St. Clare Foundation

05/04/2026

We had a great time on Friday supporting The Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce at their Golf Plae Dae! ⛳️

05/01/2026

Yesterday marked the end of Child Abuse Prevention Month which dedicates the month of April to raising awareness, promoting prevention efforts, and strengthening families to ensure children grow up in safe, nurturing environments.

St. Clare Foundation was fortunate to participate in several great events in our community to support these advocacy efforts.

🔵Marion County IL Child Abuse Prevention Coalition ‘s Centralia Prevention Walk

🔵Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center’s Prevention Picnic in the Park

We had a great time connecting with other social service leaders, advocating for child abuse prevention, and most importantly spending some time with the youth in our community!

04/30/2026

Thank you to the The Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce for highlighting the work of one of our amazing grant recipients, Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center! We are honored to partner with The Amy Center and support this transformation in their work and in the lives of the children and families they serve.

Read more here: https://centraliachamber.com/updates/2026/4/22/pj7uyi8e7eg92xc5d7x71ovesp2yyi

The Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center will introduce new services this summer thanks to an Anchor Investment courtesy of the St. Clare Foundation! 💙

The St. Clare Foundation was designed to deliver systemic change in youth and adolescent behavioral health across the southern Illinois region. The Anchor Investment will permit The Amy Center to hire a full-time mental health provider, something the agency has hoped to introduce for decades.

“We applied for a three-year grant that would fund the salary of a trauma-informed mental health provider for the children and families that we serve,” said Michaela Wharton, Executive Director of The Amy Center. “This position is kind of a unicorn. This is someone that has trauma-informed training, and certain licenses that allow them to do that kind of work.”

Michaela said The Amy Center has historically utilized outside organizations for therapy services, and that the new position will allow them to provide those same services in-house for a majority of their caseload.

The new position is currently open for applications on Indeed under the title, “Child Family Therapist”. Michaela said she hopes to see the selective candidate begin work by July 1.

Michaela wished to thank the St. Clare Foundation for the opportunities they have afforded The Amy Center and other area organizations through their inaugural grant process.

04/25/2026

04/25/2026

Come see us TODAY at Fairview Park in Centralia as we join Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center in their Prevention in the Park Event! 🥳

04/13/2026

Thank you to Morning Sentinel for the feature announcing our grant awardees! We are blessed to fund such impactful initiatives benefitting the youth in our community. 💚

Read more below ⬇️

St. Clare Foundation is awarding more than $500,000 in its first grant cycle to hospitals, schools and nonprofits across Southern Illinois to expand youth behavioral health services.

04/10/2026

We are honored to be a recipient of the first ever St. Clare Foundation Grant! We are proud to be working with an organization that has a dedicated passion for student mental health. Special thank you to Clare Kessler for her hard work on this exciting new endeavor. It is truly amazing to see talented people working to improve their community. Thank you to the St. Clare Foundation for this opportunity!

04/08/2026

📣EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT📣

What began as a vision is now becoming a reality.

We are incredibly honored to announce our inaugural grant awardees! These outstanding organizations representing our local healthcare, education, and social services sectors have big plans to address youth and adolescent behavioral health needs in our community, and we are humbled to walk alongside them.

Our inaugural grant awardees include:

🩺SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Centralia
✏️Centralia City Schools District 135
✏️Odin Public School District #722
✏️Selmaville School
✏️Mater Dei Catholic High School
✏️Mount Vernon City Schools
💚Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center
💚NAMI Illinois
💚CENTRALIA COMMUNITY YOUTH CENTER

This is a milestone moment, but we believe this is just the beginning. Learn more about this year’s recipients at the link below. 👇

The St. Clare Foundation (SCF) on Tuesday announced the recipients of its inaugural grant cycle, deploying ove...

04/08/2026

We look forward to attending the Child Abuse Prevention walk next week in Centralia and supporting this meaningful cause!

Details for upcoming walks below ⤵️

We'd love to see you there! Wear 💙BLUE💙 and support Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention efforts throughout South Central IL! This year's Prevent Child Abuse theme is "Pinwheels of Possibilities." When environmental conditions are right, the pinwheel spins. Just the same, when the conditions are right for children, they can fulfill their potential and enjoy childhoods free from abuse and neglect.🩵
These events are intended to show support and raise awareness. They are NOT fundraisers, and no registered 501(c)3 charitable non-profit will be asking for donations or monetary support for/at any of the listed events.

02/24/2026

Thank you to the Centralia Rotary Club for having us to present earlier this month! We appreciate the support and partnership as we continue to raise awareness on our community's youth and adolescent behavioral health needs.

This week’s speaker was Clare Kessler, the Executive Director of the St. Clare Foundation since September 2024. She began her presentation by telling the group about the origins of the St. Clare Foundation and described how the St. Clare Foundation utilized local community health needs assessment data to inform their priorities as an organization.
Ms. Kessler went on to explain their role in the community, with key partners including local school districts, health care providers, and community service organizations. While the St. Clare Foundation is not a direct service provider of resources or care, they utilize their funding sources and grants as investments to amplify the already existing organizations working in this space with the youth in the community.
Centralia is blessed to have this organization in their community!

Pictured: Centralia Rotary President, Tom Ballagh, and Clare Kessler