Methodist Healthcare Ministries Awarded 2015 Grant Professionals Association Pioneer Award
San Antonio — Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. was recently awarded the 2015 Pioneer Award by the Grant Professionals Association, an organization focused solely on the advancement of grantsmanship as a profession and the support of its practitioners. The distinguished award acknowledged Methodist Healthcare Ministries' impact in grant-making and was presented to Collaborative Grants Specialist Edlín Maldonado-Fuller at the Grant Professionals Association's Annual Conference on Nov. 13 in St. Louis, Mo.
The annual Pioneer Award recognizes the field of grantsmanship and the visionary contributions in grant-making by those grant-makers that have impacted their communities. Specifically, it recognizes grant-makers that have impacted and improved the way grant professionals do their work.
Two awards were presented — the local award, restricted to a grant-maker headquartered within reach of the local chapter hosting the Grant Professionals Association's Annual Conference, was given to the Missouri Foundation for Health for working with communities and nonprofits to generate positive changes in health; the international award, open to any grant-maker outside the reach of the local chapter, commended Methodist Healthcare Ministries for being the largest private, faith-based funding source for health care services in South Texas.
Along with investing more than $600 million for the past 20 years, Methodist Healthcare Ministries operates health and wellness clinics, school-based health centers, and an array of counseling, health and parenting programs. Methodist Healthcare Ministries has invested in initiatives to increase and strengthen collaborations among grantees, non-grantee nonprofit organizations and local funders. Methodist Healthcare Ministries supports a regional referral exchange, iNexx, which engages existing Methodist Healthcare Ministries programs, funded partners, and other local nonprofit resources to augment services. From a grant professional's perspective, this allows nonprofits to proudly speak of their collaborations and partnerships with other funders. Recently, Methodist Healthcare Ministries led local funders in developing a Common Grant Application for the San Antonio area, which allows nonprofits to tackle one application versus several versions. Methodist Healthcare Ministries also provides grant-writing related technical assistance and organizational capacity building services to ensure nonprofits are able to successfully engage other funders.
For more on the Grant Professionals Association and the Pioneer Award, visit www.grantprofessionals.org.
