Ascension Health Awards 2008-2009 Ministry Grants

The Caregiver Companion Program, a network of volunteer caregivers to homebound persons with disabilities located in Indiana, will receive $100,000 over two years ($50,000 each year).

For more information on the program, contact:
Veronica Baumgartner, CSJ
1440 West Division Road
Tipton, IN 46072-8584
765-675-1863
caregive@tiptontel.com

Our Lady of Science Scholars, an innovative science project engaging students of Our Lady of Guadalupe Middle School for Girls, will receive $50,000. The project allows students to "shadow" healthcare professionals in St. John Macomb Hospital with the goal of interesting them in healthcare professions.

CANTERA, a project run by the Center of Communication & Popular Education in Nicaragua, will receive $10,000. This project involves local people in five rural Nicaraguan communities to build tanks to store rain water, and prepare it for different purposes including drinking.

Spanish Translation: Trauma Recovery Program. This one-time grant in the amount of $6,375 will fund the translation of a 200-page manual that is used by an established program at Thomas More Catholic Student Parish in Kalamazoo,to publish the manual in three professional journals, and to train mental health professionals and caregivers in psycho-educational and spiritual care for adult survivors of childhood trauma.

Health Care Safety Net for Detroit's Uninsured Poor. This program will receive $20,000 in capital funding for the expansion of the Cabrini Clinic in Detroit by relocating and doubling the space of this oldest free medical clinic in the United States, which serves over 1,500 uninsured poor persons annually. The population includes Latino and African American working poor, persons who are homeless and undocumented persons.

The Congregation of St. Joseph would like to thank Ascension Health Partnership on these awards, which will allow these very deserving programs to continue to serve "the dear neighbor".