June 13, 2022
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland board of directors recently approved the second installment of quarterly grants in 2022 totaling $480,000.
Below, find details and more information about these awards.
Food Justice
The foundation’s food justice strategy supports partners who promote place-based initiatives that aim to improve access to healthy eating and active living, capacity building and built environment change while also creating opportunities for community engagement and resident
leadership through people-centered development.
Environmental Health Watch (EHW), an organization focused on critical health concerns in urban environments, advances food justice in the Central-Kinsman neighborhood through a strategy that centers community to create a tangible and economically viable food system. Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland invested $100,000 in EHW in 2022 to support two key activities in this work: deepened placemaking through the Fresh Fest festival and leading a planning process with resident leaders, stakeholders, funders, and partners as part of the Central- Kinsman Food Cooperative Steering Committee (CKFC) towards a community-owned food cooperative in Central-Kinsman.
Aligned with the work of EHW, SOCF Cleveland also invested $40,000 into FARE—Food Access Raises Everyone. Food Access Raises Everyone (FARE) is a comprehensive community initiative in Cleveland that was created in 2014 through a partnership with The Food Trust, a national non-profit focused on equitable access to nutritious food. Now part of Neighborhood Connections, FARE supports Cleveland residents and organizations working on food access and other determinants of health, building capacity and coordination to improve health in Cleveland’s neighborhoods, including the Kinsman-Central Community Collective (KCCC).
The foundation invested an additional $25,000 into Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. to support the HEAL Network (HEAL). HEAL is a collaborative effort of BBC with support of the foundation, local and state agencies and community partners to have an impact on health, economic opportunities and the quality of life of Central and Kinsman residents.
Health Policy
Children's Defense Fund-Ohio (CDF-Ohio) champions policies and programs that lift children out of poverty, protect them from abuse and neglect and ensure their access to appropriate and targeted healthcare, quality education and a spiritual foundation. In 2020-2021, Ohio saw 130,814 children gain Medicaid coverage, largely in part to the public health emergency measures put in place during the pandemic. As those protections unwind, SOCF Cleveland has invested $20,000 in CDF-Ohio to continue its efforts to ensure that all children in Ohio have access to high quality health insurance.
SOCF Cleveland invested $50,000 in Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) this quarter for core operating funds, to maintain its position as a quality and bi-partisan agency that seeks to advance evidence-informed policies that improve health, achieve equity, and lead to sustainable healthcare spending in Ohio.
Since its founding in 2003 through several foundations including the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, HPIO has become a trusted source of information and leadership on health policy issues. With the creation of the first Health Value Dashboard in 2014, HPIO has established itself as an expert in identifying Ohio’s health value challenges and opportunities.
Philanthropy Ohio is a statewide membership association that provides the network, tools and knowledge to help people engaged in philanthropy become more effective, powerful change agents in their communities. Philanthropy Ohio's Health Initiative provides members, including SOCF, with education on and a voice to advocate for equitable health policies for Ohioans. SOCF Cleveland invested $30,000 in Philanthropy Ohio to support the Health Initiative work plan, as well as salary support for public policy staff, who lead health, education, and housing policy efforts.
Housing Policy
Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio (COHHIO) has an overall goal to secure adequate public (federal, state, and local) investment in housing and homeless services across the state and to advance effective policy solutions grounded in research.
This quarter, SOCF Cleveland invested $45,000 in COHHIO to support its 2022 advocacy strategy to advance its mission of ending homelessness and housing insecurity in Ohio. The pandemic has wrought additional hardships for low-income Ohioans but has also created unprecedented opportunity to expand access to safe, decent, affordable housing. COHHIO's advocacy work this year is significantly focused on effective investment of State COVID recovery funds to build lasting infrastructure in support of Ohioans experiencing and at-risk of homelessness.
Catholic Sisters: Saint Ann Legacy Grant Program
The Saint Ann Legacy Grant Program supports the ministries of Catholic sisters as they work to meet the needs of God’s people. Grants of up to $10,000 are awarded to ministries of Catholic sisters in Northeast Ohio, as defined as the Dioceses of Cleveland and Youngstown. Ministries of Catholic sisters include those that are founded/sponsored or programs at other organizations where Catholic sisters are significantly involved as staff. The purpose of these grants is to support the Catholic sisters at work in our region today.
The St. Ann Legacy grant docket is unique in that it is only open to organizations with a strong connection to a Catholic sister or congregation of sisters. These organizations include large sponsored ministries, small sister-founded ministries, schools with a strong presence of sisters, and community-based organizations that have engaged a sister(s) in a significant way.
This quarter, SOCF Cleveland invested $35,000 across several organizations as part of the Saint Ann Legacy Grant Program. Additional funds will be distributed in third quarter 2022. Second quarter grantees include Beatitude House, Famicos Foundation, Lakewood Catholic Academy, St. Paul Catholic Church/Centro San Pablo, Urban Community School and the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown.
Catholic Sisters: Generative Spirit Initiative
SOCF Cleveland invested $10,000 this quarter to Incarnate Word Academy, a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word in Parma, to support the creation of a Sisters' Legacy Room within the school. The goal of the project is to help preserve the legacy of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and share the amazing story of the Sisters and the school. With only 14 sisters remaining in the congregation, it is particularly important that they find enduring ways to share their history with their sponsored ministry and the community.
Strengthening the Central Neighborhood
The Literacy Cooperative (TLC) was established in 2006 to advance literacy in the Greater Cleveland region. This quarter, SOCF Cleveland invested $25,000 in TLC to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Central and to support the county-wide 2Gen (two-generation) steering committee. Imagination Library is a unique book gifting program that mails a brand new, age-appropriate book to enrolled children monthly through their fifth birthday, at no cost to the recipient. On both of these efforts, TLC partners with Cleveland Central Promise and the foundation to elevate family voice and co-create solutions.
Sisters of Charity Health System Ministries
As a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, SOCF Cleveland invests a portion of its funds in partner ministries who also seek to answer the call of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and share the healing ministry of Jesus. This quarter, the foundation invested $40,000 across three SCHS ministries: Joseph’s Home, Light of Hearts Villa and Regina Health Center.