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Mercy is providing half a million dollars in grants to nearly 30 organizations serving children and elderly, homeless and uninsured people across five states.

The purpose of Mercy's grants is to provide support for community-based programs consistent with Mercy's mission and vision that are aligned with an identified community health need. Mercy Caritas (Latin for "charity") is in its 36^th year.

Sister Cabrini (left) joins Mercy co-workers as they prepare meals in Joplin, Missouri for those in need.

Of the $500,000 being awarded, $450,000 are Mercy Caritas grants, while $50,000 in grants were awarded to Sisters of Mercy working to directly serve people in poverty. This funding will impact more than 200,000 people.

"This year, there was a special emphasis in each community to align Mercy's strategic partnerships with those organizations that assisted in a particular manner to meet the social determinants of health," said Kevin Minder, Mercy senior vice president of mission and community health and Caritas committee chairperson. "As we know, we find much value for our patients most in need when we can meet their non-clinical needs in addition to their traditional health care experience."

The full list of recipient organizations and a self-description of their services is below, grouped by community:

Arkansas

Conway

• Free Store Storefront - The program serves as an initial point of contact for the organization. Its purpose is to address basic human needs in emergent situations by providing access to food, clothing, hygiene, shower and laundry facilities, warming and cooling stations, transportation, housing and other resources.

Fort Smith

• Community Rescue Mission - The mission fosters healing and resilience within homeless families by addressing their unique mental health challenges in a safe and supportive environment. Through a team of dedicated therapists and counselors, the mission provides group, individual and family personalized therapy sessions.
• The Next Step Homeless Services - Next Step provides safe housing and case management services for homeless women and children in coordination with an existing housing program in a group home.
• Riverview Hope Campus - Riverview Hope is a class structured program meeting the immediate needs of area residents and the unhoused in the community. The program meets individuals right where they are and works to lower the immediate barriers they are facing that prevent them from becoming self-sufficient.

Hot Springs

• Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center - The center improves the lives of abused children by giving them a safe place where services are provided to begin the healing process. The supervisor of development serves clients and supports services by securing essential resources, raising community awareness and developing community partnerships.
• St. John's Catholic School - The school's playground is used for children 3 years old to 8^th grade. Some funding will be used to replace old equipment for safety reasons. In addition to children who attend church-related activities, the focus is on safe equipment that encourages exercise and fitness. Funded improvements will align with Department of Human Services requirements for preschoolers.

Rogers

• Samaritan House Community Center - The house's focus on health, hunger and hope centers on the understanding of the social determinants of health and their impact on marginalized, low-income Northwest Arkansas families. Identifying barriers to success and creating pathways for equitable access to services is critical for helping these families experience lasting positive change.

Springdale

• Children's Safety Center - The center provides financial assistance, when necessary, for items such as rent, utilities, groceries, gas cards and personal needs, as well as emotional support to child abuse victims and their non-offending family members.

Louisiana

Metairie

• Mercy Family Center - Project Fleur-de-lis will create and distribute stress relief kits for young children and teenagers who are experiencing anxiety, and create and distribute coping kits for school mental health professionals who are supporting these students, accompanied by trainings.

New Orleans

• Mercy Endeavors - This program ensures low-income, struggling members of Mercy Endeavors Senior Center are properly nourished and educated on healthy eating habits by providing a healthy, freshly prepared breakfast five days a week.

Missouri

Cassville

• Life Change SWMO - Life Change's purpose is to create a Christian community where people are encouraged and equipped to overcome addictions and other hindrances to move forward into wholeness and live their full potential.

Joplin

• Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri - The clinic supports patients in overcoming various mental health disorders including depression, anxiety and stress, which often hinder physical health goals and diminish quality of life. Through counseling and education, individuals are empowered to lead healthier, more balanced lives.
• St. Peter the Apostle Outreach House - Located in a poor neighborhood, St. Peter serves meals to people on fixed or no income and the homeless.
• Watered Gardens - This respite shelter offers recuperative care for the homeless discharging from the hospital. Often already health-compromised, the homeless are more likely than the average person to experience hospitalization and yet lack a safe place to finish recovery after they are discharged.

St. Louis

• Feed My People - The organizations' Christian Faith in Transformation program utilizes trained staff to conduct assessments for clients. Identifying clients' social determinants of health needs enables Feed My People to assist individuals who require housing utilities, transportation, access to health care, mental and behavior health problems and/or are experiencing food insecurity.
• Mercy Professional Services Inc. - The program provides free or low-fee counseling to members of the community in need.
• Nurses for Newborns - To prevent infant and maternal deaths, child abuse and neglect, Nurses for Newborns conducts a comprehensive in-home nurse visiting program, providing access to health care, parenting education and linkage to critical resources for medically fragile, at-risk, low-income and underserved infants and mothers/caregivers. Services are voluntary and free of charge.
• Saints Joachim and Ann Care Service - This care service provides intensive strengths-based case management to individuals and families in Lincoln County who are experiencing homelessness to help stabilize their situation and guide them toward a sustainable future.
• Saint Louis Crisis Nursery - Serving as a crucial safety net for families, the nursery's emergency response program is designed to prevent adverse health and well-being outcomes for vulnerable families with young children during times of crisis. Services are available through the crisis nursery's Family Empowerment Center at Mercy Hospital Jefferson.

Oklahoma

Ada

• Compassion Outreach - The program provides medical, dental, pharmaceutical, vision and behavioral health services for residents of Pontotoc County who do not have access to health insurance. This includes direct services to patients with chronic conditions. Funding will reduce health inequities and promote health and wellness care for patients.

Ardmore

• Ardmore Behavioral Health Collaborative/Lighthouse Behavioral - This group supports the Ardmore Bridges initiative, which uses the bridges out of poverty framework to empower individuals to break the cycle of poverty and engages the community to create a place where hope can grow into reality. The initiative addresses both individuals experiencing poverty and the broader community with workshops and classes.
• HFV Wilson Community Center - This innovative health care program hosted at the community center is designed to empower individuals with comprehensive health solutions by integrating three key pillars: health education, direct care services and improved access to health care. The center is committed to creating a healthier, more informed community.
• Our Neighbor's Cupboard - The local food bank in Johnston County shares its cupboard with low-income citizens of Carter County, supplying nutrition of both food and faith so that when clients walk out the door, they leave with food wrapped in the warmth of God's love.

Oklahoma City

• Health Alliance for the Uninsured - The alliance provides free prescription medications to low-income, uninsured patients of central Oklahoma free charitable clinics.
• Latino Community Development Agency - The agency's culturally tailored program promotes health and nutrition education with physical activity for Hispanic families

Texas

Alamo

• ARISE - "How's Your 5?" is a program, developed and supported by Dr. Doug Walker at Mercy Family Center, Louisiana, that provides resources to meet community mental health needs. Participants provide feedback and have reported that many in the community suffered from symptoms of undiagnosed depression.

Laredo

• Casa de Misericordia - Economic independence and stability are major protective factors from domestic violence. This program supports domestic violence survivors and their children to meet their work and school requirements for uniforms, shoes and supplies so they can focus on financial safety and freedom and create a safe, healthy, stable life.
• Mercy Ministries of Laredo - This community outreach program will continue to utilize community health care workers to serve uninsured adults who are patients and/or persons needing a medical home. Staff members work closely with communities and neighborhoods to recruit new patients and conduct educational opportunities to manage self-care, screening for their families and community residents.
• Sisters of Mercy Ministries Laredo - This program provides monthly distribution of non-perishables to clinic patients and individuals who experience food insecurity and have received services at Casa de Misericordia or the Education Center.

Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation's largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 900 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 4,500 physicians and advanced practitioners and 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.