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Rooted in faith and active in hope, the Episcopal Health Foundation believes ALL Texans deserve to live a healthy life - especially the poor and those with the least resources.
We express our faith by supporting the well-being and health of those around us. We believe ALL Texans should be able to live in neighborhoods that enable children and families to thrive. We believe ALL Texans should be able to receive high-quality, affordable medical care when and where they need it.
The health crisis facing Texas
Far too many Texans are in crisis. Our state ranks near the bottom when it comes to the health of our parents, children and families. We have the most people without health insurance in America. Too many of our loved ones die prematurely from heart disease and strokes. The number of Texas children suffering from asthma is big enough to fill every seat in Houston’s NRG Stadium eight times over.
What EHF is doing about it
We need a new approach that addresses health from all angles. EHF is committed to help lead this transformation to create healthier communities, and demonstrate our faith by caring for the health of our neighbors. We invest millions of dollars in organizations, programs, and church projects that improve the health of the 10 million people living throughout the 57-county region served by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
While providing health care services is critical, our focus goes beyond the exam room. We want to address to the underlying causes that lead to poor health. We want to make sure that everywhere our community members live, learn, worship, work and play supports health and opportunity for all.
Strengthening the health system for 11 million Texans
We can achieve a stronger and healthier Texas, and transform the health our communities, by not just filling the gaps, but closing them. We are working together with nonprofit organizations, health departments, people of faith, philanthropic institutions, and community members to create a health system that ensures that Texans not only receive quality medical care, but that the places they live and work enable them to get and stay healthy.
EHF was established through the 2013 transfer of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas to Catholic Health Initiatives. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that operates as a supporting organization of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas pursuant to Section 509(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Mission
The mission of the Episcopal Health Foundation is to advance the Kingdom of God with specific focus on human health and well-being through grants, research, and initiatives in support of the work of the Diocese.
Vision
The Episcopal Health Foundation’s vision is a diocese in which the people, parishes, institutions and community are all connected in service of transformation to healthy communities for all.
Our Core Values
- Informed Action. Rigorous research is the foundation for actions and initiatives that have the potential to transform human lives and organizations.
- Collaboration. The most effective use of financial resources is often discovered in ministries that go beyond the limits of individuals or individual congregations. Broad-based communities galvanized around responses to particular human needs have a powerful potential to effect real and lasting change.
- Empowerment. The old adage is true: It is good to give a hungry person a fish; it is empowering to teach the same person to fish. Loving and compassionate people often need training to be effective change agents. Leadership development and training are central to empowerment.
- Stewardship. Good stewardship requires careful oversight and development of the abundance that God provides.
- Transparency. All actions and decisions are open to the light of public scrutiny. Secrecy and confidentiality are not the same thing.
- Accountability. The results of decisions and actions of EHF are audited and measured against reasonable benchmarks. Mistakes are made. When mistakes are treated with openness and honesty, lessons are learned. Public accounting and reporting are made on a regular basis.
- Transformation of human lives and organizations. The best good is good that lasts by effecting transformational changes in root causes.
- Compassion for the poor and powerless.
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.