15 Years, $42 Million; Foundation Celebrates 15 Years in Philanthropy

In celebration of National Philanthropy Day, today, this post is taken from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina's release announcing the Foundation's 15-year anniversary.  

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, celebrates 15 years in philanthropy this fall. The Foundation, formed out of the sale of fifty percent of Providence Hospitals in 1996, is the only statewide grantmaker having awarded grants to nonprofit and faith-based organizations in all 46 South Carolina counties.

“The work of this Foundation has been inspiring, rewarding and challenging,” said Tom Keith, president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. “We have learned a lot about ourselves and the communities we serve. While we have adapted to change over the past 15 years, we have always remained steady to our mission to reduce poverty in the state.”

Since its beginning, the Sisters of Charity Foundation has awarded more than 1,400 grants and over $42 million to faith-based and nonprofit organizations throughout the state. “It is one thing to understand the disparity of the poor, but it is quite another to invest tremendous energy and resources to affect change in their lives,” said Yvonne Orr, a Charleston native and board chair. “We have supported organizations at all levels and have witnessed many triumphs and change.”

The Foundation’s Fatherhood Initiative is an example of recognizing a need and continuing to support it. Since 1998, the Foundation has invested more than $19 million in the Fatherhood Initiative, a statewide initiative working to strengthen relationships between low-income fathers and their families in South Carolina. The Fatherhood Initiative has received national recognition for its innovative approach and is viewed as a best practice. In 2002, the Foundation established the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, a nonprofit organization which develops and supports a statewide infrastructure that strengthens relationships between fathers and families throughout South Carolina. The Center currently oversees six fatherhood programs through 11 sites across the state.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation has impacted nonprofits and South Carolina beyond grantmaking. Through its Carolina Academy for Nonprofits, created in 2008, the Foundation has provided training and technical assistance to hundreds of nonprofit staff and volunteers at no cost. A partnership was even formed with Columbia College to give nonprofit leaders an opportunity for formal, graduate-level education and the potential to earn certificate in Nonprofit Leadership Training from Columbia College’s Organizational Change Management graduate program. This certificate program is now in its third year, and nonprofits―and the communities they serve―reap the benefits.

“We look for ways to build the capacity of organizations in which we invest. Many of the groups have an inspiring mission but lack the necessary skills to implement programs effectively,” said Orr. “Our job is to help bring them to a level where they can make their program successful, and ultimately impact their community and the people they serve.”

Additionally, the Foundation has spearheaded the start of several new organizations to meet targeted needs and foster collaboration. The Foundation was instrumental in the creation of the South Carolina Grantmakers Network, formed in 1997. The South Carolina Grantmakers Network is a group of more than 40 philanthropic grantmaking organizations across the state who come together to discuss current issues and common concerns. The Foundation aided in forming the South Carolina Center for Grassroots and Non-Profit Leadership at Clemson University, the South Carolina Afterschool Alliance and the Fatherhood Policy Project Office.

The Foundation finds itself in the position as one of the largest South Carolina-based foundations with assets of $82 million. “It is not about our size. It is about our role as a funder, a convener, an advocate and change maker. It is about seeing the state as a whole, and finding ways to reduce poverty and be a voice for the underserved,” said Keith. “We have never attempted to do this on our own; any success the Foundation has witnessed has been the result of working with others at multiple levels.”

About the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, established in 1996, is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. The Foundation is committed to addressing the needs of the poor and underserved in all 46 South Carolina counties, and strategically uses resources to reduce poverty through action, advocacy and leadership.

Sisters Make Impact in South Carolina; Leave Legacy

In 1937 a group of Catholic nuns mortgaged their Motherhouse in Ohio and traveled to Columbia, South Carolina―an unfamiliar place―to establish a Catholic hospital. What started as a request from then Diocese of Charleston Bishop Emmet Walsh to the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, has developed into a thoughtful array of ministries responding to community needs in Columbia and throughout the state.

In 1996 the Sisters used funds obtained through the sale of half of the hospital to create the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. (The Sisters have since bought back this half and wholly own the hospital.) The Sisters could have done a number of things with this money, but recognizing the need, they started the Foundation to address community challenges at the core of poverty.

This year, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina celebrates 15 years in philanthropy. As a statewide funder, with initial assets of $85 million, the Foundation has provided financial support in all 46 counties of South Carolina. Since inception, the Foundation has awarded over 1,400 grants, totaling more than $42 million, to nonprofit, faith-based, academic and governmental organizations. Some of these funds have been leveraged to account for $21 million in additional resources. In the midlands alone, the Foundation has funded more than $23 million to organizations providing services in this area. 

The Sisters of Charity Foundation has impacted nonprofits beyond grantmaking. Through its Carolina Academy for Nonprofits, created in 2008, the Foundation has provided training and technical assistance to hundreds of nonprofit staff and volunteers at no cost.

Furthermore, the Foundation has spearheaded the start of several new organizations to meet targeted needs and foster collaboration. The Foundation was instrumental in the creation of the South Carolina Grantmakers Network, formed in 1997. The South Carolina Grantmakers Network is a group of more than 40 philanthropic grantmaking organizations across the state who come together to discuss current issues and common concerns. The Foundation aided in forming the South Carolina Center for Grassroots and Non-Profit Leadership at Clemson University, the South Carolina Afterschool Alliance and the Fatherhood Policy Project Office. The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families was created in 2002 as an outgrowth of the Foundation’s Fatherhood Initiative, a statewide initiative working to strengthen relationships between low-income fathers and their families in South Carolina. All of these examples impact our state and its citizens in different ways.

With the vision that families in South Carolina have the resources to live out of poverty, the Foundation serves as an advocate for the poor. Through community listening sessions, representing the interests of the underserved to elected officials and serving as convener, the Foundation is a voice for the poor in our communities.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is celebrating 15 years in philanthropy. Fifteen years of strategically using resources to reduce poverty. Fifteen years of practicing collaboration, compassion, courage, justice and respect to fulfill its mission. None of this would be possible without the vision of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine; a group of women―through faith―who risked their home to begin a new journey here in South Carolina. Their legacy will continue through their ministries and with the lives they have touched.

Similar article published in The State Newspaper.

2010: A Snapshot

As we close out another year, it is a good time to reflect on the work and accomplishments over the past twelve months. In spite of a weak economy and financial challenges, 2010 has been an outstanding year for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

The Foundation served thousands of South Carolinians and more than 60 organizations through over $2 million in grants.

More than 200 representatives from nonprofit organizations took advantage of the Foundation’s Carolina Academy for Nonprofits. The Foundation launched distance learning opportunities with five sites participating in South Carolina and Ohio allowing more than 75 people to participate from outlying locations. We completed our first Nonprofit Leadership Training Certificate Program, a partnership with Columbia College, and held a graduation ceremony in August.

In September, Bishop Guglielmone traveled to Columbia and met with individuals and representatives from organizations served by the Foundation.

The Foundation held four listening sessions around the state and learned a great deal from those living in poverty.

The Collaboration for Ministry Initiative (CMI) held its sixth annual statewide conference, and more the 70 women religious attended.  Through CMI, several Sisters in South Carolina were able to travel to Cleveland, O.H., to see the national exhibit Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America.

The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, an outgrowth of the Foundation’s Fatherhood Initiative, ran its first fund raising campaign, The Ugly Tie Campaign, in conjunction with Father’s Day. The Center also had an article on its Alternative to Incarceration program published in the Child and Family Social Work Journal.

The Foundation served on the on the AmericaSpeaks Engagement Committee to recruit participants and promote the AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meetings® on the budget and economy in Columbia, S.C., one of the six primary cities selected for the event. In the spring of 2010, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina engaged all South Carolina gubernatorial candidates by asking them five questions around poverty and economic opportunity in the state. Additionally, the Foundation continued to raise awareness on the impact of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding in South Carolina and advocate for TANF reauthorization.

A new branding campaign was implemented, and the Foundation launched a new Web site.

It has been an influential year as the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina implemented the first stages of its strategic plan. While these are just few highlights of 2010, the Foundation is already planning how we can maximize impact in 2011, and how we can strategically uses resources to reduce poverty through action, advocacy and leadership so that families in South Carolina have the resources to live out of poverty.

Feast of St. Augustine

Today, August 28, is the Feast Day of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa and one of the doctors of the Church. St. Augustine overcame strong heresies, practiced great poverty and supported the poor, preached very often and prayed with great fervor.

In 1851 four Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSA) Sisters embarked on a two week voyage from France to Cleveland, Ohio. This began 156 years of service by hundreds of dynamic religious women responding to unmet needs of people in Ohio and South Carolina. Long before the American workplace widely accepted women in professional roles, these Sisters were directing major health care institutions, teaching in schools and developing new programs to provide needed human services. The first CSAs in America served as the first public health nurses in Cleveland, Ohio. Led by a mission to continue Christ’s healing ministry, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine have built a legacy of caring that continues today.

The health and human service ministries of the CSA Congregation are now overseen by the Sisters of Charity Health System. The Health System embodies the values and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and their mission to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The Health System provides oversight, leadership and strategic direction to more than 20 ministries in Ohio and South Carolina. In South Carolina there are five ministries: Providence Hospital, Providence Hospital Northeast, South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, Healthy Learners and Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina continues the mission of the Sisters by strategically using resources to reduce poverty through action, advocacy and leadership.

St. Augustine's Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

In Catholicism,  Feast Days, or Holy Days, are days which are celebrated in commemoration of the sacred events recorded in the history of our redemption, in memory of the Virgin Mother of Christ, or of His apostles, martyrs and saints, by special services and rest from work.  Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint.