• How one woman's immigration journey shaped a lifetime of service
• Apply for grants beginning February 1, 2024
• Save the date: March 7, 2024 - Prenatal & Infant Care Network luncheon
• Grantee opportunity: Building Better Boards - February 14, 2024
• Foundation carries on tradition of welcoming immigrants

InputFortWayne.com | BAILEY GERBER | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023

At first glance, Ermina Mustedanagic might be any resident of Fort Wayne: She and her husband have two sons, she spends time with her parents and siblings on the weekends, and she’s been serving as chief executive officer of Wellspring Interfaith Social Services since October of 2022.

What you can’t see in Mustedanagic is the memories she carries with her from the Yugoslav Wars—and the lasting trauma that followed her when she immigrated to the United States with her family in the late 1990s. Having witnessed the horrors of war crimes, hunger, and disease, Mustedanagic could have entered the U.S. bitter and jaded, but instead, she brought with her a deep commitment to making sure other children wouldn’t have to face the same hunger, fear, and sickness she had.

“I was 10 years old when the war started, but I remember...

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The St. Joe Foundation is seeking proposals to improve the health and wellness of low-income, vulnerable individuals in body, mind, and spirit in Allen County, Indiana. Preference will be given to projects focusing on pregnant women and infants, immigrants and refugees, food- and nutrition-insecure individuals, and access to affordable health and wellness care.

Applicants are encouraged to learn more about the values, grantmaking, and ministry of the St. Joe Foundation by visiting the website or clicking below on "What We Fund." Ideas can also be discussed with Foundation staff to affirm compatibility. Applications for the spring grant cycle will be accepted from February 1 through March 1, 2024.

What we fund

How to Apply

The Prenatal & Infant Care Network is open to care providers and volunteers interested in learning how to support pregnant women, new mothers, new fathers, and infants in our community.

The next free luncheon will be at the University of Saint Francis on March 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Doermer Health Sciences Building. Local professionals and experts in this specialty area will share information about the impact of marijuana smoking during pregnancy and lactation. They will also provide information about local resources available to families and pregnant women. Continuing education credit will be available.

Please click here to receive more information about this event as it is finalized.

The Northeast Indiana Funders Collective will again present a daylong workshop by BoardSource expert Susan Decker on Wednesday, February 14, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Decker will both recap her stellar 2023 governance workshop AND offer new insights about how nonprofits can maximize their impact by employing Purpose Driven Leadership, an exciting concept for empowering boards and organizations. 

Her discussion on Purpose Driven Leadership will detail how it creates an interactive opportunity for boards and leadership staff to think strategically about their organization's future. It encourages organizations to consider an equity mindset to help advance progress in the social sector. In her workshop, Decker will help attendees examine whether nonprofit boards, as they exist today, are equipped to govern the organizations for which they are responsible and will identify ways in which boards and key staff can become purpose driven in their governance.

The event is limited to current grantees of the St. Joe Foundation or one of the other collaborating foundations. Existing grantees may click the link below to register up to three participants per organization. Please contact info@neifunders.org or Meg Distler at MDistler@sjchf.org if you have questions. The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. with lunch provided. Check-in begins at 9:00 a.m.

Click here to register

Support from the St. Joe Foundation has helped launch the Welcoming Fort Wayne Plan. The plan outlines goals, recommendations and strategies needed to create more equitable access for immigrants and refugees in four areas: Connected Communities and Public Safety, Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, Civic Engagement, and Education.

“We are happy to continue to support these efforts to welcome and include all newcomers to our community,” says Meg Distler, executive director of the St. Joe Foundation. “Members of our sponsor, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, came to Fort Wayne in 1868 to help care for the health and wellness of immigrants and we want to continue that compassion for immigrants and refugees today.”

The Welcoming Fort Wayne Plan is the result of participating in the Gateways for Growth Initiative, in which Amani Family Services, Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and Downtown Fort Wayne received funding to work with technical advisors and local consultants to gather the latest impact data available on immigrants and refugees living and working in Fort Wayne-Allen County. The St. Joe Foundation provided matching dollars to help complete the work.

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Read more stories about immigration support