2020-2021 Annual Report

Tamela Luce, President and CEO

This past year has certainly been a challenging one. Although COVID vaccines and better treatments have meant more normalcy, the economic fallout of the pandemic has resulted in a rise in need. We continued to support our community, hosting monthly Zoom calls with our nonprofits to allow them to share information and collectively solve problems. We provided additional COVID-related grants including $4,732 to The Clinic to purchase a specially calibrated freezer to store COVID and other vaccines. We also made shifts in our grantmaking to lessen the burden on our applicants and ensure grant dollars be distributed as quickly as possible.

Board and Staff

At the start of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, we welcomed one returning and two new board members: Charles Henry (returning), Brooke Ginty, and Carolyn Mayinja. And this past July 1 we welcomed four new board members: Nicholas Bucci, Barbara O’Connor, Chelsea Perugini, and Dolores Winston. Additionally, we also introduced three new board committees: a Grant Committee, Personnel Committee, and Program Committee. These committees offer our board members important new ways to inform our work. We also said goodbye to longtime Vice President of Programs Lynn Hartman as she retired and welcomed new Program Officer Viviann Schorle to the team.

Maria Schwab, D.Ed. Chair, Board of Directors

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In response to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and too many other persons of color, PCHF published a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Statements are one thing; actions are another. In the spring our board and staff engaged in deep conversations on racial equity and implicit bias and how they impact our work. We also partnered with the Pennsylvania Health Access Network to recruit Phoenixville area residents, mostly from underserved communities, to participate in a two-year survey project to identify barriers to good health. We are already incorporating what we learned into our next strategic plan, scheduled for release in 2022.

Grantmaking and Scholarships

The core of our work remains the financial support we provide to our health and human services nonprofits. In the fall of 2020, we awarded $1.4M grants to 49 organizations in grants ranging from $2,500 to $475,000. Our grantees provide so many services to so many in the community. We hope you will take the time to read some of their stories. And five area graduating seniors received four-year scholarships to further their education in health sciences. We can’t wait to see where they go!

Programs

Viviann spent her first months on the job meeting with nonprofits to understand their training needs. We decided to sunset two programs – the Executive Leadership Institute and the Community Health Leadership Academy – as each required a high level of resources. Other programs such as the Champions of the Community Awards are on hold until we can safely gather in person. Viviann rolled out a new menu of programming in August that offers workshops with external experts and peer learning opportunities that acknowledge the expertise we have within our nonprofits.

Stewardship

As economic recovery from COVID continues, the Foundation portfolio remains strong. At the end of the fiscal year, our investment portfolio was higher than anticipated. The Foundation Board voted to immediately pay this into the community by funding an additional $550,000 in grants at the end of the year.

Looking Forward

This past year has been one we will not forget. All of us were impacted by the pandemic. All of us either lost someone dear to COVID or knew someone who did. Many lost jobs. And the full impact to our mental health, and especially youth and our elderly neighbors, may not be known for some time. More and more of our neighbors reached out to our grantees in asking for help, and while they pivoted and persevered, the staff of our nonprofits have also been struggling with taking care of themselves, their families, and their clients. We are not out of this pandemic yet and we have a lot more to do to help our community heal.

All the more reason we are looking forward to next year. We anticipate the release of a revised strategic plan in early 2022 with a more intentional focus as a trust-based funder. We invite you reach out to us if you have any questions. We look forward to continuing to make the greater Phoenixville area one of the healthiest places in Pennsylvania. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for the most up-to-date news.