Special Needs Community Grants
In keeping with our mission of community service, the Nazareth Association established a grant-funding program entitled the “Special Needs Community Grant.” The program is in recognition of over a
century of dedication and work so generously given to communities throughout Michigan, and the world, by the Sisters of St. Joseph (now, the Congregation of St. Joseph).
Grants totaling $10,000, or more, are awarded to qualified applicants once a year. They are designed to provide financial assistance for special needs of various ministries and facilities sponsored
or endorsed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan. Grants will be awarded on a “needs” basis for partial or full coverage of projects not fully funded by other sources in the following
areas:
- For special needs such as transportation, equipment, and materials.
- For professional development, training, credit, or certification.
Grants totaling $115,577 have been awarded since 1994 through 2017. Some examples of the assistance our grants have provided are: sewing machines, after-school programs, pre and post-natal
care, reading materials, spiritual outreach, computers, assistance to families struggling with AIDS and substance abuse, hospice care, massage therapy equipment, audio books, training in
non-violence, prison ministry and programs for children with special needs.
Special Needs Community Grant Committee for 2017:
- Karen Tavernier (chair)
- Kathy Creek
- Joyce McNally
Grant+Application
Grant+Application.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.9 MB]
2017 Grant Awards went to:
Barrios Unidos en Cristo - Nina Rodriguez, CSJ - $1,000 to be used to purchase material for retreats, workshops, and other activities in the outreach programs for families in an Hispanic community located in one of the oldest parishes in Detroit. Members of these families are dealing with an ongoing battle with addiction.
Benton Harbor Girls Association - Teresa C. Blundell, CSJ Associate - $1,425 to partner with the Citadell Music and Dance Center teaching msic, dance and drama in a program call I Am Saving Myself . Every student participates.
Centro de San Jose - Marie Benzing, CSJ - $1,600 will support a series of four week workshops. It is providing books to families while it promotes the experience of reading to the children and learning English along the way. The goal is to get books that can be read together into homes.
Creative Community Pathways Healthy Living Corporation - Phyllis Davis Williams and Mary Anne Dalton, CSJ - $1,500 to pay some of the expenses of Mary Anne Dalton, CSJ and WorkshopWay team in presenting a weeklong demonstration-educational workshop with 20 participants (made up of the Pathways' group of professional and community members in the Detroit area).
Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance - Cathey DeSantis, CSJ - $975 to help buy materials and supplies, plus pay gas mileage and lunch for the two retired engineers who are the instructors for two workshops for The Tuskegee Spirit Project. This project teaches 16 children (ages 9 to 14) math and science skills while also giving them experience with small machines and tools. There are two workshops in which the students make the parts and assemble all sorts of wonderful things, e.g., tables, bookends, lamps.
The Holley Institute - Jacqueline A. Wetherholt, CSJ - $1,000 will provide some of the money for a program called ACORN (Artistry, Communication, Opportunity, Resourcefulness, Nurture). The participants develop pride, self-esteem and independence while learning theater craft in a beautiful outdoor setting near Brooklyn, Michigan. The Holley Institute provides support services for our population of deaf and hard of hearing middle and high school students.
New Life Literacy Center - Judy Blake, CSJ - $1,000 will be used to fund Project Transportation. The learners who come to the Literacy Center are there to have tutoring they need to take and pass the GED test. This grant makes transportation by bus possible for GED participants.
San Juan Diego Resource Center - Joan Hastreiter, CSJ - $1,500 - will be used to serve a diverse population of bi-lingual and multi-cultural local residents by providing a bookstore making religious reading matrials and other religious items available for those who are continuing on a faith journey. They need a technology upgrade to efficiently serve their community. They also need a web site, business cards, and a permanent ad in the parish bulletin.
2017 Grant Award Recipients
Grants from previous years were awarded to:
- Amigos de Jesus (Latino women's support group)
- Barrios Unidos en Christo
- Bethany House, Kalamazoo, MI
- The Benton Harbor Girls Association for Learning and Self-Esteem, Benton Harbor, MI
- Borgess Gardens, Nazareth, MI
- Borgess Health, Kalamazoo, MI
- Borgess Resounding Spirit, Kalamazoo, MI
- Cantera, a Niaraguan NGO
- Catholic Community Center, Benton Harbor, MI
- Catholic Family Services, Kalamazoo, MI
- Catholic Social Services, Stanton, MI
- Centro de San Jose~ Detroit MI
- The Choral Group at Dillon Hall, Kalamazoo, MI
- Congregation of St. Joseph, Nazareth Center, History Room, Kalamazoo, MI
- Congregation of St. Joseph, Personal Action Toward Health, Kalamazoo, MI
- Corazones Unidos, Lima, Peru
- Covenant Community Care~ Detroit MI
- Dads Love to Read, Detroit MI
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Lima, Peru
- Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, Detroit, MI
- Detroit Pastoral Alliance/McClellan Block Club Activities, Detroit, MI
- Diocese of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, MI
- Dos de Mayo Hospital, Lima, Peru
- Earth Ministries, Kalamazoo, MI
- Equipo Docentes, Nasca, Peru
- Faith in Action of Upper Pinellas, Dunedin, FL
- Fontbonne Manor, Nazareth, MI
- Gianna House Pregnancy and Parenting Residence, Detroit, MI
- Guidance Center (Detroit)
- Gussy Up Your Spirit Women's Event, Wayne, MI
- Hispanic Outreach, Macomb, MI
- Holley Ear Institute, St. John Health System, Brooklyn, MI
- Holley Ear Institute, Detroit, MI
- Holy Cross Parish, Marine City, MI
- Holy Redeemer Parish, Detroit, MI
- Holy Redeemer Grade School Alternative Learning Program, Detroit, MI
- Hope for Creation (inter-faith group & climate change)
- Immigration Assistance Program, Kalamazoo, MI
- Jonestown Health Center, Jonestown, MS
- Latino Women's Empowerment Center, Detroit, MI
- Lemkin House Inc.(Rosie’s Place in former Nazareth farm house)
- Kairos Dwelling, Kalamazoo, MI
- Macomb County Warming Center~ Eastpointe MI
- Manitou Arbor Ecovillage, Kalamazoo, MI
- Michigan Peace Team, Detroit, MI
- Ministry with Community, Kalamazoo, MI
- Nazareth Center Assisted Living Residents, Nazareth, MI
- Nazareth Home, Hobart, IN
- N.E.W. Life Adult Literacy Program~ Flint MI
- Office of Hispanic Ministry, Grand Rapids, MI
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Middle School for Girls, Detroit, MI
- Our Lady on the River Parish, Marine City MI
- Outreach East Program, Davison, MI
- The Parish of Huaura, Huaura, Peru
- Powers Catholic High School, Flint, MI
- Resurrection House, Kalamazoo, MI
- Servico De Enfermedades Infeccuosis, Lima, Peru
- Sisters of St. Joseph, Nazareth, MI
- Shrine Catholic High School, Royal Oak, MI
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul - Detroit, MI
- SSJ Office of Peace and Justice, Nazareth, MI
- St. Benedict School, Highland, MI
- St. Catherine of Siena~ Portage MI
- St. Edward on the Lake Catholic School, Lakeport, MI
- St. Frances Cabrini Clinic, Detroit, MI
- St. Francis Cabrini of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Detroit, MI
- St. John Vianney School, Flint, MI
- St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Saginaw, MI
- St. John’s Hospital, Detroit, MI
- St. Joseph Health System, Tawas MI
- St. Luke Catholic Church, Flint, MI
- St. Luke Catholic Church North End Women's Center, Flint, MI
- St. Luke Parish, Detroit, MI
- St. John's Health System
- St. Joseph Health System, Tawas MI
- St. Rose of Lima Parish, Hastings, MI
- St. Thomas More Student Parish, Kalamazoo, MI
- Tawas St. Joseph Parish, Tawas, MI
- Transformations CSJ Center, Nazareth, MI
- Workshop Way, Inc
- Zambia Program, Zambia, Africa
Grant awards are announced each year at Spirit Days
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