Pallottine Foundation of Huntington Founded in 2017 Total Grantmaking in 2019 : $ 1,902,452
The Pallottine Foundation of Buckhannon and Pallottine Foundation of Huntington were both founded by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate . In 1921 , the group purchased a private residence in Buckhannon , which was converted to an eight-bed hospital facility named St . Joseph ’ s Hospital . In Huntington , St . Mary ’ s Medical was originally opened by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters in 1924 as a 35-bed hospital and grew to be one of the largest health care providers in the state with 393 beds and over 2,600 employees . The group later sold the two hospitals and used the proceeds to fund the two private foundations .
The Pallottine Foundation of Huntington was officially incorporated in January 2017 with a mission to support transformative health initiatives that empower all individuals to lead lives of optimal health , self-reliance and self-respect . While the foundation itself is relatively young , it has a lot of which to be proud .
According to Janell Ray , CEO of the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington , the two foundations have partnered with Marshall
University ’ s oral health team to provide dental care , oral cancer screenings and critical provider referrals to older West Virginians without dental insurance and partnered with West Virginia Local Health , Inc . to support county health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic .
The Huntington location is also part of a collaborative partnership with the Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless , United Way of the River Cities , Marshall University and Prestera Center on the creation of a comprehensive drop-in center for homeless youth .
The Pallottine Foundation of Huntington serves 20 counties in its tri-state region of West Virginia , Kentucky and Ohio . It has made grants totaling $ 5,376,575 since its inception , and Ray sees nothing but continued support in its future .
“ Our plans include the continued support of health-related organizations that strive to create significant positive change in the health of our communities through innovative and impactful programming ,” she says . “ We plan to expand our knowledge base throughout the 20 counties in the foundation ’ s region . We aspire to help create substantive improvement in the four core focus areas of food insecurity , mental and behavioral health , substance use disorder and tobacco use prevention and cessation . We hope to see communities with greater access to healthy foods , improved access to mental health providers and treatment , decreased rates of overdose death rates , lower numbers of individuals in recovery , lower vaping rates among youth and improved health indicators for patents with various chronic diseases .”
Roy and Gwen Steeley Foundation , Inc . Founded in 2014 Total Grantmaking in 2018 : $ 1,171,519
A long-time resident of Charles Town , WV , Roy Steeley was best-known for his significant contributions to the vending machine manufacturing industry . He retired as president of Dixie-Narco in Ranson , WV , and started Royal Vendors in Kearneysville , WV , which he sold in 1996 . He served the community in many capacities , including as a board member of the Animal Welfare Society and Blakeley Bank .
His wife of 48 years , Gwen Scott Steeley , M . D ., was a native of Glasgow , Scotland , who moved to the U . S . in 1958 . She owned and operated a private obstetrics and gynecology practice in Virginia and served as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps .
The Steeleys were successful in their careers and generous and caring toward the community that gave them so much . While the foundation honoring their legacy was first established in the late 1990s , it became fully operational in 2014 with a mission to invest in education and communities to strengthen West Virginia .
The foundation ’ s commitment to education stems from the
Steeleys themselves . They often provided funding to their employees working toward a college education .
“ The foundation continues this legacy by offering the Roy and Gwen Steeley Memorial Scholarship Program , which gives qualifying students a 100 % tuition-free opportunity to attend an accredited West Virginia college of their choice ,” says President Adam Sanders .
The foundation ’ s leadership is most proud of helping organizations apply for and receive federal and national foundation grants .
“ When we can use our resources to help schools and various nonprofits pull down even larger funds , we feel we are maximizing our influence and able to move the needle ,” says Sanders .
The Roy and Gwen Steeley Foundation also encourages the leadership of local nonprofits to think in terms of what their organization needs to grow and be successful and then helps them achieve this through the funding of administration costs and non-designated funds .
The foundation is unique in that it does not have an online application for grantees ; rather , foundation leadership controls the conversation by seeking out the organizations and opportunities it feels best align with its mission .
“ By spending more time in the community and not behind a desk , we feel we gain a better pulse on the needs facing our community ,” says Sanders . “ It ’ s important for us to remember our role is to cut checks , not to tell organizations what to do . We strongly believe in empowering doers and keeping our role focused on funding .”
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