Moving Systems Change Forward Together

As we enter Thanksgiving week and reflect on God’s many blessings in our lives, I am profoundly grateful for this season at the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. In my 15 months as Senior Director of Grantmaking, it has been my privilege to witness how our grantee partners show up with strength, compassion, resourcefulness, and dedication each day. Earlier this month, we awarded $1.1 million in grant funding to 119 nonprofits across our state for the final time in our Immediate Needs, Breaking the Cycle, and Systems-Level Change categories. Thank you to these grantee partners for extending love and care to their neighbors through their efforts.  

By now, you likely know that the Foundation is shifting our focus to systems change in 2026 to support work that is creating long-term solutions in economic mobility, housing security, and health care. This change is bittersweet, and it is not one we made lightly. But, by narrowing our focus and the number of grants we award, we will be able to provide larger grants that can fuel the systems change our communities need.  

We also know that fewer grantee partners will mean that we can partner more deeply and intentionally, offering support beyond just dollars. We will be able to build more robust partnerships and learn how our unique relationships and influence can support our partners’ work. We are confident that this new direction is the most impactful role that the Foundation can play in reducing poverty in our state and feel strongly that this is the path we are called to follow. I am grateful to be a part of an organization that is willing to meet this moment without hesitation, demanding that our collective future can and should be something amazing. 

I am also grateful for the groundwork that has been laid over many years to create the momentum necessary for this opportunity to deepen our work. We can answer this call and make this pivot because of people who so bravely shared their stories about what it is like to experience poverty in South Carolina today and what’s really needed to stop the cycle. Following this body of work and recognizing the crucial role that personal experience plays in informing solutions to reduce poverty, the Foundation’s strategic plan purposely creates room for us to lift up community voice even more over the next three years, continuing to anchor us in our core values. 

Lastly, and most importantly, I am in awe of and grateful for you. Yes, you. If you are reading this message, you are a part of the vast network of people fighting poverty in our state, working each day to make sure all South Carolinians have food, a safe place to sleep, quality medical care, positive role models, and good jobs with benefits that meet their needs. I hope you will continue to join us on this journey: 

Together, we can ensure people’s needs are met today and for generations to come by changing the systems that serve our communities. None of us can do it alone — and none of us can do it all. I am grateful for what’s to come.