The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland resumed operations in January after a yearlong hiatus that overhauled grantmaking strategy, narrowed its focus from countywide to Cleveland’s Central neighborhood and paved a path to put Sisters of Charity Health System President & CEO Michael Goar at its helm. Crain's Cleveland Business recently wrote about the Foundation's restart.
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Sisters of Charity Foundation taps health system CEO, refocuses grants
By Elizabeth Schuster
March 25, 2026
Sisters of Charity Foundation is resuming operations after a yearlong hiatus that overhauled grantmaking strategy, narrowed its focus from countywide to Cleveland’s Central neighborhood and paved a path to put a health system CEO at its helm.
The three-decades-old, Cleveland-based foundation relaunched grantmaking operations at the start of 2026.
“The purpose for the foundation is very strictly driven to support (Cleveland’s) Central neighborhood. That’s going to be our primary focus for the Foundation,” said Michael Goar, president and CEO of Sisters of Charity Health System.
Goar is slated to become the Sisters of Charity Foundation president next month, following approval by the board and the health system, he told Crain’s.
Last year, the foundation halted grantmaking to redefine its approach based on community engagement and need, Goar said.
Previously, the foundation awarded grants to organizations across Cuyahoga County. Now, Sisters of Charity has boiled down the focus to nonprofits and initiatives that support Cleveland’s Central neighborhood.
“Let’s figure out which other organizations are doing amazing work that we want to support, or can we recruit other nonprofit organizations to provide services within the Central neighborhood because they’re doing amazing work?” Goar said.
The foundation operates separately from the Sisters of Charity Health System and is remaining operations in Cleveland with its own five-person board, Goar said.
Previously, the Sisters of Charity Health System operated the St. Vincent Medical Center, which shuttered operations wholly in 2024.
The health system now operates the St. Vincent Charity Health & Healing Hub on the former St. Vincent Campus, a neighborhood legacy initiative. The campus consists of a variety of partners, including Neighborhood Family Practice, The Centers and Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio, a nonprofit that is building an Opportunity Center on the campus, Crain’s previously reported.
While operations are separate, Sisters of Charity Foundation has a long history tied to St. Vincent’s. The philanthropic body’s endowment was founded in 1996 from proceeds from the St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, its website said.
Susan Krey was the former president of the foundation, departing the organization in June 2023. Marisa Rohn, the current president of Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton, served as the interim president starting in July 2023, according to the organization’s 990 filings.
Now, the foundation is looking for proposals that focus on the five social drivers of health: basic needs; health care; academic success; social economic mobility; job retention and training; and family engagement and parental support, Goar said.
This year, the foundation is anticipating about 20 to 25 letters of intent (LOIs) from grant-seeking organizations, Goar said. The window to submit an LOI will close mid-April.
The foundation will review the LOIs, after which nonprofits can submit applications with tangible data of previous work. Then, the foundation will conduct site visits to make decisions. Awards are expected to be announced in late June or early July, Goar said.
The foundation plans to grant about 4.5% of its assets annually, Goar said.
This year, the Sisters of Charity Foundation has very minimal administrative costs, Goar explained. The foundation will be enlisting support from Sisters of Charity – Canton, as well as the team at the health system, to help support the philanthropic body’s operations.
“We have a very low overhead purposefully because we want to maximize the resources being pushed out,” Goar said. “Now, I don’t know that (administrative) model is going to be sustainable and long-term, but for at least the first year, we’re sort of pushing that out as a way for us to minimize the overhead costs and maximize how we can allocate resources for our community.”
As Sisters of Charity moves forward with grantmaking, Goar said he is looking forward to “learning, engaging and helping where necessary” in the community.
“We have to do a good job of identifying nonprofit organizations that will help our community members, and also getting feedback, also from the community,” Goar said. “I’m looking forward to being part of a broader collaborative of funders, as they work together, learn from each other.”