St. Joe Foundation board members Tom Felts, Mary Glowaski, and Janet Stephenson, with Executive Director Meg Distler at the U.S. Mexico border.

Foundation Update:

Encuentro Project on the Mexican Border:

Educational and Transformational

The St. Joe Foundation, as a ministry sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, listens attentively to assure the needs of the most vulnerable are heard and addressed. Increasingly, we are hearing of the fears and challenges of the immigrants amongst us.   Theirs is an important voice as we recognize Christ’s call for us to “welcome the stranger among us.”

St. Joe Foundation has “welcomed the stranger” or immigrants in recent years with grants to local agencies to provide education on immigration laws, access to trained interpreters, written translations, and multicultural and bilingual counseling and support services. But the needs are complex and much deeper.

2017 New Zion OHK Class Members

Program Spotlight:

Original HEAL Partner Says Course Changes Lives

New Zion Tabernacle was one of the original HEAL partners selected in 2016 when the Our HEALing Kitchen grants program began. The church's overseer, Bishop Crystal Thomas Bush, sensed the Lord directing the church on a path toward physical health. Debbie Powers, a member, agreed to lead the nutritious cooking course. Participants gelled, learning, laughing, and cooking together. Above, they prepare veggie-packed guacamole and smoothies. Below, Powers leads them in a lesson on nutrition. After four years, their lives have changed for the better. But even good things must come to an end...

Foundation Update:

Our HEALing Kitchen (OHK) Grants Opening March 9

Do you need financial assistance to host an Our HEALing Kitchen class with your organization? Apply for a grant! the St. Joe Foundation with begin accepting grant applications March 9.

Grantee Spotlight :

GiveHear Restores Hope

The St. Joe Foundation supports organizations that further our mission to provide affordable, quality healthcare to our community. St. Joe Foundation grantee, GiveHear, shares the following story that demonstrates the life-changing importance of access to quality healthcare.

Melencio is an 83 year-old gentleman with profound hearing loss. During testing at his evaluation, he was unable to hear any spoken speech. In his own words, he felt he had no life left to live. His daughter reported that he had not been able to hear for a decade. She had not seen him smile in years. He was completely isolated from society. He stayed at home, for communication was impossible. He could not afford the hearing healthcare he needed, so he had simply gone without – until his daughter found out about GiveHear and called us to schedule an appointment.

We discovered that he had a medical middle ear issue in his left ear. The first step would be surgery, then he would need hearing aids for both ears. When he received his hearing aids at GiveHear, Melencio’s victory over his invisible disability was quite visible. As the hearing aids woke up his ears and his brain registered the sound signals he had been deprived of for a decade, Melencio smiled. Then he laughed. Then he giggled. He then simply said, “You have given me my life back.”

Dr. Nancy Swigonski presented to over 80 attendees at the February 20 PIC Luncheon

Foundation Collaboration:

Infant Mortality Crisis in Indiana

“By the time you wake up tomorrow morning, on average, another baby in Indiana has died. In Allen County, 38 babies died in 2017, which is one baby every nine days, or three babies per month.”

Too many babies dying was the topic on February 20, when the St. Joe Foundation hosted its 20 ^th Prenatal and Infant Care Network luncheon at the Allen County Public Library. Dr. Nancy Swigonski, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP (I.U. School of Medicine) summarized the Infant Mortality crisis in Indiana, stating that in 2017, 602 babies died, or one baby every 16 hours, 1-2 per day.  She complimented the data with several frameworks that successfully reduce infant mortality.  Complementing this report, Erin Norton, RN, BSN, MBA (Parkview Health, Allen County Fetal Infant Mortality Review Committee) shared local findings and recommendations.

When we miss young children in the census, it has serious consequences for them, their families, their communities and our nation – with many of those consequences lasting for at least 10 years.

With the 2020 census fast approaching, it is time to make sure we count all our children.

And remember:

"Your answers are private; the impact is public."

  A ministry sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.

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