SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION

Strengthening the holistic health of West Virginia’s children and their families through trust-based philanthropy.

Charism is a Greek word meaning, “extraordinary graces given to an individual for the good of others.”
When applied to an organization, charism is the distinctive spirit that molds mission and shapes
culture. For Sisters of St. Joseph Health and Wellness Foundation, our charism is formed by our
membership in the Congregation of St. Joseph Mission Network, our belief in the principles of trustbased
philanthropy, and our desire to see all West Virginia children be healthy, empowered, and
resilient from birth to adulthood.
We affirm the Congregation of St. Joseph’s belief in Unity, working In and Through the Ordinary, and
Shifting from a Culture of Power and Privilege to One of Inclusivity. In our work, we seek unity by
building relationships with our grantee partners that are characterized by mutual trust and genuine
collaboration. We honor the idea of working in and through the ordinary by funding operational needs
that are often overlooked. We recognize philanthropy’s significant role in perpetuating a culture of
power and we seek to transform that dynamic in our work as a foundation.
We adopt the principles of trust-based philanthropy, including its core values of power-sharing,
equity, humility, transparency, curiosity, and collaboration, because they are an expression of our
core values and identity. We believe efforts to create social, political, and economic equity for children
in West Virginia will be more successful if we, as funders, embrace our grantee partners as mission driven
experts in their field, who know best how to spend grant awards, invest in themselves, and
measure success.

We believe that health—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—is a fundamental human right
and we are committed to addressing the social and economic factors that shape health outcomes for
children in our state.