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 $105,577 have been awarded since 1994 through 2016. 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 2016:

• Karen Tavernier (chair)
• Sharon Anderson-Western
• Jim Faist
• Joyce McNally
• Grace Scola, CSJ

The 2016 Grant Awards went to:

• The Workshop Way, Inc. – Mary Anne Dalton, CSJ - $700 for workshops, material and mentoring of new K-3 teachers in the Detroit area who are just entering the daunting job of teaching.
• Centro de San Jose – Marie Benzing, CSJ - $1,600 for an enrichment program for Latino families at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Detroit. It will be used for a six-week workshop for mothers and their young children to introduce them to the fun of reading together. Bi-lingual books will be distributed to the families for their home libraries.
• Barrios Unidos en Christo – Nina Rodriguez, CSJ - $1000 for retreats and speakers to reach out to people in Detroit with addictions. It will also provide reading materials, outreach activities, professional help and supplement the donations of food.
• Hope for Creation – Virginia Jones, CSJ - $600 to help manage and update the website for the Kalamazoo area inter-faith advocacy group regarding the critical nature of climate change.
• The Guidance Center – Marie Hogan, CSJ - $300 to purchase materials to help adults who are severely and persistently/mentally ill cope in conjunction with counseling programs
• Latino Women’s Empowerment Center – Consuelo Alcala, CSJ - $1000 to offer a Christopher Leadership course.to Spanish speaking women in Detroit to enable them to gain confidence to be more responsible and assume leadership roles in their community
• Gianna House Pregnancy and Parenting Residence - Nancy J. Huff, PhD., R.N. - $1100 to bring up to code a the former St. Veronica’s convent in Eastpointe, MI with fire extinguishers. The residence is for new mothers and their babies.
• Benton Harbor Girls Academy – Teresa C. Blundell, CSJ Associate- $800 to benefit their visual and performing arts program.
• Ministry with Community – Maureen Metty, CSJ - $1100 to upgrade cooking tools, pots and pans for the new kitchen to prepare food for the homeless in their new facility.
• CSJ, Transformation Center – Bernadette Dean, CSJ & Sr. Rita Teichmann, CSJ –$1000 to obtain the film rights and to promote showing Food Chains in January 2017 in Kalamazoo. The film addresses Human Trafficking issues in labor, specifically in the tomato farms and vineyards of California.
• Lemkin House Inc. Maia Storm, Executive Director - $800 to defray the expenses of a volunteer driving to Detroit, Grand Rapids and Chicago for the on-going immigration issues involved for refugees from Rwanda. Sr. Rosemary Tierney has been instrumental in establishing a shelter for the refugees in the former Nazareth farm house. The shelter is named Rosie’s Place in her honor.

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
• 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
• 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 SSJ Center, Nazareth, MI
• Workshop Way, Inc
• Zambia Program, Zambia, Africa

Grant awards are announced each year at Spirit Days