The Catherine Donnelly Foundation, established in 2003, is the financial legacy of The Sisters of Service. It honours and extends the mission of the Sisters of Service and their foundress Sister Catherine Donnelly.
Sister Donnelly was a remarkable religious leader and pioneer who advocated for many community-based programs and services to respond to the needs of immigrants coming to Canada. She was a forward thinking role model and at times her radical approach took the Sisters of Service beyond the prevailing norms of the religious women of her day.
Through the Sisters of Service endowment, the Catherine Donnelly Foundation will continue the unique history of missionary service in Canada so as to celebrate, honour and extend the Vision, Mission and Values of the Sisters of Service.
Inspired by the vision of Catherine Donnelly, the Foundation will seek radical and creative ways of responding to the most urgent needs of our society in the areas of Housing Initiatives, Adult Education Initiatives and Opportunities and Environmental Enhancement Initiatives.
The mission of the Foundation is rooted in the following values:
The belief that every person has inherent dignity and worth by virtue of being created by God and therefore entitled to an equitable share of the resources of God's universe.
Our service, marked by justice and compassion, is inspired by biblical values and Christian principles and the Gospel directive that Christ came into the world “not to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45).
The Foundation believes in ideas that demonstrate proactive and creative responses to needs in the three areas of funding.
The Foundation believes that cooperative ventures with other agencies of similar values ensure a more effective service to needs in the three funding areas.
The Foundation will be biased towards projects and initiatives that simultaneously try to address more than one of the particular needs chosen for its support in the three areas for funding.
The Foundation believes in the critical need for ecological balance and environmental sustainability, out of which comes a profound conviction that a fundamental shift toward a more holistic earth-centered value system is imperative.
CATHERINE DONNELLY FOUNDATION
10 Montcrest Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario • M4K 1J7
Tel: 416-461-2996 • Fax: 416-465-4193
Email: info@catherinedonnellyfoundation.org
