- Grantee Spotlight: CTN provides hope with transportation
- Meet the Board: Dr. Dave Johnson
- Our HEALing Kitchen grant application available March 1
- Journey Birth and Wellness supports pregnant women and new moms
- Double Up Indiana expands to the Health Food Shoppe
- Free Community Health Resource Directories now available
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- Supporting access to quality, affordable health and wellness care - |
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Grantee spotlight:
CTN growing goodness
for those needing medical transportation
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In 2000, a new non-profit called Community Transportation Network (CTN) was started to help provide medical transportation for the elderly and people with disabilities who needed a little extra help. Another new organization at the time, the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, leaned in with a $160,784 grant, enabling CTN to buy their first two vehicles. Since then, CTN has grown with the continued support of the Foundation, topping over $900,000. This funding has helped purchase new vehicles and subsidize medical transportation rides during the past two decades. Other area funders have also generously invested to assure there is affordable transportation available for...
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- Continuing a history of compassion and excellence - |
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Foundation focus:
Meet the Board: Dave Johnson
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Q: What inspires you about the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and their Foundress Saint Katharina? Are there particular values or works that you find especially important?
I began working for the Poor Handmaids at St. Joe Hospital starting in 1972. I am drawn by the charism of St. Katharina and have seen the PHJC Sisters in action with their attentive ears and courageous hearts. They provide hope, compassion, and kinship to serve God’s people who are marginalized and underserved. They serve the poor in body, mind, and spirit. Because of this personal inspiration, in 2021, I began the process of formation to become an Associate for the Poor Handmaid community.
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- Dignifying all people with quality food - |
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Program spotlight:
Our HEALing Kitchen grant application
available March 1
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The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, in partnership with Parkview Health, will begin taking applications for the Our HEALing Kitchen program on March 1.
Our HEALing Kitchen is a “Train-the-Trainer” program to help people, especially those who are low-income or vulnerable, learn to prepare healthy and affordable meals. Using Our HEALing Kitchen curriculum, developed by Parkview Health dietitians, organizations host a series of six to eight cooking and nutrition classes for anywhere from eight to 12 students. Organizations designate a program facilitator who receives training and coaching, as well as the materials needed to teach a successful series of classes.
“In this era of fast food and busy schedules, families often have little time to prepare nutritious meals, and it’s especially difficult for those who have tight budgets,” says Meg Distler, executive director of the St. Joe Foundation. “This curriculum is designed to teach people how to cook not just affordable meals, but also healthy ones, which can help reduce the effects of chronic illness such as diabetes and heart disease.”
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- Connecting area professionals to care for moms and babies - |
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Grantee spotlight:
Journey Birth and Wellness
supports pregnant women and new moms
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In January of 2020, Shanna Bradley had a dream of bringing her extensive expertise and training as a birth doula back to her hometown of Fort Wayne. Even with the pandemic, her vision was tempered, but not lost. With start-up funding from the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, Journey Birth and Wellness was launched. In the first year, they used virtual technology and trained doulas, including several who spoke Spanish and Burmese languages focusing on the refugee and immigrant community.
Two years later, Shanna explains, “We also have amazing Black doulas who are truly changing the narrative on birth and breastfeeding in our local Black community. Sixty-four percent of our clients are Black. There are many local Black couples interested in: more education to understand their birthing options, knowing how to cope during labor, learning how the partner can play an active role, and more. Many more Black doulas are also expressing an interest in being trained, as they feel it is very empowering for them and new parents."
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- Dignifying all people with quality food - |
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Program spotlight:
Customers can now get FREE produce
at the Health Food Shoppe
when they shop with SNAP
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Thanks to Double Up Indiana, area residents can now get FREE fruits and vegetables when they shop with SNAP at the Health Food Shoppe of Fort Wayne, 3515 N. Anthony Blvd.
With Double Up, customers get 50% off all produce purchased with SNAP (formerly food stamps), up to $20 per day. This helps customers who use SNAP stretch their food budget and get more fruits and vegetables for their families. Eligible items include fruits and vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and seeds and plants that produce food.
The free fruits and vegetables are part of the Double Up Indiana initiative, a St. Joseph Community Health Foundation program funded in part by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and support from Parkview Health and United Way of Allen County.
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- Connecting everyone in the community to critical health resources - |
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Community resource:
Free Community Health
Resource Directories now available
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The latest edition of the Community Health Resource Directory is now available for free to the general public and organizations that serve low-income and vulnerable residents.
Free, printed copies of the directory are available for pick up by filling out the request form at www.SJCHF.org/directories. A pdf copy of the directory is also available on that same web page.
The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation updates and prints the directory every other year. It lists more than 100 free or low-cost healthcare services located in Allen County. Services are listed in twelve categories that include medical, dental, mental health, immunization, transportation, health screenings and more. Each service listed includes information such as: days and hours of operation, what payment forms are accepted, if a photo identification is needed, whether it is located on a bus line and if interpreters are available.
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A ministry sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.
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