Our mission is to serve together in the spirit of the Gospel as a compassionate and transforming, healing presence within our communities.

Allegany Franciscan Ministries, a non-profit Catholic organization, is guided by this mission and rooted in the tradition and vision of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. A member of Trinity Health, we provide grants and work with community partners in three regions of Florida formerly served by the Sisters’ hospitals: Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties, and the Tampa Bay area of Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

Since awarding its first grant in 1998, Allegany Franciscan Ministries has invested $114 million to over 1,700 organizations serving those most in need in these communities.

In addition to awarding grants, our staff and volunteers work collaboratively with community partners and other funders to promote physical, mental, spiritual, societal, and cultural health and well-being in the communities we serve.

The communities we serve will become ever more just, equitable, and caring;
everyone in our communities will be welcomed and have the resources to thrive.

In every case, these hospital ministries were devoted to meeting the needs of their poor, oppressed and disenfranchised sisters and brothers. Over the years, the ministries in each area grew and changed, always keeping the values of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany at their heart.

In the mid to late 1990’s, as the healthcare environment changed, the Sisters looked for ways to continue their ministries in Florida. In 1997, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany joined with the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of Providence to help form and sponsor Catholic Health East (CHE), a multi-institutional Catholic health system. At the same time, the Sisters divested certain assets through their Florida healthcare partnerships and created the initial Allegany Franciscan Foundations to serve three regions of Florida–Miami-Dade County, Tampa Bay and Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

In January 1998, the Board awarded its inaugural grant $1,750,000 supporting the development of  a children’s hospital. The Board made its first competitive distributions to nonprofit organizations in 1999. That same year, the first CEO was hired and an office was opened in Clearwater; regional offices were opened in Palm Beach County in 2001 and in Miami-Dade in 2003.

Following CHE’s merge with Trinity Health in 2013, Allegany Franciscan Ministries became a Mission Health Ministry of Trinity Health, one of largest multi-institutional Catholic health systems in the nation. Trinity Health has an enduring legacy and a steadfast mission to be a transforming and healing presence within the communities served. Committed to those who are poor and underserved in its communities, Trinity Health is a people-centered health care system that enables better health, better care and lower costs with 93 hospitals and 120 continuing care facilities, home care agencies and outpatient centers in 22 states. 

Throughout its history, Allegany Franciscan Ministries has made a concerted effort to develop strong relationships with grant seekers, grant partners and the non-profit and funding community in each region and across the state.

In 2014, we launched the Common Good Initiative, a long-term, community-driven, place-based effort mobilizing communities toward better health and wellness. Through the initiative in Overtown, Lincoln Park and Wimauma, we are supporting residents and stakeholders to create opportunities, develop strategies and make investments that lead to healthier, safer, and more connected places.