundation, Dayton, OH, $314,140 (over three years)
Teen Pregnancy Program

St. Joseph Regional Health Network, Reading, PA, $259,953 (over three years)
Neighbors Helping Neighbors

International Grants

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $20,000
Centro Santa Catalina, Mexico

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $18,500
Jamaican Outreach Collaborative, Jamaica

North Dakota/Minnesota Division of Catholic Health Initiatives, Fargo, ND, $26,500
International Mission Program, Indigenous People’s Hospital, Philippines

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Nazareth, KY, $109,440
Ministry for Children/Families Infected With or Affected By AIDS in Belize

Summit Medical Center Health Foundation, Frisco, CO, $57,000
Rwanda Clubfoot and Orthopaedic Education Program, Rwanda

Violence Prevention Grants

Alegent Health, Omaha, NE, $57,843

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $65,000

Franciscan Foundation, Tacoma, WA, $67,443

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, Louisville, KY, $43,026

LakeWood Health Center, Baudette, MN, $10,750

Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga, TN, $99,680

Mercy Foundation, Roseburg, OR, $86,766

Saint Clare’s Hospital, Dover and Denville, NJ, $65,050

Saint Francis Medical Center, Grand Island, NE, $12,746

Saint Joseph Health System, Lexington, KY, $50,287

Samaritan Behavioral Health, Inc., Dayton, OH, $68,684

St. Anthony North Hospital, Westminster, CO, $24,872

St. Catherine Hospital, Garden City, KS, $73,708

St. Francis Healthcare Campus, Breckenridge, MN, $192,565 (over three years)

St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Little Falls, MN, $122,930 (over three years)

St. Joseph Regional Health Network, Reading, PA, $150,100

St. Joseph’s Area Health Services, Park Rapids, MN, $50,825

St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Nebraska City, NE, $265,194 (over three years)

St. Mary’s Foundation, Pierre, SD, $85,050

About Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Englewood, Colo. The faith-based system operates in 19 states and includes 72 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two community health-services organizations. Together, those facilities provided $589 million during the 2010 fiscal year in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues of $9.0 billion, CHI ranks as the nation’s third-largest Catholic health care system.