The St. Clare Foundation, a new nonprofit based in Centralia, has announced grants that will be available to local nonprofit organizations to help address youth mental health and substance abuse issues. The foundation’s executive director, Clare Kessler, says that support is needed now more than ever.
“Going back for the last ten to twenty, years, if you look at local community health needs assessment data, among the top needs in our area is all-around behavioral health,” Kessler said. “What we’re seeing is, the problems are growing, and the crisis is growing, but the resources to respond to those needs are not growing.”
School systems, healthcare organizations, and community service organizations that work closely with youth are the targets to receive grants. Three different types of grants are available: mini grants, which address immediate small dollar needs, innovation grants, which support new and experimental programs, and anchor investments, which provide long-term support to programs that have proven effective. The exact dollar amounts of each grant are to be determined case-by-case.
Beyond serving as a funder, the foundation seeks to bring together community leaders who work in the youth behavioral health space to facilitate collaboration between organizations and bridge gaps in access to resources and existing services for those in need.
The seed funding for these grants comes from the Felician Sisters, who are stepping away from co-sponsorship of SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospitals at the end of 2025 and reinvesting in the St. Clare Foundation to continue providing support in the community.
“They didn’t want to just leave this community with so much need after they’ve been here for so long,” Kessler said, “so they essentially just reinvested resources into creating this foundation to step into the community in a new way and see, outside the four walls of the hospital, how to address gaps in the needs of our community.”
After the first grant cycle, the foundation plans to begin fundraising to supplement the seed money and support future grants. The foundation aims to show the community it is committed to serving and addressing needs through the first grant cycle before fundraising efforts begin.
The 2026 grant application window is from January 2 to January 26. Grant recipients will be announced on March 2. Organization leaders who want to learn more about potential grants through the foundation are invited to attend the open house and ribbon cutting on December 10 at 4:00 p.m. at the St. Clare Foundation office on the St. Mary’s Hospital campus at 420 North Pleasant in Centralia. Grant application details and more information about the St. Clare Foundation can be found online at saintclarefoundation.org.