Greetings of peace to you, fellow caretakers of people and the planet!

The Sisters of St. Francis – Sacred Heart Charitable Fund was established to carry out the mission of Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity of Sacred Heart Province through organizations that share our intention to be careful and compassionate stewards of all of creation.

The Fund will consider applications for up to $50,000 that meet all of the following criteria:

  1. The grant-seeking organization must be either:
    • Referred to the Fund by a member of Sacred Heart Province, OR
    • Legally sponsored by an order of Franciscan women religious in the United States.
      *Note that only one application per cycle will be considered from any given USA province or congregation if it has no provinces.
  2. The grant-seeking organization must be a 501(c)3 that has been in business as such for at least two years.
  3. The purpose of the grant being sought must be for one of the areas we support, which are described below.

Peace and Justice: Recognizing the dignity of every person, we support efforts to end systemic misuse of power, money and social advantage toward the most vulnerable and marginalized.  In the spirit of justice and peace, we support self-directed and empowering efforts for the needs of refugees, immigrants, indigenous people, the homeless, the poor, and those being trafficked, abused, or involved in domestic violence, and the disadvantaged, especially women and children.  We strive to promote the Gospel message of love to advance a more peaceful and secure world.

Education: We support education as a means to encourage and empower persons, especially those who are otherwise under-served, to become informed and creative, thereby making life-giving decisions for themselves and others and providing services for the betterment of all.

Earth Care: As stewards of God’s gift of creation, we recognize that complex issues and unwise environmental choices affect all, increasing poverty and degradation for people who are poor.  We promote action for sustainable care of creation.

Do I Qualify?