Everyone Has a Story: A Reflection on 2012 Listening Sessions

Sometimes we meet people whose expressions and face momentarily stop us in our tracks, but we ignore the quiet invitation in their eyes to empathetically listen to their story. In the nonprofit and philanthropic world, this can too often be the case. Our tireless push to meet endless need, pressing deadlines and other urgent tasks which enable us to serve can pull our attention away from giving the person in front of us our undivided attention. Unfortunately, many people who experience poverty every day face marginalization within the various systems they encounter. Not only can this make them feel “invisible” when their voices are missing or intentionally overlooked, the organization loses out on important insights that can strengthen the effectiveness of their work. A recent Stanford Social Innovation Review Spring 2013 article Listening to Those Who Matter Most, the Beneficiaries states, “The views and experiences of the people who benefit from social programs are often overlooked and underappreciated, even though they are an invaluable source of insight into a program’s effectiveness” (p. 41).

Since 2010, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina has listened directly to the voices of individuals and families through Listening Sessions. Our Listening Sessions engage families experiencing poverty by listening directly to their stories in the supportive presence of community stakeholders that walk alongside them each day. Structured differently than a grantee site visit, Listening Sessions create a collective space to engage individuals served with the primary focus on their perspectives. In 2012, three Listening Sessions were strategically designed to uplift the stories of individuals served by current Foundation grantees. The first Listening Session held in April 2012 in partnership with Helping and Lending Outreach Support (HALOS) in Charleston provided an opportunity to listen to the stories of kinship caregivers who live each day as the Unsung Heroes in the lives of children they care for. The second Listening Session in collaboration with the Puentes Project/PASOS in Columbia gave us the opportunity to hear from the Puentes Community Ambassadors who are compassionately leading as Bridges of Light in their communities. The third Listening Session held jointly with GRACE Ministries in Georgetown brought us face-to-face with home-bound and chronically ill senior citizens whose lives are Touched by Grace by the volunteers that serve them.

We listened deeply and empathetically to these statewide issues at a local level through the perspectives of individuals served, applying Grantmakers for Effective Organization’s (GEO) Widespread Empathy definition of empathy to our work. GEO defines empathy as “the ability to reach outside ourselves and connect in a deeper way with other people – to understand their experiences, to get where they are coming from, to feel what they feel” (p. 4). What we heard surprised us; and at times even moved us to tears as we listened to their struggles, hopes, and fears. We walked away reminded that everyone has a story. When we stop to listen empathetically to the experiences of those we serve, their stories can illuminate and inform the ways grantmakers and nonprofit organizations strategically respond to the remaining unmet need.

Read the 2012 Listening Session Summary, Everyone Has a Story.

Written By: Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, Ph.D., Senior Research Director

Latino Immigrant Families in South Carolina

Although South Carolina is a relatively new settlement area for Latino immigrants compared to other regions of the country, the State has experienced unprecedented growth in the Latino population over the past few decades. The most recent U.S. Census data show from 2000 to 2010, the South Carolina Hispanic population increased 148%. Between 2008 and 2010 in South Carolina, 88% of Latino children were citizens by birth, 65% lived in immigrant families, and 33% lived in linguistically isolated households. The Foundation hosted several Listening Sessions, site visits and meetings to inform our understanding of the impact of this trend, listening directly to the experiences of foreign-born and native-born Latinos from across the State.

Research shows Latino immigrant families in South Carolina often face economic hardship, educational challenges, and difficulty in accessing health care. In 2010, the median annual personal earnings for Hispanics in South Carolina was $18,000. During 2008-2010, 40% of South Carolina’s Latino families experienced poverty at the 100% poverty level, and 70% experienced poverty at the 200% poverty level. Of the more than 725,000 students enrolled during the 2010-2011 school year across South Carolina’s K-12 public schools, 6% were Latino. Although education is one of the greatest predictors for moving above the poverty line, Latino students across the State lag behind their white peers educationally, mirroring national trends in the majority of other states. 46% of Latinos are without health insurance in South Carolina; and nearly one out of every four Latino children go without adequate health care.

Our Foundation is committed to sharing knowledge on a range of issues that families experiencing poverty in South Carolina face. Our recently released Research Brief, Latino Immigrant Families in South Carolina, explores the above demographic changes and highlights eight themes that emerged through our research conversations with Latinos. These themes include motivation to migrate, making the journey, acculturation processes, shifting family expectations, multi-status families, economic hardships, educational challenges and health concerns. Building upon cultural strengths, increased family support services are needed to improve outcomes of Latino families across the State. Strategies employed to foster family resilience and strengthen Latino families should be implemented in culturally responsive and appropriate ways.

Continuing in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, our Foundation remains invested in the future of South Carolina to ensure all families have the resources to live out of poverty. We apply our core values of compassion, courage, respect, justice and collaboration as we continue to work with our community partners to address multiple obstacles faced by Latino families across the state. We will continue to work towards solutions in partnership with the Latino community to reduce the barriers Latino families face in order to promote family economic well-being and improve the socioeconomic status of all South Carolina’s residents.

To read the Research Brief, Latino Immigrant Children in South Carolina, including citations for the above statistics, please go to: Sisters of Charity Foundation Research Brief

Written by: Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, Ph.D., Senior Director of Research

"Catalytic" Philanthropy

I want to update you on the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina's grantmaking implementation plan for 2013 which is the next phase of the Catalytic Philanthropy strategy.

The term “Catalytic” philanthropy refers to the opportunity for Foundation grants to become more intentional and more focused thereby having greater impact in our communities around the state. With great excitement, we have begun the next phase of our Catalytic philanthropy implementation strategy.

After 16 years of grantmaking, in 2011 the Foundation transitioned from Responsive Grantmaking to Strategic Grantmaking with the support of the Foundation’s Grants Committee. This transition was made to insure that going forward, the Foundation would have greater impact with the grant dollars we are investing.

Over time, we have learned that with limited resources for grants, it is extremely difficult and often unproductive to take too broad of an approach in awarding grants. In essence, we cannot be “all things to all people” and also have substantive impact. Looking back over the old responsive program, we were rejecting more than 80% of the applicants because they either did not meet our mission/focus or their programs/applications were too weak. This further justified the importance of the Carolina Academy and capacity building emphasis. The 2012 strategic grants were different. Our review team and the Grants Committee looked not only for good programs but for programs that have broader community impact, a strategy for partnerships, a viable sustainability plan, and have the ability to affect long term change.

In 2013, it is clear that the Foundation will have to be more focused than ever before. With limited dollars we will be better served to focus our efforts on current and/or past grantees that have demonstrated measurable success already. By investing more deeply and for a longer period of time on this identified pool of grantees that align with the Foundation's strategic direction, we can build on the investments we have already made. Doing so would allow the Foundation to make impactful strides in meeting goal three of our strategic plan: To sharpen the focus of our grantmaking to organizations that create opportunities for families to live out of poverty in South Carolina.

This year, our pool for consideration will be from current and/or past grantees that have demonstrated success through the Foundation’s investment. Following discussion with each of them and a completed organizational summary update, we will bring the best organizations forward for funding. These organizations will be positioned to move their programs to a greater level of measurable success. Moreover, the Foundation's investment will further strengthen the grantees capacity, support their strategic direction, connect them with other potential partners, foster sustainability, and position them for growth and success. The beauty of this change in direction is that the Foundation can be dynamic and flexible while learning valuable lessons that will have significant future benefit. 

This plan, for now, is for 2013 and the Grants Committee will re-visit this Strategic Grants program late next year to assess the process and determine how to proceed going forward.

 Our Caritas Grants will remain open and the Foundation expects to award 50-60 grants in this category next year.

We thank you for your interest in the work of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. We are excited about another fulfilling year as we continue to meet the Mission of the Sisters.

Thank you.

Tom Keith, President

Merry Christmas from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Happy Thanksgiving

O God, source and giver of all things,
You manifest your infinite majesty, power and goodness
In the earth about us:
We give you honor and glory.
For the sun and the rain,
For the manifold fruits of our fields:
For the increase of our herds and flocks,
We thank you.
For the enrichment of our souls with divine grace,
We are grateful.

Supreme Lord of the harvest,
Graciously accept us and the fruits of our toil,
In union with Jesus, your Son,
As atonement for our sins,
For the growth of your Church,
For peace and love in our homes,
And for salvation for all.
We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
From Living God’s Justice: Reflections and Prayers

Happy Thanksgiving
from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina staff!

Psalm 105:1-2
"O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works".

Foundations Must Rethink Their Priorities

Foundations today are in a tough spot and they have been in a tough spot for a few years. Since 2008, foundations have dealt with financial constraints they have not experienced in many years. From the outside looking in, most people feel that foundations have a large asset base and plenty of fluid resources to distribute into the community. This is not true. In 2008 and 2009, most foundations lost at least 25% of their asset value and some lost as much as 40%. This has a huge impact in many different ways. It causes a more conservative approach to grant making, less dollars to grant and likely fewer dollars in the coming years. It simply adds up to less and less money.
 
So foundations today must operate differently. No longer can they provide grant dollars at the level they have before. No longer can they count on a growing investment portfolio to sustain their current level of giving, let alone grow. 
 
So how do we meet our goals and mission with less money to offer? The answer is that we must find ways to maximize the dollars we have to work with to garner the best possible outcomes. We must rethink our priorities. Here is what the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is doing to deal with fewer dollars at a time when the demand for support is at its highest level.

Leverage. Through partnerships with other funders, businesses and government, we try and leverage our money to make more collective dollars available for a common program our project. Collaboration is key, and pooled resources mean more dollars and a higher probability of success.

Policy. There are many issues that affect the poor that we address and advocate for oftentimes voiceless. The individuals and families that benefit from the grants we award can also benefit from our voice with government, community leaders and multiple stakeholders. Public awareness and education is a key component of this effort. Whether it is weighing in on the homeless issue, undocumented immigrants, low income fathers, TANF reauthorization or other important concerns, the Foundation can use its influence to affect public perception and thinking. It is an important role that we play, and can create positive outcomes. Taking a stand on issues affecting our mission is necessary and extremely valuable to us and to others.

Capacity Building and Leadership. Teaching and training nonprofit practitioners to be better at their jobs has become a hallmark strategy, beyond grant making, of this Foundation. By strengthening board and staff’s ability around governance, fund raising, marketing, strategy and leadership, the whole organization benefits and has a strong chance of being more successful and vibrant. It is a small financial investment with the potential for a large return for the nonprofits that participate.

Community Convening. Meeting with community leaders and individuals living in poverty gives us a whole different understanding of how life truly is, in a poor neighborhood or town. Sometimes a Foundation can be the voice of reason and thoughtfulness in a community where leaders have become polarized or the social and political dynamics have become too strong to overcome. Learning from others and sharing with others can be a valuable and important role for the Foundation to play. What you learn can also help drive grant making decisions in the future. Important issues rise to the top at many of these community convenings.

Foundations today must choose their priorities carefully and if they only focus on grants then they are missing an opportunity to have broader impact and greater results. There are not enough dollars available to accomplish what needs to be done to meet our mission and earn the greatest results. Casting our net wider using tools other than grant making makes sense. If we don’t use them, then our results will be limited just like our dollars.

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