At St. Francis House we’re most fortunate to have so many generous supporters. This has been especially true since the pandemic struck and, with it, our expenses increased dramatically. One of our newest supporters is Rotary International.
Local Rotary District 7930 received a grant from The Rotary Foundation to help with COVID relief, and they’ve awarded a significant portion of that grant to SFH to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff who engage in face-to-face mental health services, and to assist with our food program. The funding that Rotary District 7930 received from the Foundation was augmented by donations from a number of local area Rotary Clubs, as well as from Rotary Clubs in Kyoto, which is Boston’s sister city. The Rotary is a service organization made up of business and professional leaders, dedicated to providing humanitarian service. The other local beneficiary of the Rotary grant is Care Dimensions, which offers hospice and palliative care services throughout Eastern Massachusetts.
The funds we’ve received from the Rotary are being put to good use.
A major element of the health care we offer is related to mental health, and each year our Mental Health and Case Management teams provide 12,000 instances of counseling services. In addition, our Client Engagement Services personnel serve as first responders for guests in distress.
COVID-19 has had a major impact on the population we serve, with mental health issues exacerbated by the stress and uncertainty the pandemic has brought with it. It has also impacted the way we deliver services to our guests, and St. Francis House has been hit with the unanticipated and ongoing expense of outfitting our counseling staff with PPE.
St. Francis House staff members serving breakfast “to-go” in styrofoam containers.
In addition, the pandemic has altered the way in which we are able to provide meals to our guests. Since we are no longer able to rely on the volunteers who for years have worked in the kitchen prepping and serving meals, we have had to add additional paid staff for our food program. We’ve also seen an uptick in kitchen-related costs because the meals have been prepared “to-go”, rather than served on reusable trays.
Now, thanks to Rotary International, we’re able to provide PPE for our staff and continue to safely offer our guests healthy and nutritious meals.
So thank you, Rotary International District 7390. We couldn’t do all that we do if it weren’t for the generosity of organizations like yours.
