We are proud to announce the launch of a new organization dedicated to providing financial support to the Shalem Mental Health Network. The Shalem Mental Health Foundation is a separately incorporated charitable foundation governed by an independent, volunteer Board of Directors. Board members have a passion for ensuring a viable witness to the Gospel in the area of mental health, and they bring their financial expertise to the table in support of the Shalem Network’s ministries.

What will the Foundation do? The Foundation will assume responsibility for all fundraising in support of the Network, and it will manage a small endowment fund. A comprehensive Development Plan is close to being finalized, and a robust set of fundraising policies has been adopted. The Foundation is committed to ethical best practices in fundraising, full transparency and strong governance.

How will the Foundation work? As the graphic shows, your donations provide water that the Foundation directs to nurture a tree which bears fruit in people’s lives.

Watch for more as the Foundation develops. Its website will be populated soon. Look for the details of our Development Plan as they are announced. Much work has been happening behind the scenes for the past two years, and we are grateful for this sign of our further maturity in the support of mental health needs from a Gospel perspective. The Foundation is a new, vital part of the Shalem family.

All of us are affected by mental illness in some way, whether it is our own illness or that of a loved one, a friend or a colleague. The Foundation offers a vehicle for providing tangible support for people who struggle with mental illness or emotional distress.

Please keep Shalem—specifically the people we serve—in your prayers, and please do support them by sending the Foundation your gifts. All of us are deeply grateful for your gifts, seek to be worthy of them, and do not take them for granted! Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information, or for a visit to talk about how you can be involved with the work of the Foundation.

Mark Vander Vennen, MA, M.Ed, R.S.W., is the Executive Director of the Shalem Mental Health Network.