Ruotolo Associates’ is incredibly proud to serve as the fundraising partner for The Anna Trust Foundation as they reach a historic milestone. Today, the Trust is announcing its first-ever round of grant recipients—a critical step in ensuring a healthy and dignified aging process for Catholic sisters worldwide.
These maiden grants are dedicated to supporting congregational collaboration and planning for elder care, specifically in underserved communities.
Our team has been honored to help build the philanthropic foundation that makes this global impact possible.
Congratulations to the first cohort of grantees!
Read more about the mission and the first round of awards at the Anna Trust Foundation website.
The Anna Trust Foundation Announces the Awardees of Its Inaugural Grant Cycle
Rome, March 31, 2026 – The Anna Trust Foundation is proud to announce the seven congregations and networks of Catholic sisters selected in its inaugural global grant cycle, marking an important step in addressing the growing needs of aging religious communities worldwide.
After a lifetime of service to society’s most vulnerable, often in the most challenging settings, sisters face growing challenges in accessing sustainable care, maintaining dignity and quality of life, and continuing their ministry. In response, The Anna Trust Foundation supports congregations in developing data, needs assessments, service models, and financial strategies necessary to plan effectively for the care of their elderly members. Following a rigorous and highly competitive selection process, the Foundation’s Program Committee, together with the Board of Directors, selected seven exemplary projects from a diverse global pool of applications. These projects support Catholic sisters in developing dynamic and sustainable innovations in care, ensuring that the full lives of aging sisters continue to serve as beacons of wisdom in their
elder years.
The awardees of the first grant cycle are:
Union des Superieures Generales des Congregations Feminines Autochtones de l’Afrique
de l’Ouest (ANIMA UNA) – West Africa: A collaborative framework among 17 congregations across the region.
Hermanas de la Caridad Dominicas de la Presentación – Peru: A content development initiative for the care of elderly sisters, involving three congregations working together.
Conférences des Supériers Majeurs – Côte d’Ivoire (CSM-CI) – Branche Féminine – Côte
d’Ivoire: A geriatrics curriculum project in partnership with the Higher Institute of Religious Life for use within religious communities.
Congregation of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word – San Antonio, Texas, USA: A digital tools program designed to support the emotional and physical health of sisters.
Society of Helpers – Chad, and Rwanda: An elderly care planning initiative across two countries in collaboration with local Conferences.
Corporación Tejiendo Solidaridad – Chile: A content enhancement project for an existing elderly sisters’ home, serving as a model for 16 congregations.
Congregation des Soeurs Bene-Tereziya – Burundi: A 10-year collaborative planning initiative with ASUMA to guide other congregations.
On behalf of The Anna Trust Foundation and in my personal capacity, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the congregations that participated in this first round of grants with such commitment, dedication, and spirit of service. Special recognition goes to the congregations selected for grants, whose work stands out for its quality, vision, and strong project planning -noted Sr. Patricia Murray, CJ, Chair of The Anna Trust Foundation.
She went on to state that future opportunities for support would be available to all congregations – At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the value of this collective effort goes beyond the outcome of the selection process. The Anna Trust Foundation is committed to supporting, also in the future, those congregations that were not funded in this phase, acknowledging the importance of their work. We are fully dedicated to fostering a shared path that both strengthens early-stage project development and ensures that elderly sisters may experience the highest possible level of well-being within their communities.
Sr. Teresa Maya, CCVI, The Anna Trust Vice – Chair offered a complementary perspective:
We are so grateful for the Institutes willing to submit applications for grants to try new options and test possibilities for meeting the needs and honoring the wisdom of our elderly sisters, now and in the future. The Anna Trust is committed not only to intentional and carefully planned collaboration for our religious communities, but also to the future that this can mean for the dignity of all of the world’s vulnerable elderly.
The Anna Trust Foundation expresses its gratitude to all applicants for their dedication and remains open to engaging with congregations that have already conducted assessments and are seeking to deepen their planning and collaboration. Beyond providing grants, the Foundation serves as a platform for sharing promising practices and successful initiatives, amplifying the experience of congregations that have achieved meaningful results.
In doing so, the Foundation seeks to foster learning across communities and support the adaptation and scaling of effective approaches. The Anna Trust Foundation welcomes dialogue with all congregations and encourages them to reach out to explore potential collaboration. A new call for proposals will be launched by the end of the year, with additional grant
opportunities to be announced in the near future.
About The Anna Trust Foundation
The Anna Trust Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 in Rome and dedicated to building the collaboration and capacity of Catholic sisters’ congregations to plan and implement physical, mental, and spiritual services for aging Catholic sisters around the world. Among the foundation’s core activities, in addition to grantmaking, are multilingual online training programs that promote global participation and help overcome language barriers. The foundation is also engaged in advocacy, taking part in international events to highlight the voices and needs of elderly members of female religious congregations. The Anna Trust Foundation was established with a founding grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and is structured as a long-term charitable foundation.
For additional information about the grant program and upcoming opportunities, please visit www.annatrustfoundation.org or contact [email protected].
For press inquiries or to arrange an interview, please contact:
[email protected].