St. Vincent Healthcare Grants to be presented on Oct. 17

34 grants to follow the 16th Annual White Mass

October 10, 2013, Worcester, Mass.—On Thursday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. the Diocese of Worcester will hold the Sixteenth Annual White Mass at the Chapel of Our Lady of Providence at St. Vincent Hospital, 123 Summer Street, Worcester. Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester will be the principal celebrant and Rev. Msgr. Peter R. Beaulieu, Director of Mission Integration at St. Vincent Hospital, will be the homilist. Theresa Gentile, RN, a nurse at St. Vincent Hospital, will speak at the end of Mass about the role of faith in healthcare. She is also a coordinator of the Pieta Group in Worcester which supports families who tragically lost a child. The public is invited to the evening’s events and to participate in prayer for those who work in healthcare and its related fields.

“It is fitting that we combine the White Mass and Grants in one evening,” commented Bishop McManus. “Our commitment to the health and wellbeing of people who are ill is more than a humanitarian response. We do it because we are Catholic and are called by Christ to bring comfort and hope to all who are in pain or struggle to find hope. The Diocese of Worcester is committed to continuing the mission of the St. Vincent Development Foundation which raised the initial funds to provide for medical and healthcare assistance in the community in keeping with the Catholic mission of the hospital’s founders, the Sisters of Providence.”

Following the Mass, the St. Vincent Healthcare Grants, totaling $63,250, will be awarded to local organizations at a reception in the hospital Atrium. They include the Donor Human Milk Program for Newborns; Infant Car Seat Program for Newborns in families in need; Catholic Charities Leominster: Healthcare Resources & Advocacy, Catholic Charities Southbridge: Essential Inedibles, Catholic Charities Southbridge: Prescriptions, Co-pays & Special Diet Gift Cards. Catholic Charities Worcester: Special Health & Nutritional Needs; Assabet Valley Pastoral Counseling Center: Counseling Assistance Fund; Healing Heart: Caregiver Health and Wellness Education; Worcester Rehabilitation: Alzheimer’s Expo for Healthcare professionals; Southbridge Rehabilitation: Community Outreach About Alzheimer’s; Spanish American Center: Health Talks for Latino Elders; St. Mary’s Health Care: Music Therapy; YWCA: ENCORE ABC Cancer Program; Auburn Council on Aging: Rides For Health; Alzheimer’s Association: Connecting Caregivers program; Alternatives Unlimited: Specialized equipment for individuals with Developmental disabilities and Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease; Central Mass Hospice: Training and Certification program; Children’s Friend: The Carriage House Grief Support Center for children; Mary Queen of the Rosary: Family Wellness Program and Medical Assistance support for their Outreach Ministry.

Other recipients include VNA Care Network & Hospice: Worcester Elder Health Clinics; St. Paul’s Elder Outreach; Dismas House: Restorative Healthcare Initiative; Problem Pregnancy: Ultrasound Scan Project; Veteran Inc.: Health & Wellness Program; Visitation House: Resident Life Skills/Healthy Moms and Babies; St. Joseph Parish, Fitchburg: Parish Nursing Support; McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys: Professional Nursing Services; Our Lady of the Angels School Health Office; St. Mary School School Nurse Program in Worcester; Healthcare Ministry To Retired Priests; Pernet Family Health Service: Maternal Child Home Nursing Visits; Catholic Restoration Apostolate for Cancer Center Grand Rounds Training; and St. Anne Free Medical Program to help establish an Essential Outpatient Lab.
About the St. Vincent Healthcare Fund

The St. Vincent Healthcare Fund was announced in June 1998 and was started with $1.6 million which had been raised by the St. Vincent Development Foundation prior to the sale of the St. Vincent Hospital to OrNda Healthcorp in 1996. At that time the Foundation ceased its operation. During the oversight process by the Attorney General’s Office, it was determined that the funds that had been raised by the Foundation would be given to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester to support health care programs and services in the community. Some of these funds were restricted to certain areas of use and, as such, grants are awarded in accordance with the original wishes of the donors and in accordance with the original mission of the Foundation, namely to provide financial and other assistance to nonprofit health care organizations to promote the scientific, literary, educational, public health, public safety or civic purposes of such entities for the direct benefit of the residents of Worcester County; to work for the development of medical and health services by supporting and strengthening the services provided by nonprofit health care providers which provide services to Worcester County residents; to support nonprofit organizations which provide for the medical and other health care needs of residents of Worcester County; and to provide for the needs of Worcester County residents through the purchase of medical and other health care services or supplies.

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