Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland by Crain's Cleveland Business

THEORY OF CHANGE

HONORING THE SISTERS OF CHARITY FOUNDATION OF CLEVELAND ON ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY. How an innovative “Theory of Change” is driving this visionary, faith-based, grantmaking foundation to focus its funding on the invention of opportunities that alleviate poverty, right disparities and offer dignity to Cleveland residents.

FROM THE PRESIDENT CLEVELANDERS ARE KNOWN FOR OUR GRIT. We fight for what we believe in, and there’s plenty to believe in. But that’s only half the story. Because while some Clevelanders are thriving, too many of our residents are barely surviving. One in three lives in poverty, or more than 130,000 in total. And half of our children. What does this look like? In 2016: •Only 15% of Clevelanders over age 25 were college graduates, disadvantaging them for higher-paying jobs. • Nearly 200,000 Ohioans lived on less than $2 per day. • 96,000 low-income households in Cuyahoga County were housing-insecure, with a small financial crisis moving them into homelessness. • Ohio ranked third in the nation for families forced to skip meals or eat less because they didn’t have the money or resources to put food on their table. • Black babies in Ohio were about three times as likely to die before reaching a first birthday as white babies.

This is a reality we must face and change. For more than two decades, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland has partnered with residents, nonprofits and community leaders to break the cycle of poverty in Cuyahoga County. We are a grantmaker, convener and collaborator to many vital efforts.

Poverty is a formidable foe, but many partners throughout this city and region are working to make real impact through quality education; safe, healthy and affordable housing; food security; quality, affordable health care; and job creation, preparation and access. You can help. Join the conversation about addressing poverty in Cleveland. As a business and community leader, consider what actions you can take to make a stand against poverty, especially in terms of innovation, advocacy, job creation and cross-sector collaboration. Together, we are putting hope into action — today, and for our next 20 years.

Susanna H. Krey

President, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Sisters of Charity Foundation: 20 Years of Work to Break the Cycle of Poverty 5 Our Leaders: Sisters of Charity Foundation Board of Directors 6 Voices of Leadership: A Discussion with Felton Thomas Jr. and Tari Rivera 8 Program Spotlight: Improving Health

10 Program Spotlight: Ending Homelessness 12 Program Spotlight: Leading a Promise Neighborhood 14 Program Spotlight: Supporting Catholic Sisters and Ministries 16 Enduring Legacy: The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine

ON THE COVER Belinda Mcpherson and her daughter. Ms. Mcpherson is a resident of Central Neighborhood, Promise ambassador and contributor to Motherhood Sisterhood 216.

Putting HOPE into ACTION

Improving health Ending homelessness Leading a Promise Neighborhood Supporting Catholic sisters & ministries

STAFF: SISTERS OF CHARITY FOUNDATION OF CLEVELAND Susanna H. Krey, president Erica N. Chambers MPH, program officer, health Ursula Craig, grants & office coordinator Angela M. D’Orazio MSSA, program officer, housing Margaret H. Eigsti MSW, program officer Rebecca L. Gallant, vice president, communications Erin McIntyre, program officer, religious communities Christine Baker Mitton Ph.D., director, knowledge & learning Adrienne R. Mundorf MPH, senior program director Robin L. Polack, director of operations Courtney Zuendel, project coordinator & executive assistant

STAFF: CLEVELAND CENTRAL PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD Lowell Perry Jr., director Joseph Black, engagement manager Richaun N. Bunton M.Ed, education performance manager Dawn Glasco, engagement coordinator Maureen Nagg, communications specialist Tatiana Wells, early learning navigator

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Theory of Change WE BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF ALL PEOPLE. We live this value by listening — hearing the voices of those who are economically poor, connecting and empowering them. We respond to the mission of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, supporting them and other Catholic Sisters as they work together to carry out Jesus’ ministry particularly for women, children and families with few resources and opportunities to thrive. Our strategies are simple. We set specific goals; we learn through convening, research and evaluation; we partner with others to be change agents in initiating new and exciting opportunities; and we attempt to bring the necessary assistance, resources and expertise to make them successful. Our goals are focused: end homelessness with stable and supportive housing; promote health and education — particularly in Cleveland’s Central Neighborhood — so that where a person lives does not predestine him or her for poor health status and poor educational outcomes. JUST AS SISTERS HAVE CHAMPIONED THESE ISSUES over the centuries, we too strive to ensure that people have homes, are healthy, and have the education they need to grow and live fully as God intends. We envision a community that enriches and supports people to reach God’s promise for their lives. WHERE OTHERS MAY SEE HOPELESSNESS, WE SEE ENDURING PROMISE.

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Sisters of Charity Foundation: 20 Years of Work to Break the Cycle of Poverty RESPECT AND DIGNITY. COLLABORATION. Compassion. Justice. Courage. The earliest Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine who arrived in Cleveland from France in 1851 carried few personal possessions, but what they did bring was a commitment to serve the poor according to these core values. More than 166 years may have passed, but the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland (SOCF) still operates according to those values. “All of us at the foundation strive to live these values,” says Susanna Krey, president of SOCF. “These core values inform how we do our work.” SOCF was established 21 years ago, growing out of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine’s longtime ministry at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. A partnership with a private investor in the hospital made new financial resources available to the Sisters of Charity, who used it as an opportunity to establish the foundation. Over the last two decades, the work of SOCF has centered on a simple vision: a community in which opportunities for growth and quality of life are shared by all. But what makes the foundation’s work unique is its laser focus around one mission: breaking the cycle of poverty right here at home. All of the foundation’s programs aim to support that mission, including:

• ENDING HOMELESSNESS. The foundation believes that preventing and ending homelessness in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County is an achievable goal, and it works with dozens of area organizations to further that mission. That includes serving as steering committee partner of A Place 4 Me, an initiative aiming to prevent and end homelessness among young people ages 15 to 24, and Housing First, which provides affordable housing for those chronically homeless. The latter program has succeeded in building twelve apartment buildings and reducing chronic homelessness by 86%, and it has a rate of less than 2% recidivism back to shelters. • IMPROVING HEALTH. SOCF is tackling the root causes of poor health in neighborhoods like Central, the longtime home of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. That has included work to advance health literacy — the ability of patients to understand and access the right care for themselves and their loved ones. It also is aiming to increase access to healthy food, create safe places for physical activity and reduce infant mortality rates in our inner city. • LEADING A PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD. SOCF acts as convener to a group of partners creating the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood. The goal is to create an environment in which children in Central grow up with

SOCF BY THE NUMBERS

$73M 750+

total foundation giving

grantees over 20 years

1996 SOCF established

1974 Saint Ann Foundation established* • 1st health care conversion foundation in the United States • 1st grantmaking foundation established by Catholic sisters * In 2006, the Saint Ann Foundation and SOCF merged and blended their missions and funding priorities.

the tools they need to thrive and be successful. This includes programs designed to boost pre-K education, provide a pathway to college and career, and support family stability. • SUPPORTING CATHOLIC SISTERS AND MINISTRIES. Catholic sisters have created a rich legacy of care for the poor across Northeast Ohio, and SOCF is helping them sustain their ministries and uphold that legacy. That includes convening partnerships between congregations to share resources, and telling the stories of our region’s Catholic sisters, which has included exhibits like Progress and Promise: Sisters Serving Northeast Ohio. PARTNERS IN PROGRESS Being effective in the work of reducing poverty requires building trust with the families experiencing it. At SOCF, the effort to build trust begins before anything else. “Serving with respect and dignity means listening first,” says Krey. “You build relationships and try to

understand their perspectives. As a foundation, we work through our nonprofit sector partners, but we must also keep our sights on the views and perceptions of the end beneficiaries. Listening and alignment of needs is important to our success.” Trust-building efforts are particularly critical, especially in the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood. SOCF convened a group of Central’s community partners and residents to brainstorm ideas of what their neighborhood needed, then allowed residents to rank the ideas in order of priority. After engaging residents to rank these priorities, Acts of Promise were funded to build trust. Further educational training led to the creation of “Promise Ambassadors” — residents who receive training to become leaders in their own community. Promise Ambassadors and resident leaders are deeply involved in supporting a new shared vision for the neighborhood. SOCF’s philosophy on philanthropy goes far beyond simply writing a check for worthy causes. Instead, it focuses on engaged philanthropy, considering the

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“Collaboration is one of our core values, as it has become among so many Catholic sisters and their congregations,” says Adrienne Mundorf, SOCF’s senior program director. “As the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine so often say, ‘We have never done our work alone.’”

2016 GRANTEES All Faiths Pantry Antonine Village Archbishop Lyke School A Way Home America Beatitude House Better Health Partnership Bike Cleveland Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland Boys Hope Girls Hope of Northeastern Ohio Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. Catholic Charities Corporation Catholic Community Connection Children’s Hunger Alliance Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio Coalition with Young Adults Collaborative to End Human Trafficking Collinwood Neighborhood Catholic Ministries Community Re-Entry Conference of Religious Leadership Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center EDEN Inc. Enterprise Community Partners Environmental Health Watch Epilepsy Association Family Promise of Greater Cleveland Fill This House FrontLine Service Front Steps Housing and Services Funders Together to End Homelessness Health Policy Institute of Ohio Interfaith Wellness JD Breast Cancer Foundation Joseph’s Home Julie Billiart School L’Arche Cleveland Inc. Leadership for a New Day Light of Hearts Villa Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Malachi Center Malachi House Metro Catholic School National Urban Fellows Inc. Neighborhood Leadership Institute Parish Life Secretariat, Diocese of Cleveland Philanthropy Ohio Project H.O.P.E. of Cleveland Providence House Inc. Regina Health Center Rid-All Foundation River’s Edge See You At The Top Sister Jerome’s Mission at the Ursuline Center Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, Centering Space Shoes and Clothes for Kids St. Paul’s Community Outreach St. Vincent Charity Medical Center Thea Bowman Center The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, CWRU The Garfield Human Development Corporation The Village at Marymount Urban Community School Ursuline College Ursuline Piazza Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland West Side Catholic Center YWCA Greater Cleveland

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 organizations it supports as partners and helping them be successful. “We see our grantees as true partners,” says Krey. “They are the ones engaged in the work. We look at what resources and expertise this partner might need to advance their work and be successful.” A commitment to engaged philanthropy also requires taking a longterm view in addressing critical and complicated issues like poverty. “We don’t want to be a funder who’s ‘in and out,’” Krey says. “We want to sustain that relationship, build that trust and build the capacity of the organization to become more and more effective over time.” Another hallmark of SOCF’s approach is its focus on acting as a convener of groups of partners. That has included its role as the initial lead convener in Housing First, the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood and the Collaborative Ministry Initiative, which creates partnerships between congregations of Catholic sisters and their ministries. Fostering collaboration among Catholic sisters has led to the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, which is raising awareness of human trafficking in our community and providing training materials to help hospitals, hotels and law enforcement see the signs of trafficked individuals. This is one example of the impact collaboration can support.

TAKING TODAY’S LEGACY INTO TOMORROW Cleveland’s needs surrounding the issue of poverty are great. Taken individually, the tasks required to break the cycle of poverty seem insurmountable. That’s why SOCF keeps its focus trained on creating systems change. “Programs are always important, but they serve only a certain number of individuals who participate in those programs,” says Krey. “If you change and improve the systems, you have suddenly impacted so many more lives.” As it looks toward the future, the foundation regularly reflects on its work and the current and future needs of the community. One example is the need the foundation has identified for more support of local leaders tackling innovative ideas to address poverty. SOCF recently launched a fellowship, known as The Innovation Mission, for such leaders. “As we look back on the last 20 years, we listen to the community, look at the trends happening nationally, and take a step back for reflection: ‘How can we hone what we do, looking toward innovation and achieving equity?’” says Mundorf. But at the heart of tomorrow’s work for SOCF will always be the legacy of the Sisters of Charity’s past. “We need to have courage to do the right thing, just as the sisters did,” says Krey. “We do everything we can to learn from them — their leadership, their courage, their compassion, their desire to collaborate, their call to justice, and we try to continue that forward in the best way we can.” n

SISTERS OF CHARIT Y FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rivera

Gordon

Presti

Rodriguez Aliprantis Flowers Krey BOARD OFFICERS

Chair: Tari S. Rivera, president, Regency Construction Services Inc. Vice chair: Robyn N. Gordon, director of center operations, NASA Glenn Research Center Vice chair: Geralyn M. Presti, president & CEO, The Music Settlement Treasurer: Martin D. Rodriguez, senior vice president, market manager – Northern Ohio, PNC Real Estate

Secretary: Dionissi Aliprantis, research economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland CSA representative: Sister Evelyn Flowers CSA, Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Ex-Officio: Susanna H. Krey, president, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland; SVP of foundations, outreach ministries & external affairs, Sisters of Charity Health System

Bykowski Durkin

Gibbons Hennessy James

Kleinhenz

Ryan

Spellacy

Whitlow

Singer

Thomas

Walker

BOARD MEMBERS Christy E. Bykowski, senior vice president, managing director – Cleveland, Fahlgren Mortine Sister Marian Durkin CSA, Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Joseph Gibbons, partner, Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell LLP Sean Hennessy, senior vice president — corporate planning, development and administration, The Sherwin-Williams Company Latisha James, president, LMJGROUP Consultants Karen Kleinhenz, principal and CEO, Kleinhenz & Associates Ltd. Judge Michael John Ryan, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas – Juvenile Division

Pauline M. Seitz, director, local funding partnerships, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (retired) * Lynn T. Singer Ph.D., deputy provost and vice president for academic affairs, Case Western Reserve University Leo M. Spellacy Jr. Esq., principal, Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan LLP Felton Thomas Jr., executive director & CEO, Cleveland Public Library E. Harry Walker M.D., senior vice president, Ambulatory Network Operations, development director of MetroHealth’s Center for Community Health, The MetroHealth System (retired) Woodrow Whitlow Jr. Ph.D., technical director, National Aerospace Solutions, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee * Not pictured

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, which is the corporate parent of two Catholic hospitals, two elder care facilities, three grantmaking foundations and six outreach organizations in Northeast Ohio and South Carolina. In January, the health system welcomed Thomas J. Strauss as president & CEO.

Voices of Leadership: A Conversation with Felton Thomas Jr. and Tari Rivera THE LEGACY AND IMPORTANT WORK of the Sisters of Charity Foundation are what drew both Felton Thomas Jr. and Tari Rivera to get involved in its mission. For Thomas, executive director and CEO of the Cleveland Public Library, it was the work he saw firsthand that the sisters were doing to serve the residents of Cleveland’s Central neighborhood, where the local public library branch plays a critical community role. Meanwhile, Rivera, founder and president of Regency Construction Services Inc., first connected with the Sisters of Charity during the process to merge and relocate three Lakewood Catholic grade schools into a building owned by the Sisters of Charity. In March, Thomas completed his term as chair of the board of SOCF, and handed over the chairmanship to Rivera. As they PHOTOS: ERIC MULL transitioned between eras of leadership, Rivera and Thomas reflected on the accomplishments of SOCF’s last 20 years and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Cleveland is a community rich in philanthropic spirit, supported by many local foundations. What is the unique role that SOCF fills? Thomas: What’s unique is the foundation’s focus on homelessness and poverty, and that comes from the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. When you are working in a neighborhood that has as many needs as the Central neighborhood does, many organizations are coming to you for funding. Rivera: One of the impressive things about this foundation is that there is a strategic plan around each area of mission and everything we do is focused on those priorities. When the foundation tackles issues, it’s from a systemic perspective, as opposed to addressing individual issues.

How does the legacy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine influence the work the foundation does? Thomas: When we work on the board and give our time, it’s nothing compared to the effort that was made by the sisters, whose shoulders we stand on when we’re able to do this work. I think it makes everybody give just a little bit more, work a little bit harder. Rivera: As laypeople, it’s so important for us to hear that religious perspective that comes across directly or indirectly, and I have always appreciated the perspective that the sisters bring on different issues. Thomas: The values of the sisters have to be passed down. We cannot let the traditions of the sisters pass us by.

Is there a particular area of the foundation’s work that has been the most meaningful to you? Thomas: To me, it’s the effort to end homelessness. The 100-Day Challenge to find housing for 100 young people in 100 days really personally affected me. At the library, we see these teens all the time. Our staff knew these kids, but didn’t know they were homeless.

It was an eye-opener for us, knowing that the kids are coming to the library daily because they have no other place to go. Rivera: Another area of work from my perspective that has been very impressive is the effort around the Central Promise Neighborhood, engaging and empowering the community members to become engaged in the process. Even when we didn’t get a federal grant to assist with the effort, the foundation has continued its work. Thomas: Yes, the idea of helping to change communities by allowing the communities to change themselves, and having resident leaders and ambassadors is so important. Central is transitioning to a community that is safer and healthier for children, and SOCF has been at the heart of that change. Does the involvement of the Sisters of Charity influence the kind of impact the foundation has been able to make? Thomas: There can be a cynicism, especially in African-American communities, about organizations that come in and say, ‘We’re going to come to your neighborhood, and we’re going to help you.’ They would hold big community meetings and then nothing happens. The Central neighborhood has been let down over and over and over again, so it’s hard for them to trust. The sisters came in and said, ‘We’re going to support you so you can learn how to lead. We’ll help you learn how to create the neighborhood you want on your own.’ People in Central trust SOCF now. Rivera: The foundation also put their money where their mouth was. Certainly, there was a financial investment but they also invested time with members of the community.

What are the biggest challenges that lie ahead for SOCF? Thomas: The foundation has a long history of doing this work, and the challenge will be to balance this great tradition and past, while being able to lead us into the future. Rivera: The world’s changing around

us and all philanthropic organizations have to figure out how to change with the world but still stay true to their mission. One of the ways that I see the foundation doing that is by leveraging partnerships that the foundation has been able to build. Why are those kinds of partnerships so important? Rivera: If you have a partner that can assist in funding grants, greater dollars are leveraged so that needs are addressed in a bigger, more extensive way. Thomas: Where the sisters have found their niche is in leveraging local and national funders to help on different issues. SOCF has a sterling reputation, so organizations are willing to partner. At the heart of what the organization is about is making a difference, and that mindset comes from the sisters. The organizations we work with understand that. n

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Goldman Designer: Scott Goldman

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Improving Health THE HEALTH CARE DELIVERED IN THE HEART OF CLEVELAND by the Sisters of Charity may be found inside St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, but the Sisters of Charity Foundation’s mission to encourage healthy living extends into the surrounding Central neighborhood. Programs focused on infant mortality, health literacy, healthy eating and active living help to address the social determinants of health in this area, says SOCF’s health program officer, Erica Chambers. In 2008, SOCF set out to discover the societal factors leading to these disparities through conversations with Central residents, local health leaders, the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and partnered with Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University to study Central’s demographics. What SOCF found is that Central needed better employment and educational opportunities, greater food access and infrastructure developments to improve community health.

FACING FORWARD: IMPROVING HEALTH* In the coming year, SOCF is building off the successes of improving health in the Central neighborhood through an emphasis on healthy eating and active living access strategies. “The core of our work is the alleviation of poverty,” Chambers says. “We know that poverty really drives health outcomes.” The future of this effort will center around health equity and delving more deeply into addressing root causes of health, or the social and economic factors that drive health disparities, which she

“The foundation was trying to understand what was driving those core outcomes for the residents, and more importantly, how can we partner and support the community to turn a corner on the health status of the population,” says Teleangé Thomas, SOCF’s former health program officer who is now director of the Midwest for the Foundation Center. This strategy has yielded institutional improvements for long-term and sustainable health solutions by working from the inside out, Thomas says, adding that it’s not enough to address a problem with diabetes prevention; instead, it requires delving deeper into why diabetes takes place in higher numbers in neighborhoods like Central. As part of the Healthy Eating, Active Living arm of SOCF’s Improving Health initiative, the foundation and its partners and grantees have established after-school meal programs in neighborhood schools with healthier options; school gardens where students can learn to grow their own food; adding legumes and grains into school nutrition programs; conducting audits to map safe bike lanes within Central; supporting local vegetable producers such as Green City Growers; and opening the Community Kitchen at Euclid Avenue and East 30th Street, just to name a few. These health efforts have “transitioned the foundation from being a responsive grantmaker to a strategic grantmaker,” Thomas says. “It allowed the foundation to think more intentionally about how to build a strategy that recognizes the role of the social determinants of health.” n

describes as the ability to achieve optimal levels of health where social status does not determine opportunities to live well. “If you want to understand health, you have to understand the life-course continuum,” she adds. “You have to understand the environmental, developmental and biological factors that influence outcomes in a person’s lifetime.” Many factors impact the health of a community, and the foundation plans to use more holistic lifespan strategies and economic development opportunities moving forward to help influence these goals and build upon our successes of the past. n

IMPROVING HEALTH

new jobs created in Healthy Eating/Urban Agriculture

3 750+

active meal/snack sites

participants in National and MetroPark biking programs *Data related to HEAL efforts, 2010 to 2015.

IMPACT IN ACTION: HEAL* SOCF’s Healthy Eating, Active Living initiative, also known as HEAL, was instrumental in helping Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc., with its deep expertise and commitment in the neighborhood, to establish CornUcopia. This community kitchen facility located on Kinsman and E. 73rd Street provides Central residents a café filled with locally sourced food, free meal preparation and nutrition courses, as well as a Mobile Market that has delivered affordable produce in “food deserts,” places where full-scale grocery stores and healthy options are not readily available, says Burten, Bell, Carr’s executive director Tim Tramble. Mobile Market vendors also accept EBT food assistance payments — a direct benefit to residents living on a lower income. It also provides economic opportunity: The Bridgeport Café located inside CornUcopia employs 10 Central residents. “They walk to work; they all live in the community,” Tramble says. But HEAL doesn’t stop at Burten, Bell, Carr. The program’s partnerships include a web of healthpromoting organizations such as Bike Cleveland, the Rid-All Green Partnership and others, working in concert to elevate the Central community in making healthy food and active living accessible. “All of their grantees come together to talk through and work together toward building a healthier community,” Tramble says. “We’re all helping and working to build on the strength of one another and accelerate and promote the work of one another, which was born from the Sisters of Charity.” n

IMPACT IN ACTION: HEALTH LITERACY INITIATIVE* Reflecting a belief that doctors’ visits should be educational, not perplexing, for Clevelanders, SOCF teamed up with Project Learn in 2007 to help health professionals better communicate with patients at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. It was a partnership aimed at increasing health literacy — the ability for patients to find, understand, evaluate and use health information — and included a revamp of the hospital’s verbal language, literature handouts and signage around the facility to be easily understood by a person with a fifth-grade reading level, says Project Learn’s former CEO Richard Peterson. Low health literacy results in patients and caregivers not understanding their health issue or the right way to address it or prevent it. And while low health literacy can be a factor among all socioeconomic demographics, it can be especially prevalent in urban, low-income communities with greater diversity in population. For example, not every person may know what “radiology” means if a receptionist points a patient in that direction, but he or she will be much more likely to be able to identify an X-ray. Signage around St. Vincent Charity Medical Center reflects these simple terms, Peterson says. But the health literacy program goes far beyond signage and instruction. Understanding the steps to good health supports compliance, which is why health literacy by the patient and provider is so important. St. Vincent Charity has institutionalized health literacy across its continuum of patient care, and has become a leader in this field. St. Vincent Charity and Project Learn convened the Ohio Health Literacy Conference in 2012 to bring together health care providers to increase awareness, share resources and build capacity for a statewide collaboration. n

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Ending Homelessness FOR THE SISTERS OF CHARITY FOUNDATION, ending homelessness in Cuyahoga County is a team effort. To that end, the foundation considers its grantees equal partners. “We’re serving as a sounding board and offering ideas and suggestions, and constantly thinking about ways to bring people together,” says Leslie Perkul, who served as vice president of SOCF until July 2016 and is now the president and CEO of the O’Neill Foundation. Adds current housing program officer Angela D’Orazio: “We’re very hands on. We really take walking with our grantees very seriously. We know that we can’t be effective in our work without them.” SOCF and its partners take a multi-pronged approach that works to benefit three groups of people experiencing homelessness: individuals with a disability and long periods of housing instability; youth and young

FACING FORWARD: ENDING HOMELESSNESS* The coming year for SOCF will bring a push to build on the momentum gained through the 100-Day Challenge, says D’Orazio, by shoring up strategies around youth homelessness and bolstering ways to coordinate access to resources to help youth find and maintain stable housing.

adults ages 15 to 24 with no parent or legal guardian; and families. Understandably, each group has unique needs; for example, D’Orazio notes that prevention is especially crucial in the young adult space, “because we know that becoming homeless is very traumatic, especially for an 18-year-old who has very little supports elsewhere.” But this work doesn’t just involve making grants to partners. According to D’Orazio, SOCF forms close partnerships with public and private entities, then works with them to establish, communicate and implement a coordinated agenda focused on ending homelessness. Perkul feels SOCF has been so effective at tackling homelessness because the organization has figured out how to strategically deploy resources and invest in issues that have solutions. That means knowing how to leverage resources, partnering and collaborating. Examples of successful efforts to end homelessness include the youth-oriented A Place 4 Me and the Housing First initiative, which has spearheaded an affordable, services-inclusive solution to chronic homelessness. The latter has reduced the local chronic homelessness rate by 86% since 2006. “This idea of collective impact has really been part of our DNA in the housing space since the beginning,” D’Orazio says. “It doesn’t fall on the shoulders of any one organization, or certainly any one funder. We all have to do it together, because not one of us is big enough and not one of us is rich enough to solve the problem alone.” n

Future priorities will include building more precise, streamlined interventions to young adults facing homelessness. Perkul, meanwhile, expects SOCF to “stay the course” with its support, with an eye toward continued innovation. “I will count on the sisters to be at the forefront of tackling tough issues,” she says. “They’re not going to shy away from it. That will continue to be their legacy.” n

ENDING HOMELESSNESS

IMPACT IN ACTION: A PLACE 4 ME* Launched in 2014, A Place 4 Me focuses on preventing and ending homelessness among one of the most vulnerable populations — youth and young adults ages 15 to 24 who don’t have the same familial safety net possessed by other people their age. “Their mistakes can cause them to become homeless,” says Kate Lodge, A Place 4 Me’s project director. “They don’t have any wiggle room.” SOCF grants have supported A Place 4 Me staffing and the initiative’s collaborations with other organizations, which have the same goal of combatting youth homelessness. “It’s so much more than grants. The Sisters of Charity are unlike any other foundation. They roll up their sleeves and walk with you through the problem,” Lodge says. “It’s remarkable.” One recent success was A Place 4 Me’s selection for the 100-Day Challenge to End Youth Homelessness. Last summer, following a competitive nationwide search, A Way Home America selected Cleveland, Austin and Los Angeles to participate. The challenge sought to support and accelerate the local work of the three communities, and to inform national dialogue, learning and policy to prevent and end youth homelessness. Each community received coaching from the Rapid Results Institute to drive toward ambitious goals over the 100 days. A Place 4 Me coordinated the Cleveland team’s challenge, and exceeded their ambitious goal by housing 105 homeless

IMPACT IN ACTION: HOUSING FIRST* There are plenty of challenges facing those who experience chronic homelessness, but the Housing First initiative, led by Enterprise Community Partners, believes in making stable housing the first priority when serving the homeless. A partnership started in 2002 by Enterprise, SOCF and the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services, Housing First provides residents with a permanent roof over their head and voluntary support services in the areas of mental health, employment, alcohol or drug dependency and health care. “It’s meeting folks where they are — whether on the streets or in shelters — and inviting them into housing,” says Jennifer Eppich, senior program director and Housing First coordinator. “We want the person who needs the unit the most to get that next unit — whether it be a unit that’s turning over in our

105

homeless young adults in Cleveland housed in 100 days in A Place 4 Me’s 100-Day Challenge

86%

decrease in chronic homelessness since 2006

$166M total Housing First investment

710 units* in 12 Housing First buildings for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in Cuyahoga County * occupied or under development

young adults in 100 days. This work continues beyond the challenge, with now more than 200 homeless young adults housed since September 2016. “It’s been a very intense journey, and we have had many partners that have made this all come to fruition,” said Lodge. “Everything A Place 4 Me does is nothing unless it has its partners around the table. So SOCF really helped spur that on.” n

existing portfolio or a unit that’s opening in a new building.” SOCF was Housing First’s “foundational” funder, Eppich notes, and was “in the trenches” with Enterprise as the project got off the ground. Housing First now has 710 units occupied or under development across 12 buildings in different neighborhoods around Cleveland. Locally, this initiative has also reduced the chronic homelessness rate by 86% since 2006. Over the last fifteen years, the funding provided by SOCF has helped Housing First’s mission greatly, says Eppich, but the fact that the foundation stood by the initiative through thick and thin means even more. “Their money, yes, is so important,” she says. “They have lent their name and leadership to this, because it’s something they are really passionate about. They’ve been involved and instrumental, and we’re very grateful for that.” n

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Leading a Promise Neighborhood In 2010, Cleveland’s Central neighborhood was one of Cuyahoga County’s most challenged. The average annual income of residents was less than $10,000, the infant mortality rate was twice the national average and all three of Central’s K-8 schools received failing grades by the state. Residents did not see a pathway out of poverty. “An intergenerational cycle of poverty had been set up,” explains Lowell Perry Jr., director of Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood, a community initiative that works to transform the educational and developmental outcomes of Central’s kids. The Sisters of Charity Foundation, the lead convener of the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood, knew it would require a major structural and philosophical shift to achieve its goals, with local schools, health systems and nonprofits working together to help as many children as possible get from cradle to career successfully. Promise Neighborhoods are inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone, an innovative New York City program that links educational systems, social services and community initiatives to help break the cycle of poverty. The Obama administration started the Promise Neighborhood effort to replicate this model across the country seven years ago; while Cleveland applied for the grant, it ultimately didn’t receive it.

THE PATH TO THE PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD* The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine have worked in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood since 1851, and have long felt a responsibility to help Central’s children. In 2008, SOCF created a middlegrade education exposure strategy to improve academic achievement for sixth- to eighth-grade

Recognizing the importance of the work to support partners and systems to provide opportunities for children and families, SOCF assumed a lead organizing role to champion this effort with the leadership of partners, funders and residents. “We are the backbone agency of a group of organizations that is trying to support each of our partners to work more effectively in this neighborhood,” Perry says. Residents form the core of the effort, serving as ambassadors in leading the change. For example, with the support of Starting Point, the Promise team has helped increase the number of high-quality early learning centers available in the neighborhood. From 2015 to 2016, the number of five-star early learning centers has increased from one center to six centers. There are currently 13 early learning centers in the community with quality ratings. High-quality early learning is critical for kindergarten readiness and school success. “Our goal is to change the narrative of the people living here, where, for instance, college is something to be expected, not just celebrated,” Perry says. With key funding partners in the community — including the Bruening Foundation, Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation, O’Neill Foundation, PNC and KeyBank — SOCF has continued to provide core funding, technical expertise and support to make the dream of a college diploma real. “SOCF is the reason the Promise Neighborhood still exists,” says Tatiana Wells, Central Promise Neighborhood’s early learning navigator. “Because of them, parents in Central have more than 50 partners to hold their hands and make sure they succeed.” n

Central students — a pivotal stage of childhood with often few resources to successfully build the bridge to high school. With the efforts of a dozen local partners and SOCF at the helm, the organizations provided mentoring, tutoring, after-school services and parental engagement to support Central’s middle schoolers, laying the groundwork for the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood. n

LEADING A PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD

IMPACT IN ACTION: QUIANA SINGLETON* A few years ago, Quiana Singleton was “kind of falling apart,” as she recalls it. The proud mother of three kids, Singleton’s 4-year-old son Qe-yon was born with severe special needs. Singleton knew Qe-yon needed early therapy and support to thrive later in life, but she had no idea how to find a daycare center that provided it. “When you can’t help your kid, you feel like you’re failing as a parent,” she says. At that time, Singleton was a Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood ambassador and she recalled learning from her training about Tatiana Wells, an early childhood navigator for the initiative, who helped neighborhood families connect with early learning programs. Singleton swallowed her pride — “I was one of those people who doesn’t like to ask for help,” she says — and called Wells for advice. Wells shared a list of possible daycare options, and helped direct Singleton to King Kennedy Head Start near her home. Administrators there helped Singleton develop an individualized education program (IEP) to help her son succeed. Teachers at the daycare worked with Qe’yon on his language, social and physical skills. “Before King Kennedy, my son couldn’t talk much and he wasn’t potty-trained,” she recalls. Now he’s “right up there with the rest of the kids,” she says. Singleton now gives back to the place that gave her so much, volunteering at King Kennedy and canvassing the neighborhood to educate neighbors about early learning and special needs resources. The Promise Early Childhood navigator connected Singleton in ways she would have been challenged to locate herself. “Before I was like: ‘IEP what?’” she recalls. “Now I go around the neighborhood telling other families about it.” n

IMPACT IN ACTION: JEROME BAKER* Growing up in Central, Jerome Baker knew how integral male role models had been in his own life. “They told me to pursue my education,” recalls Baker. “They praised me for my basketball skills, but also for subtler things, like the way I carried myself.” As an adult, Baker wanted to pay it forward and started a group mentoring program called the Men of Central. “But I didn’t really understand how to organize or build up relationships,” he says. When he was asked to be a Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood ambassador, he happily accepted. The program — which teaches residents to be stronger leaders, advocates and connectors in the community — changed his life and perspective. “I learned how nonprofits work and how they support

residents in Central serve as Promise ambassadors

Step Up To Quality rated early learning centers

organizations partner with Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood

community groups behind the scenes,” Baker says. “I learned how to recruit and how to reach out to politicians and stakeholders in the community for support.” As a result of that training, Baker began tapping into outside resources for programs like his annual Father’s Day celebration, which seeks to get men more active in their children’s lives. He’s empowered dozens of men to volunteer in Central classrooms and libraries and inspired a new community mentoring arm — the Women of Central. Those connections also led him to his current job as a community engagement supervisor at the YWCA. “Jerome is always passionate,” says Joseph Black, Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood’s engagement manager. “What the Promise ambassador program did was show Jerome that he is not alone in his desire to create change. We gave him the tools to do so.” n

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Supporting Catholic Sisters and Ministries Catholic sisters have long been at the forefront of identifying and serving unmet community needs. Their call and devotion to people – especially the most vulnerable – is deeply felt and known. But Catholic sisters face critical questions about the future of their ministries: How can we continue our good work together? What greater impact might result from uniting individual congregations’ efforts? How can we be sure the legacy and service of women religious continues as we recognize our community’s dire needs? Those are the critical issues that the Collaboration for Ministry Initiative (CMI) was formed to work on in 2002 as an initiative of the Sisters of Charity Foundation. Its mission is to grow alliances among women religious and envision a plan to sustain their ministries through convenings, communications, research and grantmaking. “The Sisters of Charity pushed everyone to think more collaboratively,” says Lynn Berner, SOCF’s former program officer for religious communities. Catholic sisters have an average age in the mid- to late70s, and many have dedicated 40-plus years to their congregations.

FACING FORWARD: SUPPORTING SISTERS* Collaboration is essential in securing the future of Catholic sisters and their ministries in Northeast Ohio. Now, to ensure sustainability, the effort to collaborate between congregations is being expanded to focus on collaboration between generations. With a funding partnership

“There was a growing sense of isolation among sisters who are in ministry because their age is rising, and they’re doing more with less,” explains Erin McIntyre, SOCF’s current program officer for religious communities. “Their resources are decreasing, while the human and financial need for their services is increasing.” SOCF has supported six CMI-focused collaborations, awarded two legacy grants, funded 113 grants to sister-led, sister-supported ministries and has created a funding partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation of Los Angeles, Calif. The group has worked toward ending human trafficking, trained literacy volunteers and provided seed funding for the Collinwood Neighborhood Catholic Ministries. SOCF’s support of Catholic sisters and their ministries has also made possible programs like bringing the national exhibit Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America to Northeast Ohio in 2010 to Cleveland. Now the focus of CMI’s work is to foster intergenerational collaboration, connecting women religious with young adults committed to social justice and those living at the margin. “We want to share the prophetic mantle of Catholic women religious and not only why they do their work, but how they do their work,” McIntyre says. “There are people who have a desire to live out the Gospel message, perhaps not as a consecrated person, but to understand their work as a ministry — more as a vocation. We’re looking at building strong relationships between laypeople and Catholic sisters.” n

with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, SOCF’s Collaboration for Ministry initiative recently launched the Generative Spirit phase of its mission, growing the capacity of Catholic sisters and partner organizations to develop the next generation of sisters, associates and lay partners, building bridges to continue ministry as modeled by Catholic sisters. n

IMPACT IN ACTION:* COLLABORATIVE* TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING* Human trafficking was not an area of ministry for Sister Anne Victory HM and her fellow Catholic sisters until they attended a conference on the subject about 10 years ago. “We were shocked,” she says. “We thought, ‘We better do something about it.’ But, we didn’t know what that would be. We decided to meet until we figured it out.” That conference spurred these women to start the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking in 2007, which today leads Northeast Ohio’s response to human trafficking as a coordinated effort among law enforcement, health care, social service, business organizations and religious groups. Its mission is to educate and advocate for the prevention and abolition of human trafficking while connecting services to those who are impacted, with financial support from SOCF. “A lot has happened in the nine years since we have been focused on this,” Sister Anne reflects. “We have a strong network in the Cleveland area.” In 2011, the group commissioned a feasibility study, interviewing 30 different organizations asking, “How many victims of human trafficking are you seeing?” Sister Anne says the query was met with blank stares. “That was the first clue they didn’t know anything about it.” It created an awareness and response campaign during the 2016 Republican National Convention, and created a protocol that all four major health systems in Northeast Ohio follow in dealing with victims of human trafficking. To date, the collaborative has presented about 1,900 programs to such audiences as schools, hospitals, churches, social service agencies and businesses, reaching more than 80,000 people. The video it developed is now being used nationwide. But, says Sister Anne, “that’s not enough.” Greater awareness of this reality continues to be an important priority. n

IMPACT IN ACTION: CONFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP* Together, religious congregations are stronger. That’s the premise of the Conference of Religious Leadership (CORL), which is comprised of religious congregations in the Diocese of Cleveland that meet quarterly and support each other’s initiatives. With SOCF as a partner, Sister Carol Dikovitsky SND says, “We can do things together that SUPPORTING CATHOLIC we could not do separately.” SISTERS + MINISTRIES That includes organizing symposiums and speaker series, including several featured throughout years of continued support of the the Pope’s Year of Collaboration for Ministry Initiative Consecrated Life in 2015. CORL and SOCF also \ work collaboratively on longgrants awarded through the Saint term projects, such as the Ann Legacy Grant Program Collinwood Neighborhood Catholic Ministries, which is there to listen, learn and respond to unmet needs in people viewed the exhibit the community, says Sister Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters Carol. in America at the Maltz Museum It offers programs such of Jewish Heritage as a cancer survivors group for women, prayer shawl ministry, cooking with kids and a teen girls group. It also offers counseling for children, teens, adults and seniors. “Now, we also have a grant to further collaboration between Catholic sisters and young adults,” Sister Carol says. Grants from SOCF allow CORL to take on projects it could not do independently, she says. “The foundation has been a wonderful support that is committed to furthering the mission of Catholic sisters,” Sister Carol says. n

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The Enduring Legacy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine THERE WAS AN URGENT NEED FOR HEALTH CARE FOR THE POOR when four women from France heeded a call by the bishop of Cleveland to come to the city’s aid. The year was 1851, disease was spreading through poor communities, and the number of children being orphaned was on the rise. In France, these women were part of the Augustinian Sisters, and though it was a short-term mission for two of them, two remained in Cleveland — women who would become Sister St. Joseph and Sister Augustine. This pair became the founding mothers of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, ministering here in Cleveland. In the 166 years since, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine hasn’t wavered in its commitment to serving the health care needs of the poorest members of our community. In 1852, it opened the first public hospital in Cleveland, St. Joseph Hospital, which became the precursor to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. “From 1851 to today, we never left this mission,” says Sister Judith Ann Karam CSA, congregational leader of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, a health care executive and pharmacist, who spent 15 years as the CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System. “We are following God’s call to serve and heal. That’s what religious life is all about. We continue to seek God in everything we do and serve God’s people.” FOUNDATION IN HEALTH Over the years, the ministries of the sisters have included providing health care at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, St. John Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center in Canton, and other locations; serving orphaned and dependent children at St. Vincent Orphanage, later merging into Parmadale; providing eldercare for men and women religious at Regina Health Center; and teaching at Catholic schools across the region. “Over and over again, we’ve gone out to the edges and ministered … where sometimes no one else has been willing to go,” says Sister Evelyn Flowers CSA, citing examples like the former St. Ann’s Hospital that served unwed mothers; Open House, a ministry for people dying of AIDS in the 1980s; and Joseph’s

Home, a short-term residential facility for homeless men recovering from illness. Although health care always has been at the core of the Sisters of Charity’s mission, it’s a field that has seen radical changes over the last three decades, leading to a series of joint ventures, collaborations and integrations. In 1995, when the Sisters of Charity Health System entered into partnership with an investor-led health system, it made available enough resources to create the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, along with similar foundations in Canton and South Carolina, where the congregation also ministers. “These foundation dollars enabled us to re-found a ministry of care for the poor, allowing us to have resources that could bring about systemic change and really impact people’s lives in expanded ways,” says Sister Judith Ann. “The foundations met our focus on health, defined in the broadest terms — psychological, spiritual and physical health.” Sister Marian Durkin CSA, who joined the congregation in 1955 and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the SOCF of Cleveland, believes that the opportunity to create the foundation was the perfect extension of the congregation’s years of ministry. “The hospitals have a vital mission but can’t do what a foundation can do,” says Sister Marian. “A foundation can be so much more directly responsive to people in need. That’s exciting.” When the first Sisters of Charity came to America, most health care delivery took place in people’s homes. Sister Judith Ann, who joined the congregation in 1964, sees the work being done by SOCF in leading a Promise Neighborhood in Cleveland’s Central community — the home of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center — as an example of how the foundation is building on the legacy of the sisters’ mission. “Our approach is sitting down, asking what our neighbors think they need,” Sister Judith Ann says. “That’s the same thing we did when we stepped off the boat.” Collaboration has also been a necessity since those early days, and Sister Judith Ann says the needs of the community today require strong partnerships to

Sister Judith Ann Karam CSA

Sister Marian Durkin CSA

Sister Kathy Andrews CSA

Sister Evelyn Flowers CSA

make progress. “We can’t do it alone,” she says. “The people of Central are our partners, our funders are our partners — they are all there with us to make the Promise Neighborhood successful.” Health care may be the ministry that the Sisters of Charity are most known for, says Sister Evelyn, also a SOCF board member and a lifelong teacher, “but I believe our foundations will be our strongest legacy.” SUSTAINING THE SISTERS’ LEGACY Today there are 31 Sisters of Charity, with 20 still active in ministry. The community also includes 68 laypeople who are considered associate members. With this order and others becoming smaller, there’s a movement throughout communities of Catholic sisters to combine resources and take action to ensure sustainability of their ministries. For the Sisters of Charity, the solution was the 2007 formation of a Public Juridic Person called CSA Health System Ministries, a leadership structure that includes sisters and laypeople dedicated to upholding the legacy

of the Sisters of Charity in their sponsored ministries. “This ensures the sustainability of our Catholic identity and our ministries,” says Sister Judith Ann, who chairs the Public Juridic Person. She remains a national leader in the area of Catholic health care, recently ending her term as board chair of the Catholic Health Association. Another important part of ensuring sustainability of the sisters’ legacy is the effort put forth from the foundation in building partnerships with other organizations, says Sister Evelyn: “The foundation stays intimately involved in the people they fund. We really care about what they’re doing, and the people who work with us are so dedicated to this mission.” So what would those earliest founding sisters have to say about the work being done by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine today? “We have been pioneers since the beginning,” says Sister Evelyn. “I think our pioneer sisters who came here and started the health care system in this area would be so proud that we are still doing that kind of pioneering work today.” n

This fights poverty. DO YOU HAVE AN ANSWER?

One big idea could change everything. Are you a leader, a doer, a thinker, an inventor? Are you ready to turn your professional experience and accomplishments into game-changing solutions that serve the greater good today and uplift generations to come? The Innovation Mission is calling you to become one of our fellows, a select group of business, community and civic leaders who believe that poverty is not a natural state and that innovative approaches can improve the quality of life for generations of Clevelanders.

The deadline for application is July 17.

TheInnovationMission.org The Innovation Mission is an initiative of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland in collaboration with Cleveland Leadership Center.