Rooted in Love for 40 Years

• September 2026 – Honoring SJF’s 40th anniversary as a mission-driven grantmaking partner rooted in love.
• 2025 – Launched “Rooted in Love: Conversations with Gabby & Jason”, SJF’s official podcast to explore how partnerships rooted in love create lasting impact.
• 2024 – Launched Phase 2 of the Intersections Initiative with the Prevention Institute in South King County, Washington.
• 2024 – Building upon the partnerships from the Education Initiative, centered Black and Indigenous birth justice partners in Washington and Montana.
• 2024 – Continued learning and growth on healing with a focus on lifting community stories and narratives power-building and launched the Cultivate to Illuminate Initiative.
• 2024 – Defined the Pillars of Partnership, designed to address systemic challenges and foster meaningful change: center racial justice, advance equity, build community power, and focus on systems and upstream work.
• 2024 – Announced new framework for disaster response and resilience, providing unrestricted grants to Catholic Relief Services, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and Catholic Charities USA.
• 2023 – Rebranded as St. Joseph Fund (SJF) and shared new logo, rooted in our deep ties to St. Joseph, a carpenter, and the connection of faith grounded by love for people.
• 2023 – Identified “Rooted in Love” as SJCPF’s tag line, reflecting how love is foundational in our work. This was derived from the Maxims of Jean-Pierre Médaille, SJ, the founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
• 2023 – Celebrated and honored Sister Suzanne Sassus, CSJ, founding sister of SJF and esteemed board member, who retired from SJCPF.
• 2023 – Hosted “Contar Su Historia/Telling Your Story,” a two-day event to uplift transformational stories from community leaders.

• 2023 – Launched Healing Tides: Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) Leadership + Renewal Initiative, centering and exploring healing, renewal, and cultural preservation in the NHPI communities.
• 2023 – Hosted “Celebrating Community Power,” the first in-person gathering since the pandemic, to gather and honor partners for joy, rest, and connection.
• 2023 – Partnered with (Orange County Grantmakers (OCG) on their Community Programming series “Beyond Equity,” building on OCG’s Equity Strategic Plan and “Beyond Equity: Seeking Liberation, Autonomy and Justice in Orange County” report co-created with the California Endowment.
• 2023 – Led with community-centric evaluation practices, highlighting commitment to regenerative and trust-based philanthropy focused on building non-transactional partnerships.
• 2022 – Launched the Education Initiative to build the capacity of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led community-based organizations focused on advancing birth justice, uplifting liberatory education, and addressing the school-to-prison pipeline in Washington.
• 2022 – Partnered with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and national organizations to improve disaster preparedness, especially in communities systemically and disproportionately excluded from recovery investments.
• 2021 – Launched Community Recovery and Resilience Initiative focused on community organizing, policy change, and civic engagement, and co-designs strategies with partners to build community self-determination.
• 2020 – Partnered with communities disproportionately impacted by racial and economic inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic and launched the Community Recovery and Resilience Initiative.
• 2019 – Worked with OCG to fully embrace racial equity through strategic planning efforts.

• 2018 – SJHSF officially became the St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund (SJCPF) to better reflect its evolving mission to advance equity, justice, and community power building.
• 2018 – SJCPF identified a strategic framework centered on four focus areas: Disaster Response & Resilience, Lifelong Education that Opens Doors, Positive Change through Community Power, and Community Healing and Resilience.
• 2016 – Launched the Intersections Initiative with the Prevention Institute, building capacity in seven (7) communities in California.
• 2016 – St. Joseph Health joined with Providence Health & Services, creating one of the largest Catholic health systems in the United States, Providence St. Joseph Health.
• 2000–2010 – Expanded investments to support systemic issues such as poverty, access to care, housing, and education.
• 1998 – Launched Community Building Initiative (CBI) as a grant program aimed at improving health outcomes for low-income communities (1998–2023).
• 1990s – Made regional investments in communities across California, with a focus on community health, education, and economic development.
• 1987 – Created the Intensive Care of the Neighbor (ICON) award, under the leadership of Sr. Suzanne Sassus, CSJ, to honor and recognize individuals and organizations that have had a positive social impact on their communities. The award featured the image of the Good Samaritan, who exemplifies compassion and care for the dear neighbor.
• 1986 – SJHSF’s first grant was awarded after a devastating earthquake in Mexico City.
• 1986 – St. Joseph Health System Foundation (SJHSF) was founded to establish the St. Joseph Health System, guided by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Its founding mission was to continue the healing ministry of Jesus by improving the health and quality of life in the communities served by St. Joseph Health.

For four decades, we have partnered with values-aligned partners to advance equity, racial healing, and justice, and build community power that drives lasting systems change.

To see where the next 40 years take us, we hope you sign up for our monthly newsletter, Rooted In Love, and follow us on LinkedIn.