2021
Family Tree Clinic ($8,542.56)- to purchase video remote medical interpreting devices for its unique patient population, which includes Deaf, Deaf/Blind, and Hard of Hearing individuals, immigrants, and refugees.
Sholom Foundation ($8,499.00)- to purchase an iN2L, a high-tech content-driven computer system for group or individual use that includes customized content like trivia, games, art, travel, and handwork to promote cognitive stimulation and engagement for residents at the Sholom Home.
Hamm Memorial Psychiatric Clinic ($9,932)- to develop assessment services for asylum seekers in the Twin Cities.
Crescent Cove ($10,000)- to make acoustical improvements to Minnesota’s first and only residential and respite hospice home for children.
Washburn Center for Children (partial $7,275)- to support the development of a rapid response mental health assessment team for children who are experiencing serious mental health challenges.
*We are grateful to acknowledge the Oren and Sharron Steinfeldt Family Foundation, which has generously awarded MSCF a grant to support our 2021 recipients.
2020
Our Lady of Peace ($8,352) – to purchase 6-8 larger smart TVs with pillow speakers for patients in hospice care to enable them to better see and hear the TVs as well as have contact with their loved ones.
My Very Own Bed ($10,000) – to provide 50 beds to children in need, identified by St. Paul Public School’s Project REACH.
St. Louis Park Emergency Program-STEP ($10,000) – to fund their pilot program, Family Separation Crisis Response, which will provide emergency case management and financial assistance to those families upended by immigration enforcement.
Fraser ($10,000) – to provide enhanced teacher training on early mental health awareness and effective classroom intervention strategies for young children in St. Paul Public Schools.
Angel Foundation ($8,150) – to translate their printed and online guidebooks for families dealing with cancer into Spanish.
*We are grateful to acknowledge the Oren and Sharron Steinfeldt Family Foundation, which has generously awarded MSCF a grant to support our 2020 recipients.
2019
Children’s Home Society ($10,000) – to provide individualized family support coach services to 5-8 preadoptive families with weekly in-home visits and tailored support prior to finalization.
House of Charity Food Centre ($10,000) – to purchase a natural gas six pan countertop steamer for the Food Centre to provide more healthy vegetables to guests and to enable the Centre to increase the amount of vegetables received from secondary sources as they can be steamed and frozen for later use.
People Serving People ($9,982) – to purchase safe sleep supports, infant bathing options, sanitary changing stations, and to provide support for nursing mothers and opportunities for other early developmental needs for infants staying at emergency shelter.
Relate, Inc. ($7,980) – to train five clinicians to use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to be offered at schools for students suffering from abuse, trauma, phobias PTSD, panic attacks, and complicated grief.
*We are grateful to acknowledge the Oren and Sharron Steinfeldt Family Foundation, which has generously awarded MSCF a grant to support our 2019 recipients.
2018
Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery ($5,000) – to equip the Crisis Nursery with health care supplies needed to operate the Pediatric Assessment and Medical Management program (PAMM) in fiscal year 2019.
Hunger Ends Here ($4,000) – to fund an intergenerational, community service hunger relief event between Shaller Family Sholom East Campus and Nova Classical Academy where participants will pack meals of Harvest Pack’s fortified oatmeal during a single day event.
National Council of Jewish Women ($10,000) – to provide menstrual hygiene products to homeless, highly mobile, and at-risk youth in Minneapolis Public Schools for the 2018-2019 school year, while NCJW seeks a public policy solution to sustain the program statewide.
United Family Medicine ($10,000) – to purchase and pilot the use of mobile interpretation devices to increase the quality of medical care for non-English speaking patients and patients best served in a language other than English.
Washburn Center for Children ($9,750) – to provide culturally responsive mentoring, a fellowship grant, and training for state licensure for an aspiring children’s mental health therapist.
2017
Aliveness Project ($4,075): To purchase a convection oven for its meal program. The Aliveness Project links people living with HIV to resources for leading healthy, self-directed lives.
Family Tree Clinic ($10,000): To fund the equipment and upfront training necessary for Family Tree to launch itstheir LGBTQ Fertility Program, whose overarching goal is to assist LGBTQ families to achieve parenthood through insemination services, fertility consultation, and support.
Giving Voice Chorus ($10,000): For a new Giving Voice Chorus® Traveling Ensemble to perform three healthcare community-focused performances in the Twin Cities. These performances help address GVI’s key goals of educating Twin Cities physicians, social workers and others about the benefits of choral singing to improve the well-being of those with Alzheimer’s disease and reducing public stigma of Alzheimer’s disease. Funding for this project was made possible in part through the generous support of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation’s Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund.
JWI/Hillel ($6,500): To sponsor The Culture: Sexual Assault & Dating Abuse Prevention & Education program, an innovative multi-faceted co-ed program that promotes the well-being and health of students through an exploration of campus culture, sexual assault, and dating abuse.
Wilder Foundation ($10,000): For the expansion of the Twin Cities Mobile Market (TCMM), a grocery store on wheels that brings healthy, affordable food into low-income food deserts. TCMM will add a second Mobile Market bus to serve Minneapolis.
2016
Community Dental Care ($10,000): To purchase small dental equipment to expand the Dental Professional Student Training program in order to increase the number of providers working in underserved communities. Additional tools will enable Community Dental Care to maintain its regular patient appointments and provide students the opportunity to learn.
East Side Neighborhood Services ($5,850): To support the Safe Hearts Project by purchasing and installing two AEDs that are more accessible for high-risk populations; a hands-only CPR/AED training for all interested staff; a Heartsaver AED/CPR certification course for 10 selected staff; and two public awareness events.
Open Arms of Minnesota ($5,000): To purchase kitchen equipment to increase the capacity of Open Arms’ chefs for baked goods, improve the quality of soups and other soft/ground menu items, and allow for menu innovation.
Our Lady of Peace Home ($8,964): To purchase two blanket warmers for use by hospice patients to keep them warm and comfortable at a critical time. This project is part of an overall expansion of the tub facilities that is already underway. Funding was provided, in part, through the generous support of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation’s Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund.
People Serving People ($3,150): To form a consulting partnership with The Wilder Foundation to become trauma-informed in People Serving People’s homeless shelter operations and service delivery. Becoming trauma-informed is expected to improve outcomes for guests, decrease adverse experiences, and improve employee well-being. Funding for this project was made possible through the generous support of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation’s Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund.
Upstream Arts ($10,000): To offer The Art of Relationships, a course on relationships and sexuality, to women with disabilities. The course will empower women with disabilities to make healthy choices, increase self-sufficiency, and decrease risks of negative health outcomes. In addition, through the Gail Greenberg Siegel Memorial Fund, our Teen Giving Circle members directed their pooled donations of $540 to Upstream Arts to further support The Art of Relationships course.
Wayside House ($2,000): In support of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for children who have suffered the trauma of their mother’s chemical dependency. Through PCIT, mothers learn how to parent their children sober and the bonds between parent and child are strengthened.
2015
Ampersand Families ($10,000): To train and certify a staff member in the Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) assessment tool for healing the effects of early childhood trauma in older youth adopted from Minnesota’s foster care system.
Ascension Place ($7,730): To provide 25 staff members at the St. Anne’s Place emergency family shelter with a year of training and consultation in the Duke University Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) treatment model. With this training, the organization will improve its program by applying the latest research for providing care to women and children experiencing traumatic stress brought on by homelessness, family disruption, extreme poverty, chronic hunger, abuse, and neglect. Funding was provided, in part, through the generous support of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation’s Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund and, in this instance, was directed to treatment for children and the homeless in the area of mental health.
Jewish Community Center of Greater St. Paul ($9,952): To modify the Camp Butwin challenge course, making it possible for children with and without disabilities to navigate the course together.
Friends of Saint Paul College ($7,347): To purchase a newborn/preemie simulator manikin to enhance interdisciplinary learning in Saint Paul College’s Simulation Laboratory. This project advances medical care for Minnesotans by producing well-trained pediatric care employees.
People’s Center Health Services ($10,000): To purchase a level II ultrasound machine to provide on-site, culturally competent screening in efforts to remove barriers to access and promote prenatal health among East African women.
Loaves and Fishes ($2,050): To create a menu resource guide enabling the organization to more efficiently and effectively provide 1,900 nutritious, kid-friendly daily free meals, in light of the recent expansion from 10 to 19 stand-alone dining sites.
In addition, through the Gail Greenberg Siegel Memorial Fund, the MSCF Teen Giving Circle members directed their allocation of $1,081 to ARC Greater Twin Cities, to expand sexual health information through training and education with provider partners, direct service professionals, and self-advocates (adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities).
2014
Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy Association of Minnesota (AFAA) ($8,105): To help improve access to lifesaving allergy information for non-English speakers. Funding was made possible, in part, through $4,147 from the Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation. This fund honors the memory and legacy of the Finkelstein family and has specific criteria for its use, including patient advocacy initiatives. The Giving Circle selected AFAA as an MSCF Finkelstein Memorial Fund recipient in recognition of AFAA’s proposed work to advance food allergy education.
Can Do Canines ($10,000): To support a program in which inmates train puppies to become assistance dogs for people with disabilities and/or serious medical conditions. In addition, the Mount Sinai Community Foundation Teen Giving Circle members voted to direct their contribution of $502 to Can Do Canines.
Cornerstone Advocacy Services ($6,278): To provide staff training to support children traumatized by domestic violence and to pilot health/well-being services to children.
HealthFinders Collaborative ($10,000): To provide equipment for a start-up, volunteer-based dental clinic.
North Metro Pediatrics ($4,390): To help fund physicals and immunizations for low-income, high-risk youth so that they can participate in sport activities.
Southside Family Nurturing Center ($8,500): To purchase new equipment to improve gross motor skills for toddlers and preschoolers.
2013
CornerHouse ($10,000): To help improve access to medical exams for child victims of physical abuse and adolescent victims of sexual and physical abuse.
Hold Your Horses ($10,000): To cover the cost of acquiring, training, and maintaining a horse for equine-assisted services—including occupational therapy, physical therapy, and psychotherapy—that help to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.
NAMI Minnesota ($5,000): To fund “Youth Mental Health First Aid” workshops to school professionals and resource officers as well as other professionals to recognize mental health disorders in children and adolescents and to provide essential skills needed to help a youth deal effectively with a mental health crisis.
Sabes JCC ($10,000): To help fund a campus-wide CPR/first aid training initiative to ensure that all agencies at the Barry Family Campus are prepared to address medical emergencies. The program design expands its scope to serve personnel at Jewish organizations throughout the community.
The Bridge for Youth ($7,000): To help launch a special animal-assisted therapy project, PRIORITY Paws, to improve the emotional health and well-being of youth in crisis. Funding was made possible, in part, through $4,000 from the Frances & Samuel Finkelstein/Janice Finkelstein Mattison Memorial Fund of the Mount Sinai Community Foundation. This fund honors the memory and legacy of the Finkelstein family and has specific criteria for its use, including mental health treatment for homeless children. The Giving Circle selected The Bridge for Youth as an MSCF Finkelstein Memorial Fund recipient in recognition of The Bridge for Youth’s proposed work to provide animal-assisted therapy to homeless children in crisis.
The Institute for Exercise Medicine & Prevention ($5,920): To help fund nutrition education visual aids, workbooks, take-home sheets, and specific exercise equipment necessary for the program.
In addition, MSCF launched its Teen Giving Circle, whose members voted to direct their contribution of $432 to The Institute for Exercise Medicine & Prevention ($180), NAMI Minnesota ($162), and CornerHouse ($90).