• Father Greg Boyle shares message of boundless compassion
  • Burmese farmers help strengthen local food system
  • Diversity Awards honor immigrants and refugees
  • Upcoming Prenatal & Infant Care Network Webinar to cover Addiction, Opioid Use Disorder, and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
  • Grantee spotlight: SCAN supports healthy futures for families
  • Poor Handmaids welcome new leadership
- Caring for the whole person: body, mind, and spirit -
Foundation spotlight:
Father Greg Boyle shares message
of boundless compassion
Father Greg Boyle had a specific message for the approximately 800 people, many of whom work or volunteer for non-profits supported by the St. Joe Foundation or attend the University of Saint Francis, who listened to him speak in Fort Wayne on October 8.

“If you go to the margins to fix or rescue or save then it’s about you and you will burn out. If you go to the margins to connect, you will be eternally replenished because my joy is your joy and your joy is my joy,” said Father Boyle.

Boyle, a Jesuit priest who founded one of the largest gang intervention programs in the world, encouraged those in attendance to look at their volunteerism or work with clients in a new way by saying, “Stop trying to reach them. The question is ‘Can you be reached by them?’”
- Making healthy food available through nurturing local refugee farmers -
Rose Avenue Education Farm hosts a farmers market every Sunday during the growing season at the Fort Wayne League for the Blind and Disabled at 5821 S. Anthony Blvd.
Foundation spotlight:
Burmese farmers are reconnecting with their roots and strengthening Northeast Indiana's food system

BY KARA HACKETT, WITH REPORTING BY DESARAY BRADLEY | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021
Every Sunday afternoon until the end of October, there’s a busy farmers market at the Fort Wayne League for the Blind and Disabled where many Burmese immigrants and refugees shop—even visitors from out of state.

Why?

This market sells food that’s primarily grown by Burmese farmers in Northeast Indiana. What’s more: It sells culturally relevant crops, like the herb, sour leaf, which is used in many Burmese dishes, yet can be difficult to find at Midwestern supermarkets.

As some will attest, sour leaf even “tastes better” when grown in Northeast Indiana soil and sunlight compared to other regions in the U.S.

These are some of the surprising and “wildly successful” results local food advocate, Jain Young, is witnessing in her second year leading the Refugee Incubator Farm of Northeast Indiana at the Rose Avenue Education Farm.
Along with helping farmers build sustainable careers, Rose Avenue Education Farm also keeps prices highly affordable for consumers at all income levels thanks to a partnership Young has established with Double Up Indiana.

Managed by the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and supported by the United Way of Allen County, Parkview Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Double Up program helps level the health and economic playing fields for low-income families by doubling their buying power on fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets and grocery stores. Every time a consumer uses their SNAP/EBT card at a participating retailer, the program matches their fruit and vegetable purchases dollar-for-dollar, for up to $20 per day, helping them access up to $40 worth of produce for half the price. 

“Our partnership with Double Up is wonderful because folks are getting a great deal on their produce, and they can find culturally specific veggies that are hard to find other places,” Young says. “I’ve swiped EBT cards from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Colorado. People from all over the country are buying food grown in Northeast Indiana and taking it home with them.”
- Welcoming immigrants with dignity -
2021 Welcoming Fort Wayne Diversity Awards - winners and nominees
Foundation spotlight:
Foundation sponsors 2021 Diversity Awards,
a celebration of immigrant and refugee
contributions to the community
“When our sponsor, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, sent sisters to Fort Wayne in 1868, their priority was to minister to the needs of the German immigrants settling in our city,” said Meg Distler, executive director of the St. Joe Foundation. “Today, the St. Joe Foundation carries on that mission of welcoming and caring for immigrants in our community.”

As part of its work to advocate for immigrants and refugees, the St. Joe Foundation helped sponsor the 2021 Diversity Awards. Two individuals and two organizations were honored for their work to make Fort Wayne a community that welcomes everyone, especially immigrants and refugees.
Mary Tyndall of the St. Joe Foundation, who chaired the 2021 Diversity Awards Planning Committee, with Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry
- Connecting area professionals to care for moms and babies -
Education opportunity:
- Prenatal & Infant Care Webinar -
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 | 10:00am
Addiction, Opioid Use Disorder,
and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome 
Identifying the Warning Signs of Addiction in Your Clients – Dr. Sarah Turner
New Resources for Moms with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and Babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) - McMillen Health
- Walking with moms and babies toward healthy futures -
Grantee spotlight:
Stop Child Abuse & Neglect - SCAN
supports healthy futures for families
“A favorite quote of mine is ‘real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time,’” says Sydney Wilkins, SCAN Therapist. “Just as our Fort Wayne community is ever-growing physically and emotionally, so are the children and families that reside within our city. The clinical services that SCAN offers support children and families in taking singular steps towards personal healing and creating a healthier future. SCAN offers services that not only promote real change but equip our families with tools to endure through future hardships.”
- Continuing a history of excellence -
Back, left to right: Mark Burkholder, Mary Tyndall, Vicaress Sr. Deborah Davis, Provincial Councilor Sr. Marybeth Martin, Marla Rust, and Angela Stanley.
Front, left to right: Provincial Councilor Sr. Nkechi Iwuoha, Meg Distler, and Provincial Sr. Shirley Bell.
Foundation update:
St. Joe Foundation Sponsor, The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, welcome new leadership
in the United States
The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ sponsor the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation to continue their vision and steward resources to assure the most vulnerable have access to health and wellness resources in Allen County. The newly elected leadership of the North American Province pictured above recently met with the team at St. Joe Foundation to discuss the needs of the local community.
 A ministry sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.