COLUMBIA—The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina recently awarded its strategic grants for 2017. The foundation’s mission to address poverty in all of its forms is reflected in its decision-making around strategic grants. These invitation-only grant awards provide the foundation an opportunity to comprehensively work with organizations to affect organizational and community impact at regional and state levels. The foundation views strategic grants as unique because of the partnership with each grantee that forms to enhance results, maximize resources and insure measurable change. The foundation has strategically determined that grants to these organizations are a positive investment.
The following organizations received funding:
Community Foundation of Greenville for OnTrack Greenville: OnTrack Greenville is an innovative partnership designed to address the root causes of poverty through an evidence-based Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) in four middle schools serving students in the White Horse Road area. The EWRS identifies students as soon as issues most correlated with dropping out — middle school attendance, behavior, and poor course grades — emerge. A coordinated team of educators and community nonprofit organizations match students with the right response interventions and monitor each student’s progress over time. Funds will support the work of those partners to provide interventions such as tutoring, case management, health care, mental health services, and more. (Greenville County)
Family Shelter: The mission of the Family Shelter is to provide emergency shelter in a stable living environment for homeless children and their parents, and to help resident families build life skills needed to regain independence. The Family Shelter is currently the only emergency shelter of its kind in Columbia that accepts the entire family unit, including dads and teenage sons. This grant will support a strategic partnership with other Midlands family homelessness organizations. (Richland and Lexington Counties)
Homeless No More: The parent organization of St. Lawrence Place, Homeless No More is committed to providing a full continuum of caring and support services for homeless families in the Midlands in addition to meeting their emergency, transitional, and affordable housing needs. Clients enrolled in all of the housing programs have full access to comprehensive support services that address the needs of both adults and children. By providing intensive case management along with job training and employment services, education assistance, after-school care, and full-day summer and school break camps that are supported by a best practice children’s curriculum, HNM not only addresses families’ housing needs, but we help families achieve long-term economic sufficiency and independence. This grant will support a strategic partnership with other Midlands family homelessness organizations. (Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Sumter Counties)
Homes of Hope: The mission of Homes of Hope is to rebuild communities and individual lives through housing, economic development, and job training. This organization strives to provide families in poverty with a housing option they can both afford and be proud to call their home and also works to restore men’s lives through sobriety and job training as they acquire life-changing skills in constructing some of the organization’s homes. Funds will support affordable housing, financial stability, and job training for low-income families and Individuals (Greenville County)
Metanoia: Metanoia Community Development Corporation invests in neighborhood assets to build leaders, establishes quality housing and generates economic development. Metanoia’s work is built off the research of sociologists John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann of Northwestern University. Their research pioneered the field of Asset Based Community Development. McKnight and Kretzmann’s research discovered that there was often an inverse relationship between the numbers of ‘needs providers’ in particular communities and the overall aggregate success of those neighborhoods. When efforts are solely focused on identifying deficiencies, the quiet strengths of individuals and communities are often not noticed and starve for lack of resources. Funds will support Metanoia’s efforts to leverage resources to invest in the physical assets of the North Charleston community to create affordable housing and economic development opportunities. (Charleston County)
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, established in 1996, is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. The Foundation is committed to addressing the needs of the poor and underserved in all 46 South Carolina counties, and strategically uses resources to reduce poverty through action, advocacy and leadership.
