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Stories of Success
The Wasie Foundation - Mobile Outreach Unit For Marie Wasie, the wife of former Minneapolis trucking pioneer and philanthropist Stanley Wasie, one of the biggest problems facing America was the poor healthcare being provided to a growing number of young Americans. Mrs. Wasie’s youthful spirit and vision is reflected through The Wasie Foundation’s efforts to create a brighter future for children with medical problems. For the past 20 years, Gillette Specialty Healthcare has been providing clinics and assistive technology services to remote areas of Minnesota. These rural regions present significant obstacles for traditional health care services due to their isolated location and the cost of travel needed to reach such areas. In light of this desperate need, The Wasie Foundation found a unique solution that combined innovation with a sense of compassion reminiscent of Marie Wasie. In 2004, The Wasie Foundation provided a $197,000 grant to Gillette Specialty Healthcare for the purchase of a new Mobile Outreach Unit. Traveling in specially equipped vans, staff members bring assistive technology services to those individuals who were previously isolated from advanced medical care. Mobile Outreach Clinics are tailored to meet the needs of each community. These clinics provide education and training for community service providers and fit local individuals for assistive technology devices. In addition to workstations, welders, and other tools, each of these vans has the capability of transporting a wide range of specialized assistive technology devices, such as augmentative communication aids and computer assistance devices to outreach sites. David Wilkie, the manager of Gillette Assistive Technology and the Mobile Outreach Unit, knows the importance of local providers being equipped with the proper technologies to assist their patients. For over 20 years, Mr. Wilkie and his staff have brought assistive technologies to local providers allowing these individuals to provide greater aid to those children most in need. Just last year in 2004, over 150 Mobile Outreach Clinics provided care to children throughout the state of Minnesota. Healthier children and greater opportunities for those with medical problems were goals of Marie Wasie. Today, The Wasie Foundation continues to look out for the welfare of America’s youth and through its efforts thousands of children enjoy a healthier and happier childhood.
Emmanuel Gospel Center Acton Institute - Samaritan Award Winner (2004) The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is a non-profit educational and research organization named for Lord Acton (1834-1902), the great English historian and popular writer on political, social and theological issues. The Acton Institute is the driving force behind the Samaritan Awards, an annual program that recognizes faith-based charities that receive little or no governmental support. The Samaritan Award is the flagship program for the Acton Institute’s Center for Effective Compassion. It is an honor given to America’s leading charities and provides valuable information for donors and philanthropists. The evaluation process is new and unique and assesses program, financial, administrative and stakeholder information. The 2004 grand prizewinner of the Samaritan Award, which carries an award of $10,000, is the Network Savings and Training Program of Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC). A national expert on urban ministry, EGC partnered with Enterprise Development International (EDI), a Christian ministry that operates micro enterprise initiatives. Through its innovative financial literacy program and partnership with other community organizations, the Emmanuel Gospel Center helps set up programs like Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) at local churches in Boston’s South End. IDA programs teach low-income people how to manage their money, read credit reports, and get control of their lives. Participants are required to save $30 per week, which the program sponsor matches; monies are use for down payment on a house, small business capitalization, or post-secondary education. The Acton Institute’s commitment to the formation of human dignity, freedom and creativity leads this ecumenical and nonpartisan dialogue.
The Wasie Foundation - Jones Harrison Residence In 1966, Minneapolis trucking pioneer Stanley Wasie, a Polish immigrant, established a foundation that has helped individuals overcome barriers and has facilitated a spirit of self-reliance in the community for close to 40 years. Today, as an active member of Minnesota’s philanthropic community, The Wasie Foundation works in close partnership with a variety of community organizations. The Wasie Foundation has had a long relationship with the Jones-Harrison Residence (JHR), a long-term care facility based in Minneapolis that has been serving the elderly community since 1888. Recently, the Wasie Foundation helped JHR establish an arthritis program tailored to the needs of elderly residents. While most people residing in long term care have some form of arthritis, there were no programs designed specifically for this population. Arthritis often limits the ability to perform daily activities, sometimes causing a loss of independence. JHR wanted to develop a program that would help people with arthritis feel better through improving strength and mobility. Thus, JHR developed individualized exercise regimens, aimed at warding off the pain of arthritis by promoting good joint health, for many of it’s residents. In the year 2000, The Wasie Foundation gave two handsome
grants to Jones-Harrison: one in the amount of $500,000 that
was paid in full last year and the other a $1 million grant
payable over five years. Funding from each grant went to the
JHR’s arthritis programming. A significant portion of
this money went to new, senior-friendly exercise equipment
that automatically adjusts to fit the needs of the Jones-Harrison
residents. As a result of the personalized workout regimens and state-of-the-art exercise equipment, many residents at Jones-Harrison have been revitalized. Upper and lower body strength has improved for many residents, and no story is more inspiring than that of 101-year-old Helen Gresham. Helen walks every day, uses the weight training equipment, rides a recumbent bicycle and swims a few days each week. Helen’s family has noted great physical improvements over the past few years while she’s lived at Jones-Harrison. The Wasie Foundation supports five key areas – education for students of Polish ancestry, programs and services for people living with schizophrenia, arthritis, cancer, and for programs serving children with medical problems. In addition to The Wasie Foundation’s work with the Jones-Harrison Residence, tens of millions of dollars in grants have been distributed for charitable intentions.
Lloyd Noble, founder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, respected the land and had a desire to give back to the community. When he established the foundation, he named it after his father, Samuel Roberts, whom Lloyd said was "the most generous man he had ever known." For over 60 years, the Noble Foundation has kept its eye skyward and its feet firmly on the ground, advancing plant science through significant basic and transnational research operations while simultaneously helping local farmers in and around Ardmore, Oklahoma. When rancher Jack Cunningham moved from an arid and rocky part of southwest Texas to 600 acres of much different soil in Springer, Oklahoma, he needed guidance on making his new land productive, it was then that a friend recommended he call the farming experts at the Noble Foundation, who happened to be just 10 miles away in Ardmore. “The soil specialist taught me how to test my soil,’’ says Cunningham, now 62. “The livestock specialist helped me stock this place with yearling cattle. The crop specialist taught me how to spray for different insects and when to fertilize your winter pasture and Bermuda grass. The economist helped me with expenses by giving me data on the highs and lows of certain markets in Oklahoma City.” Over its history, the foundation has spent more than $390 million on operations and $260 million on grants. “It’s particularly meaningful that an organization in Ardmore with these resources has continued the focus of the founder and implemented it in a way that could not have been envisioned 60 years ago,” says Michael A. Cawley, Noble Foundation President. “We’re doing things that now have the opportunity to impact the country and the world, and those things are being done by all three of our operating divisions.” Staying true to Lloyd Noble’s intent is something the foundation takes very seriously, largely through the vigilance of nine family members on the foundation’s 12-person board. “I guess I would have gone broke if they hadn’t helped me,” says Cunningham. “But I’ve been able to buy even more land since they’ve come up here. They’ve helped my kids. They’ve helped me. I can’t say enough good things about them.” |
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