Mission
Continuing in the footsteps of the Felician Sisters, the St. Clare Foundation will collaborate with community partners to improve access to resources and holistically respond to unmet health and social needs of the underserved people of Southern Illinois.
Vision
A community with no unmet health and social needs.
Values Statement
We are guided by Felician and Franciscan traditions and will follow the Felician Sisters’ core values for ministry: Respect for Human Dignity, Justice and Peace, Compassion, Transformation, and Solidarity with People in Need.
History/Background
The Felician Sisters have a long history of care and service in the Illinois community, particularly in S. Illinois, as the timeline below demonstrates:
1909 – 1922: The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ were staffing St. Mary’s Hospital, a two-story building with 22 beds, on behalf of the Belleville, IL Diocese. By 1911, they had 13 more beds. By 1922 they had 86 beds.
1933: There was a high demand for education due to increased immigration and the Great Depression. Health care was not a priority to the Felician Sisters at that time, but over time, needs arose which included a health care ministry. Six sisters began nursing studies at schools in Chicago, Springfield (IL), and Manitowoc.
1939 – 1942: Due to a lack of vocations, the Poor Handmaids withdrew from St. Mary’s Hospital and the Felician Sisters stepped in to serve. The Chicago Province of the Felician Sisters sent 14 Felician Sisters to Centralia. Sisters took on leadership in all roles – nursing, administration, laboratories, housekeeping and so on – This began a meaningful relationship between the Felician Sisters and their lay partners. By 1942, the Chicago Province began negotiations to purchase the hospital.
1996: The Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) between the Felician Sisters and SSM Health was formed. It was designed to create an innovative partnership to preserve Catholic Health Care in the S. Illinois community by operating as one unified organization across two hospital campuses.
2022: Confident in SSM Health’s ability to continue the mission-centered health ministry, the Felician Sisters and SSM Health sign a letter of intent to renegotiate the JOA terms creating an available source of funding for the Felician Sisters to create the St. Clare Foundation to preserve the Felician Sisters’ legacy in the community and create a deeper emphasis on addressing community needs.
2023 – The Felician Sisters approve the creation of a foundation to support the needs of the Southern Illinois community to be named the “St. Clare Foundation”, in honor of the sisters’ Felician-Franciscan tradition and charism and in honor of Sr. Clarette Stryzewski, CSSF who served in leadership roles in the community for over 30 years.
