• HEAL Markets announce new locations
• Language Access Lab celebrates completion of interpreter training class
• Saint Katharina Kasper: How one woman’s dedication changed the framework of a city
• Meet the Board: Bill Ehinger
• World Refugee Day
• PIC Luncheon - Domestic Violence: Insights and local resources

HEAL, a collaboration between Parkview Health and the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, is thrilled to announce the opening of its 2025 HEAL Farm Market season with new, convenient locations, making fresh, nutritious food even more accessible to Fort Wayne residents.

Recognizing the significant challenge many underserved communities face in accessing affordable, healthy produce, the HEAL initiative was created in 2014 to combat food insecurity and improve health outcomes. In 2022, over 49,000 Allen County residents experienced food insecurity, which is linked to increased rates of chronic illnesses. HEAL addresses these critical needs through its farm markets and Our HEALing Kitchen cooking classes.

"We are incredibly excited to...

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In May 2025, The Language Access Lab successfully conducted its first Community Interpreter® Training, a 40-hour nationally accredited course held at the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation. Thirteen bilingual participants completed the training. These graduates represented six different languages, including Burmese, Portuguese, Russian, French, Japanese, and Farsi. The students brought a wide range of personal and professional backgrounds, with participants from education, healthcare, and manufacturing, and showed a strong commitment to serving their communities.

Over four weeks, participants engaged in intensive instruction and hands-on practice in...

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Bailey Gerber | Saturday, May 24, 2025 | Originally posted on InputFortWayne.com

The roots of Fort Wayne’s healthcare can be traced back to a German woman who grew up in poverty in the early 1800s. 

Katharina Kasper, who would later become a canonized saint in the Catholic Church, worked labor-intensive jobs to support her parents when she was young, but felt called to a deeper life of service. In 1851, she founded the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, a community of women dedicated to caring for the poor, elderly, orphaned, and widowed.

Though the Poor Handmaids originated in Dernbach, Germany, where many sisters still reside, Kasper’s commitment to go where needs were greatest meant the women were not confined by borders.

A high population of German-speaking immigrants had settled in Fort Wayne, so Bishop John Luers, whose own family had emigrated from Germany when he was a teen, wrote to Kasper in 1868. He requested the Poor Handmaids’ help in caring for German immigrants, widows, and orphans. Kasper agreed, and more than 200 women volunteered to cross the ocean....

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On June 20th, Fort Wayne gathered to celebrate World Refugee Day, recognizing the spirit and contributions of refugees and immigrants. Inspired by Catholic Social Teaching and Gospel values, the St. Joe Community Health Foundation recognizes that all are made in the image of God, and that refugees and immigrants, made vulnerable by life’s circumstances, deserve to be treated with respect.

Scripture consistently teaches and demonstrates the importance of...

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The recent Prenatal & Infant Care Network Luncheon addressed the pressing issue of domestic violence, featuring insights from local experts on its impact on public health. The event included speakers from the Center for Nonviolence, YWCA Northeast Indiana, and Jennifer's Harbor. Discussions highlighted that homicide has emerged as one of the leading causes of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the United States, with pregnant survivors facing increased rates of miscarriage, placental abruption, fetal injury, and adverse mental health outcomes.

The event also shed light on alarming statistics...

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