Gina Monti speaks from experience when she describes the mission of Magnificat Houses in Houston: "We turn that helplessness into hopefulness."

She experienced that transformation personally, and now as a member of the staff, she helps others find their way as well.

Magnificat Houses, a nonprofit with more than a dozen emergency and supportive housing sites in the Houston area, is instilling hope in people with the help of an $88,000 CommonSpirit Health Community Health Improvement Grant through Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston.

The comprehensive Magnificat effort, which began in 1968, grew out of concern for the city's increasing homeless population, according to Maureen Sanders, executive director of Magnificat.

Residents of Magnificat's homes may stay for a few days or as long as two years, taking advantage of a variety of programs.

Health care to individual clients is critical to the effort, Sanders said. "More of those individuals might be able to get housing," she said, "but they just don't have the circle around them for health care."

Sharing the mission
Fawn Preuss is division program manager of community health and benefit at St. Luke's Health, parent of Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center. She said the grant program that is helping to fund Magnificat grew out of efforts that began back in the 1990s, well before CommonSpirit Health was formed in 2019 by the merger of Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives. Under the CommonSpirit umbrella, grants are available in the 24 states where the system has 2,200 care sites. St. Luke's Health, parent of Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, is part of CommonSpirit.

Last year, CommonSpirit had 60 applicants for community health improvement grants, Preuss said. In Texas, 13 organizations won awards totaling $973,000 for 19 individual projects.

"We have this opportunity to share our mission with others that are doing similar work, or they're doing the work that we're not able to do," Preuss said. "We're not able to house the homeless and provide food and provide shelter. But we can support organizations that do."

She added that the grants program is hospital-funded and it's based on a percentage of total expenses for the year two years prior to when the grants are awarded.

"So the better the hospital does, the better it is that we can help our community," she said. "It's pretty incredible."

Recipients can apply for renewed funding for up to four cycles to help prolong the work that the grants support. The efforts are tracked for progress and success.

"They have to do a midyear report that shows us: How are you doing? Are things going like you expected? What problems are you running into? Do we need to shift focus a little bit? Are things going as planned? Are you meeting your goals? How many people are you trying to reach?" Preuss explained.

"The idea is not to start funding a program and then fund it forever," she said. "(It's to) create a sustainability plan. Try to make it scalable."

One woman's journey
Scalability is one thing; the help that individuals receive brings it down to a more personal level. In the case of Monti, the story began nearly 25 years ago, when a friend suggested she get involved with Magnificat. "He identified some qualities in me I was yet to see myself," she recalled.

Up until then, in her lengthy struggle, she had been dealing with illness, disability and sporadic academic attendance, making poor choices that, in her words, left her "homeless and hopeless." But she had too much pride to seek the kind of help that Magnificat had to offer.

Finally, she said, she had run out of reasons to say no and decided: "OK, God, this is what you want me to do. You've got my attention."

Monti wrote an admissions letter to Magnificat introducing herself and outlining her goals. She was accepted to join the community, and after about 30 days, directors at the nonprofit asked her to become a house manager, helping residents get their lives in order.

"Everybody got an assignment and was able to contribute to the community in some way," Monti said. "They help you get the help you need to get a job or get the services you need to live successfully.

"That was really a life-changing experience, having that kind of responsibility, and awakened a leadership role. It helped me to know that I could do those things. It was a real joy, being able to help people. Being in a community was really healing for me."

Back to school
While living at Magnificat, Monti achieved her goal of returning to school and made the Dean's List her first semester at Houston Community College. She went on to earn two associate degrees and a professional certificate with highest honors during the pandemic.

She continued to volunteer at Magnificat but moved on to living independently.

Inspired to give back, Monti now works as Magnificat's development and communications assistant and is pursuing a bachelor's degree at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Now, at 49, she said Magnificat has helped her life in a variety of ways. The greatest feat she attributes to Magnificat is the improvement in her health. After 21 years of chronic disabling illness, she no longer needs disability benefits.

"Being with Magnificat was literally a healing experience for me — mentally, physically and spiritually," she said. "I was able to live my Catholic faith each and every day. That's been very important to me."

The changes in her life, she said, all stem from the attitude that Magnificat models for everyone, every day.

"It's a very supportive atmosphere here," Monti said. "For so many years I felt really socially isolated. You have to let your goals be known. I think Magnificat really helped me meet my aspirations and be set on a path where I could achieve and where I felt valued and valuable. Magnificat restored my sense of dignity and worth."

The nonprofit's name comes from the Latin phrase magnificat anima mea dominum, which translates to "My soul magnifies the Lord."

Monti said Magnificat has given her life stability and structure. "They helped me have a sense of pride in everything I was doing. Everyone is recognized as an individual and a child of God here," she added. "Everybody has different needs. We just try to help people where they are. I want to inspire others to live their best lives, too."