29 programs receive $72,086 from St. Vincent Healthcare Grants

St. Vincent Healthcare Grants awarded for 2020
29 area programs receive $72,086

During the month of October, 29 programs received St. Vincent Healthcare Grants for 2020 totaling $72,086. The fund is under the oversight of the Diocese of Worcester. Since it began awarding grants in 1999, it has distributed more than $1.2 million, averaging more than $57,000 per year. According to Bishop McManus, “The Diocese of Worcester is committed to continuing the mission of the St. Vincent Development Foundation which raised the initial funds to provide for medical and healthcare assistance in the community in keeping with the Catholic mission of the hospital’s founders, the Sisters of Providence.”
                This year’s recipients include: Alternatives Unlimited (dba Open Sky Community Services): medical equipment for individuals with developmental disabilities; Carenet Pregnancy Resource Center: Hope in the Lord ultrasound project; Catholic Charities, Leominster: client assistance for prescription/over-the-counter medication; Catholic Charities, Milford: emergency health and wellness access; Catholic Charities, Southbridge: emergency prescription medication assistance; Catholic Charities, Worcester: medical needs assistance; Catholic Restoration Apostolate, Worcester: connecting pastoral care to in-patient care; Cathedral of St. Paul: Elder Outreach; Children’s Friend: The Carriage House Grief Support Center; Dismas House: restorative healthcare initiative.
                Virginia Thurston Healing Garden: support groups; Heywood Hospital, Athol: emergency assistance; McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys: dedicated MAP officer; Diocesan Healthcare Ministry to Retired Priests; North Brookfield Senior Center: medical rides for seniors; Notre Dame Health Care: pandemic relief; Our Lady of the Angels Elementary School: school health office; Pastoral Counseling Centers of MA, Inc.: The Assistance Fund; Pernet Family Health Service, Inc.: maternal/child health program; Problem Pregnancy of Worcester: ultrasound project; St. Anne’s Free Medical Program in Shrewsbury: health and safety project; St. Bernadette School: COVID-19 school isolation room; St. Luke’s Guesthouse in Southbridge: healthcare for those experiencing homelessness; St. Mary Health Care, Worcester: music therapy for elders; St. Peter’s Free Medical Program in Worcester: medical program development; Visitation House, Worcester: pandemic healthcare response; VNA Care Network and Hospice: nursing and medical social work case management; Holy Family Academy, Gardner: school nursing; YWCA Central Massachusetts: ENCORE ABC (after breast cancer) Program.
 
About the St. Vincent Healthcare Fund
                The St. Vincent Healthcare Fund was announced in June 1998 and was started with $1.6 million which had been raised by the St. Vincent Development Foundation prior to the sale of the St. Vincent Hospital to OrNda Healthcorp in 1996. At that time the foundation ceased its operation. During the oversight process by the state attorney general’s office, it was determined that the funds that had been raised by the foundation would be given to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester to support health care programs and services in the community which were in keeping with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Some of these funds were restricted to certain areas of use and, as such, grants are awarded in accordance with the original wishes of the donors and in accordance with the original mission of the foundation, namely to provide financial and other assistance to nonprofit health care organizations to promote the scientific, literary, educational, public health, public safety or civic purposes of such entities for the direct benefit of the residents of Worcester County; to  work for the development of medical and health services by supporting and strengthening the services provided by nonprofit health care providers which provide services to Worcester County residents; to support nonprofit organizations which provide for the medical and other health care needs of residents of Worcester County; and to provide for the needs of Worcester County residents through the purchase of medical and other health care services or supplies.