What Do We Fund?

Rising Star Outreach is an NGO founded in Atlanta and based in Chennai, India, dedicated to treating leprosy-afflicted patients in southern India. Our multi-year funding of RSO has included micro-lending programs for leprosy-afflicted beggars, mobile medical vans, and medical supplies. The Grand Priory of America has contributed over $800,000 USD to Rising Star Outreach.

Mexico Leprosy Clinics – the Grand Priory of America and the Delegation of Mexico have supported two leprosy clinics in Mexico for many years. Combined, these clinics have served thousands of leprosy-afflicted patients and their families in rural Mexico. The GPA has contributed well over $1.35 million USD to our colleagues in Mexico who serve those in need.

St. Patrick Cathedral Homeless Outreach—Over the pandemic years, St. Lazarus’ Team has contributed funds to the Cathedral’s Homeless Outreach Fund. The funds have been designated to help the homeless, children, and elderly people. They have also been used to purchase food supplies and necessities for distribution throughout Midtown Manhattan.

Love and Hope in Action Homeless Program – LAHIA’s SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery) program increases access to Social Security disability benefits for eligible children and adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a severe mental illness, medical impairment, and co-occurring substance use disorder. LAHIA’s PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) program funds housing services for people with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness. They provide housing assistance and recovery support until the individual has a sustainable income and lives independently. LAHIA will be able to provide data reporting on the positive impacts of PATH on an annual basis.

AASL-GPA Matching Grant Program  – Each year the GPA will match up to $3,000 with each Commandery/$1500 per Delegation in the US for local projects dedicated to our Flagship programs of leprosy and organ donation/education. We have continued to expand funding for this program to continue to attract local member engagement and expand visibility of the OSL Grand Priory of America.

Grand Prior’s Discretionary Fund – At his discretion, this grant allows the Grand Prior to expediently allocate financial resources that may be needed for an emergent humanitarian cause.

Mental Health Legal Advocacy Service Project – The Mental Health Advocacy used our funding to cover the cost of an SMS text messaging system module that would integrate with its online case management system and allow MHAS attorneys and Advocates to connect with tens of thousands of clients via text message. This grant will enable MHAS to process documents and communicate with homeless and underserved clients who do not have access to a computer or laptop. This system enabled MHAS to get help and services to Veterans, people living with PTSD, mentally ill, and disabled clients in the Greater Los Angeles area, most with specialized health or disability issues. Over 3000 individuals were helped by this grant in 2022.

Navajo HEAL COVID-19 Clinical Support Project – During a trip through Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, members of the Commandery of the West had the opportunity to drive through areas where the Navajo Indians reside. The level of poverty the Navajo Nation is experiencing caught our attention. In researching services being provided to the Navajo, we identified that during this pandemic, they had been significantly underrepresented in the United States with access to medical care and mental health care resources. HEAL (Health, Equity, Action, Leadership), a volunteer organization based at the University of California, San Francisco, has coordinated with health professionals across nine countries, providing clinical care, quality improvement, and training to advance health equity worldwide. Since the pandemic, HEAL has held an active presence in the Navajo Nation in Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. They recently received a 5-year contract with the Navajo Nation for healthcare services. HEAL has provided much-needed critical care to COVID-19-positive patients during the surge. It is estimated that HEAL provided care to 21,000 Navajo Nation patients in 2020-2022.

Amy’s House – Children’s Transplant Initiative in Temple, TX – the Grand Priory of America assists with the upkeep of a bedroom in the eight-bedroom residential facility for transplant patients at Baylor Scott and White.
Hospital in Temple, Texas. BSW performs approximately 300 transplants per annum.

Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Project –  The Grand Priory of America responded immediately to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, with an outpouring of financial and volunteer support for Ukraine by our members. Within 30 days, we had raised more than $30,000 from our members and another $15,000 in the next four months. In collaboration with our St. Lazarus colleagues in Germany and the Czech Republic, we sent money to support the purchase of medical and humanitarian supplies for those suffering in Ukraine. We partnered with the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, with a grant supporting the purchase of medical equipment for a hospital in Lviv, and most recently, in concert with our dear friends in the Humanitarian Grand Priory of Europe, we purchased two generators for a front-line hospital in Cherkasy, Ukraine. In April 2022, members of the Southeast Commandery gathered over a weekend at a warehouse in Atlanta, Georgia, to sort through and organize more than 110 pallets of donated medical supplies (estimated value of >$100,000) destined for Ukraine obtained through a partnership with the Order of St. George and the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Templars). With more than 100 volunteers from the PA Programs at Emory University, Mercer University, and South University in Atlanta, we spent two days unpacking, organizing, and repacking pallets of medical supplies to be sent to Ukraine. Our volunteer hours in this one project alone totaled over 1,000 hours of dedicated work to help those suffering in Ukraine. Recently, the Calgary Commandery of the Grand Priory in Canada contributed $2,000 to the GPA Ukraine Relief Support Fund to assist us with our programs in Ukraine, and we are most thankful for this contribution. The Grand Priory of America continues to support our relief efforts in Ukraine with another grant of $15,000 for 2023, totaling more than $60,000 since the war began. The GPA will continue to do what we can in terms of volunteering and providing financial support to help the innocent people of Ukraine. When this war ends, there will be an even greater need for people and groups like us to start the healing and rebuilding of this great country.