St. Vincent foundation doles out $700K in grants
Anchorum St. Vincent, the nonprofit organization that owns half of Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, recently announced $700,000 in grants to 18 nonprofits across seven Northern New Mexico counties.
Anchorum says the funds are intended to help provide “shelter, food, compassionate care — and hope.”
It was the first time the organization had engaged in a competitive grant process open to local nonprofits, and Peter Bastone, president and CEO of Anchorum St. Vincent, says the goal over the next three years is to support local nonprofits to the tune of $2.1 million in grants — part of Anchorum’s plan to spend $25 million in the community in the next three years.
Bastone estimates Anchorum St. Vincent will spend $5 million for direct grants, which are noncompetitive yearly funds given to larger groups such as United Way of Santa Fe County, Homewise and Communities In Schools Santa Fe. Going forward, those funds will be determined by a community needs health assessment, a joint effort by the hospital, the city and the county to examine health metrics.
“Initially, we had a number of boots-on-the-ground nonprofits doing the heavy lifting,” Bastone said. “They need a lift up to broaden their impact and we wanted to help them get to the next step.”
This year’s impact grants were offered in four areas: Senior health and wellness; adult behavioral health; educational attainment and housing.
The grants were awarded on a sliding scale, with a minimum amount of $25,000. A total of 62 organizations applied for funding in February, and final evaluations were developed after site visits through April.
Jennifer Nevarez, director of the nonprofit Community Learning Network, was part of the 14-member selection committee.
“I’d say for our community, sitting on the nonprofit side, it’s not often we get access to that kind of chunk of money,” said Nevarez, whose group received grant money.
The funds come from the Anchorum St. Vincent endowment.
Allegra Love, executive director of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, which provides free legal services for immigrants, said the organization used its $69,000 grant to hire a counselor to triage mental health referrals.
“We give free legal services and we deal with people who are traumatized, who have difficult familial situations,” Love said.
Where the money went
Senior health and wellness
Casa Milagro: $70,000 for infrastructure improvements, transportation and staffing for a collaborative housing project for chronically homeless senior women.
Coming Home Connection: $70,000 for funding volunteer coordinator position in senior home care.
Kitchen Angels: $25,000 to provide an additional 2,809 meals for seniors.
Mesa to Mesa: $25,000 to support home repairs for seniors in Northern New Mexico. Adult behavioral health
Compassionate Touch Network: $35,000 to share stories about mental health, incorporate mental health literacy in Santa Fe and increase outreach in Española and Pojoaque.
Gerard’s House: $25,000 for expanding comprehensive grief and trauma services for adults.
Santa Fe Dreamers Project: $69,000 for in-house counseling bilingual counselor and case manager for an immigrant pilot program.
Solace Crisis Treatment Center: $64,000 to support a fulltime therapist in the trauma treatment expansion for sexual violence and abuse.
The Mountain Center: $57,000 for a therapist and a behavioral health provider for addiction intervention and recovery harm-reduction program. Housing
Interfaith Community Shelter Group: $30,000 to support eight medical care respite beds for homeless men and women.
St. Elizabeth’s Shelter: $35,000 to support an outreach case manager for homeless support programs.
Santa Fe Public Schools Adelante Program: $35,000 to support a part-time elementary liaison to provide direct services to students who are homeless and home insecure and their families. Educational
St. Michael’s High School: $25,000 for a pilot program to provide classes, supplies and clinical mentorship to students in grades 9-12 to purse careers in the medical field.
Monte del Sol Charter School: $25,000 for a sustainable workforce college and career mentoring program.
Reading Quest: $25,000 to provide 833 hours of reading and tutoring for public-school children who are reading below grade level.
STEM Santa Fe: $25,000 grant to support mentoring and administrative costs to implement a program to bring together local STEM college students and STEM professionals.
The Family YMCA Española Teen Center: $25,000 to provide after-school programming for youth in Rio Arriba county.
Armand Hammer United World College of the American West: $35,000 to serve Mora and Las Vegas, N.M., by bringing together New Mexico youth for enrichment.