Cottage Cove

Cottage Cove Urban Ministries offers at-risk Nashville youth a safe, caring place to go after school and during school breaks. Through educational instruction, spiritual guidance and unconditional love, Cottage Cove provides children with the keys necessary to unlock their future and thrive. Our grant supports the expansion of food and educational material delivery for families impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis, as well as upgrades to facilities in preparation for a return to on-site programming.

Fraternite Notre Dame

Founded in 1977 by Bishop Jean Marie, Fraternite Notre Dame is a Traditional Catholic Religious Order whose Mother House is based in Chicago. Focused on spiritual renewal, the Order takes the Most Blessed Virgin Mary as its model so as to imitate her life of prayer, penance, poverty, chastity, obedience and faith. St. Rita Mercy Foundation has supported numerous projects of Fraternite Notre Dame’s throughout the years.

Harvest Hands

Focused on empowering neighbors in South Nashville, Harvest Hands invests in children through after-school programming, promotes healthy living through its Empower Sports League, and works to create positive local economic opportunities through the Humphreys Street social enterprise coffee shop. A catalyst for Christ-centered, holistic community development, Harvest Hands supports more than 100 students and 250 athletes, and trains and employs 16 teens per year. Our grant supports operating expenses for the community center, wages for teen employees, and the purchase of laptops for high schoolers studying remotely.

Leadership Roundtable

Leadership Roundtable is an organization of laity, religious, and clergy working together to promote best practices and accountability in the management, finances, communications, and human resource development of the Catholic Church in the U.S. Made up of leaders from business, finance, academia, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and the Church, Leadership Roundtable serves by sharing best practices and providing resources, training, support, and consultancy services to assist archdioceses, dioceses, and religious communities across the country.

Primo Center for Women and Children

To address the needs of highly vulnerable families and end the cycle of homelessness for women and children in Chicago, The Primo Center provides a holistic approach focused on housing, trauma-informed care, early childhood services, and integrated health care. Outpacing industry standards, more than 90% of Primo Center families are placed into permanent housing. St. Rita Mercy Foundation supports the Primo Center’s innovative home visiting program which helps build strong parent-child relationships and supports children ages 0-5 to overcome traumatic stress and increase coping mechanisms critical to their developmental growth and success in school.

Sunshine Gospel Ministries

Sunshine Gospel Ministries seeks the renewal of Chicago and the Woodlawn neighborhood through ministries of discipleship, mercy and justice. The organization builds resilience in children through its after-school programming, trains youth to understand and value work through its jobs and mentoring program, and supports parents in raising capable children through its Familyhood curriculum. They also operate a service-learning program and launched a community violence prevention initiative. Our grant supports Sunshine Gospel Ministries’ violence prevention and youth outreach programming, including spiritual enrichment.