The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation invested $2,652,998 to 71 Allen County, Indiana organizations serving low-income and vulnerable residents in 2024.

The Board of Directors recently approved the latest round of grants, bringing the total number of grants awarded in 2024 to 94. Since the St. Joe Foundation was established in 1998, it has awarded over $28 million through 1,924 grants to approximately 290 local organizations.

The St. Joe Foundation is inspired by the legacy of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, who opened Fort Wayne’s first hospital in 1869 to ensure everyone in the community could receive quality healthcare. The Foundation continues this tradition by investing in programming that improves the health and well-being of the area’s most vulnerable residents in four impact areas: refugees and immigrants, food insecurity and nutrition, prenatal and infant care, and access to health and wellness.

“During the past year, we saw a continued increase in families and individuals needing assistance to cover their basic needs such as nutritious food, safe housing, quality childcare, and accessing physical and mental health care,” says Meg Distler, St. Joe Foundation executive director. “There is also much unrest around the world resulting in an increasing number of immigrants and refugees arriving here who want to make our community their new home. We believe deeply in caring for refugees as we know Jesus Christ was also a refugee. This has also prompted us to support programming to help refugees and immigrants establish their legal status so they can join our workforce and help strengthen our community, and their own lives. Our staff and Board of Directors are grateful for the opportunity to support our community partners as they work with compassion and ingenuity to address these critical issues and strengthen our city.”

With gratitude, we recognize our 2024 community partners who joined us in this work: