Collaboration

Collaboration is another core value of the Sisters of Charity and the Foundation. The definition for collaboration is pretty basic. It is to work with others to achieve a common goal.

When I was in Boy Scouts we had a “tug of war” contest. There were eight guys on one side, eight on the other and a huge mud pit in the middle. When the contest began, the pulling began. I was on the front of the team and I became acutely aware of the muddy pit only a few feet in front of me. I yelled back to my team members to pull harder. One guy on our team was bigger and stronger than the rest of us. He gave a big heave and that was all it took. The guys on the other side lurched forward and half of them plunged into the mud pit, much to our delight.

It was my first known experience where collaboration was pretty clear to me. I could not have done this task alone but with seven other guys helping me pull in one direction, the mission was easier and it was more achievable. This same concept can be applied to so many other things. For example, I have witnessed hundreds of volunteers clean an entire town in one day by working together picking up trash.

When foundations and other organizations collaborate, several things occur. It gives you added human capacity, it gives additional financial resources and it also gives focus to a bigger goal that will better the community. This has also been accomplished through partnerships with business and government.

Collaboration is a great concept but it is not always easy to implement. It requires flexibility, group thinking, a willingness to give up control and a belief that the “greater good” will benefit from multiple partners. Collaboration really works when we become less about territory and more about opportunity.

I have seen more and more nonprofit organizations willing to collaborate during these difficult economic times. It makes sense financially, organizationally and some times it can be the only way they will sustain themselves and survive over the long run. With philanthropic dollars as scarce as we have ever seen, collaboration is a “must” in today’s nonprofit world.

We must be willing to put our own self interests aside and find common ground that will benefit more people and communities. It is not only the way to survive this economic storm, but it is the right thing to do and the right time to do it.

Collaboration is an important core value of the Foundation and the Sisters of Charity Health System as a whole. It is basically working together to maximize your potential to meet your mission and goals. Here is hoping we can find new ways to all work together collaboratively both now and in the future.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Father's Day: Engaged and Active Fathers Are Invaluable

Today marks a little known or celebrated 100th anniversary. In 1909, a woman named Sonora Dodd in Spokane, Wash., was listening to her preacher’s sermon about the importance of honoring Mother's Day. Although she agreed it was an important day, she felt it unfair that no recognition was given to fathers. After Sonora's mother died, it was her father who made the big sacrifices in her life. He was the one who made sure she had food on the table, warm clothes to wear and that she said her nightly prayers. Why then, she wondered, were fathers not being honored in the same fashion?

Sonora began her life's mission to see that fathers received the same recognition as mothers for making the necessary sacrifices for their children. She began having a father’s day celebration during June, her birth month, every year thereafter in Spokane. But, it was not until 1972 (63 years later) that a permanent national observance of Father's Day on the third Sunday of June was established.

Today, we need to ask a similar question as the one posed by Sonora 100 years ago. Why is it that the importance of having an engaged and active father remains largely devalued and unrecognized? While Sonora’s father was loving and attentive, many fathers today are not so involved. Father absence has dramatically increased since the 1960’s. More children are living today in father absent households than during the height of World War II. Research clearly reveals that father absence has significant negative consequences for children, including child poverty. Society and taxpayers pay a tremendous price as well. Because many disregard a father’s worth and fewer people reach out to them, support for fathers is spotty and underfunded throughout our nation.

However, progress is being made in South Carolina. The Sisters of Charity Foundation has invested more than $16.5 million to support advocacy and fatherhood programs in South Carolina over the past ten years. The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, an outgrowth of this initiative, supports six fatherhood programs in 12 locations across the state and serves more than 1,500 low-income fathers who want to become great dads. Fathers receive guidance, support, information and resources. They earn respect and are respected.

Support for these programs is worthwhile. They save taxpayers money and change lives. Not just for this generation but for our future generations. We can not afford to wait 50 or 100 more years to prioritize this issue that impacts us all. Yes all of us. Join Sonora’s legacy, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families and countless other partners who are working to recognize and reach out to fathers. Let your voice be heard. For more information about the Fatherhood Initiative, visit the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families or the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Web site.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Justice

Another core value of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is justice. Justice is so important and it is certainly subject to different interpretations and meanings. To me, every issue we encounter deals with ethics and comes under the notion of justice. Justice is a set of principles which guide others in determining what is right and what is wrong no matter what culture we live in. It is to elevate the dignity of each and every human person.

At the Foundation, we work with the underserved population. Many are homeless, most have no health insurance, thousands are in need of food and an unimaginable number attend dilapidated schools that are inadequate for learning. We find ourselves living in a world where there is a huge disparity between those who have life’s necessities to live and succeed and those who do not. The core question around justice is, “Do I have a responsibility to others who have less than me and cannot take care of themselves or their families?” My answer is, “Yes.”

Social justice provides the very foundation for a healthy community. It grows out of a sense that each individual person in our society has value. Only as we realize the value and dignity of each individual person can we build a healthy community. This can be a slow process of learning and growing. To help the process along we develop attitudes of respect for one another regardless of where they rest on the socio-economic scale.

Isn’t justice about helping every person realize their full human potential? Shouldn’t we reward people in our society for being loving and caring, ethical, kind and generous? We have systems in place that are suppose to address justice issues but frankly, they just “scratch the surface” towards solving problems around justice and fairness.

Each one of us can make a difference, even if it is in a small way. I believe that social justice imposes on each individual a personal responsibility to help one another. In the end, we are not going to be judged by how many houses, cars and clothes we own or how much money is in our bank accounts. Our individual legacy will be measured by what we have done to make a difference in the lives of others and, in particular, those who cannot make it on their own.

When I think about justice as a core value, I believe it is one of the most difficult to affect and it is one of the most important values. Look around; make yourself aware of the injustices that occur in our society everyday. Then ask yourself, “What can I do to help?” Isn’t that really what matters in the long run?

Tom Keith is is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina