The St. Clare Foundation (SCF) on Tuesday announced the recipients of its inaugural grant cycle, deploying over $500,000 to high-impact programs poised to deliver systemic change in youth and adolescent behavioral health across Southern Illinois.
“The response from our community of healthcare providers, educators, and community organizations was inspiring,” said Clare Kessler, Executive Director. “These initial investments are not just checks, they are the fuel for innovative, coordinated action. We are now moving beyond identifying the crisis to actively building the integrated system of resources and care that our youth deserve.”
St. Clare Foundation offered three different types of grants for its inaugural application process which included Anchor Investments, Innovation/Seed Grants, and Capacity-Building Mini-Grants. The grants have been awarded to organizations based on the clear articulation of a demonstrated need in the community, the ability to impact the defined need with the proposed project, and an alignment with the St. Clare Foundation’s mission to improve access to resources and holistically respond to unmet youth and adolescent behavioral health needs.
The funded programs include:
– An Anchor Investment to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Centralia to support the recruitment of an outpatient adolescent psychiatrist and ambulatory clinic expansion over the next three years, aiming to focus on early identification and intervention of youth behavioral health needs.
– An Anchor Investment to The Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center to fund the hiring of a specialized mental health provider for the next three years to support the healing process for children who are victims of sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, or have witnessed violent trauma.
– An Anchor Investment to Selmaville School to fund ‘Conscious Discipline’ training for school leadership to utilize as a classroom management model that supports positive behavior and learning through connection and skill-building with students.
– An Anchor Investment to Centralia City Schools District #135 to fund two mental health support staff for the next three school years at Schiller School and Jordan School, focusing on early identification of behavioral health needs in elementary students.
– An Innovation/Seed Grant to Mt. Vernon City Schools District #80 to fund social emotional learning curriculum and professional development costs, as well as funding for staff to dedicate after-school hours to parent/guardian support centered around student social and emotional needs.
– An Innovation/Seed Grant to Odin Public Schools to support mental health professionals on staff, as well as social emotional learning professional development and software/curriculum costs to expand mental health adaptiveness of students and staff.
– An Innovation/Seed Grant to the Illinois Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness to support the creation of a pilot program for social emotional classroom-based learning, which will be piloted in several local elementary schools’ classrooms.
– A Capacity-Building Mini-Grant to the Centralia Community Youth Center to support the center’s after-school tutoring program, summer camp, and club activities with a focus on student development related to academics, school attendance, and social and emotional growth.
– A Capacity-Building Mini-Grant to Mater Dei Catholic High School to support training and education on suicide prevention for faculty and staff.
“It is truly our privilege to continue to be a part of the Centralia community and to support the needs of surrounding Southern Illinois communities,” said SM Clarette Stryzewski, Board Chair of the St. Clare Foundation. “We are grateful for the spirit of deep respect and collaboration that exists between this community and the Felician Sisters, and we look forward to continuing this meaningful partnership.”
Information and updates on the St. Clare Foundation can be found online at www.saintclarefoundation.org.
