Nurturing the roots of holistic wellbeing
Rather than focus on project-based outputs or services, we seek to invest in the holistic wellbeing of people living in vulnerable communities around the world.
Through our grantmaking, we prioritize community-led initiatives that seek to heal people’s connections to God, self, others, and creation. As communities embrace new mindsets about their own identity and purpose, and learn to steward resources in more innovative ways, new paths unfold.
We believe if you heal the spirit of a people, they will lead themselves
We believe that it is not simply lack of access to such things as education, healthcare and job creation that keeps communities from flourishing, but a much deeper brokenness of spirit evidenced by lack of voice, purpose, meaningful relationships, agency and connection. (See Theory of Change)
Choosing our Grant Partners
When exploring new partnerships, we use the following criteria in our evaluation process.
We focus on 4 geographic areas – Mexico, Haiti, Northern India, and East Africa – prioritizing community-based organizations in specific regions of each country that can be connected and learn from each other.
Our support goes beyond funding. We seek to be mutual partners, creating opportunities for networking and collaboration across regions.
We seek partners who share our values and approach to living and working in community.
We are place-based, prioritizing rural communities; we are faith-inspired, responding to God's call to service and justice; and we are healing-centered, prioritizing grassroots initiatives that promote healing and reconciliation.
At this time, funding applications are available by invitation only.
Our Partners
Our current grantees work in one or more of the following areas of community development.
Stories
Changing Mindsets and Livelihoods in India
Inderpaul is a cotton farmer in the Vidarbha region of India. Due to poor weather conditions, he fell into heavy…
Combatting Gender-Based Violence in Latin America
In 2018, VHF hosted our first international grant partner retreat in Mexico City. Forty people from 15 organizations attended. Following…
We For Others: Mindset Change in India
When I (Joseph) joined Vista Hermosa Foundation as a Program Officer to steward relationships with partners in East Africa and…
Changing Mindsets and Livelihoods in India
Combatting Gender-Based Violence in Latin America
We For Others: Mindset Change in India
Daring to Live the Future Now
Notes From: Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey Into Communities Daring To Live The Future Now www.walkoutwalkon.net (Wheatley and Frieze) Notes By Cheryl Broetje What does it mean: daring to live the future now? For those who try it, we experience what’s possible when we change our beliefs about what people are capable…
God hears our prayers
This is a story shared by our friends in the Philippines, who went through the servant leadership course as a community and as a result decided to form the Center for Servant Leadership, Philippines. This is a story of the power of prayer and transformation that can…
How Servant Leadership Impacted my Service
This is part of a series of stories from Servant Leaders who have been trained by the Center for Sharing over the past fifteen years. We will be highlighting leaders across the globe who have submitted their lives to serve and now find themselves in positions of leadership. Salome Meeme, who now works for CARE…
Wilson Dumelod, Servant Leader
This is part of a series of stories from Servant Leaders who have been trained by the Center for Sharing over the past fifteen years. We will be highlighting leaders across the globe who have submitted their lives to serve and now find themselves in positions of leadership. This story is from Wilson Dumelod, who…
John Koskei, Servant Leader
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” – Jesus Christ, from Matthew 5:9 This is part of a series of stories from Servant Leaders who have been trained by the Center for Sharing over the past fifteen years. We will be highlighting leaders across the globe who have submitted their…
A New Dream is Born
The focus of our Servant Leadership training efforts over the past five years in Kenya have focused heavily on educating the community leaders there from the Methodist Church Kenya to work to build better communities. Recently, Roseanne Mbaya, one of the leaders who went through our servant leadership course decided to start something new,…
Servant Leaders in Kenya
CFS has been offering SL courses through MCK since 2005. Having trained some 20% of their pastors now, we felt this was the right time to hold some regional meetings in order to gather information about the impact of SL on them, and in what ways, if any, they have tried to apply it to…
True Wealth is Discovered
By Ruth Ortega, from the Center for Servant Leadership, Philippines There was a time when we sat down and asked ourselves what wealth makes us and what poverty makes of us, who we would want to be identified with and to what will our lifestyle witness. On our second week of having no money in…
A Mother is Found
Thirty years ago, Gladys lost her son…but more than that, she may have lost herself and her family. She left everything she knew and began to wander from her native El Salvador, migrating north and living in the streets. She became a broken woman, and she lost all contact with her family and left her…
Sharing Bread with the Immigrants
Sharing Bread with the Immigrants Sharing Bread with the Immigrants