“Mission is never the fruit of a perfectly planned program or a well-organized manual. Mission is always the fruit of a life which knows what it is to be found and healed, encountered and forgiven. Mission is born of a constant experience of God’s merciful anointing.”— Pope Francis
Based in Houston, Texas, the Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement (SOMA), supports the Congregation’s public and charitable works of health, education, social services, and religious mission in the United States and throughout the world. It operates under the auspices of Sharelink-Spiritan Worldwide Aid Foundation, Inc. (The Spiritan Foundation). This support includes:
Conscious that our Congregation is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, we aspire to the liberating values reflected in the acronym SPIRIT:
Solidarity with the poor and disinherited peoples we serve
Preservation and advancement of environmental and spiritual stewardship
Integrity in all that we do
Respect for the human person, their families and multi-cultures
Inclusivity of the varied sociology-cultural contexts that we encounter
Transparency in our financial transactions
The Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement (SOMA) is to be a resource for and to enable the implementation of the evangelical priorities of the U.S. Province and to continue its long-standing charism into the future at the service of the poorest and most abandoned peoples it was founded to serve.
SOMA’s mission is to act as a financial resource and practical support the missionary, educational, pastoral, humanitarian and charitable projects and programs of the Congregation and the U.S. Province both in the United States and internationally.
The responsibility of this committee which meet at least three times annually are to provide advice and counsel to the Director relative to:
* The Congregation of the Holy Spirit is a nonprofit organization established for exclusively religious, charitable, and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal Revenue Law). All contributions are tax deductible.
You will find us on Guidestar and Charity Navigator under the name Sharelink-Spiritan Worldwide Aid Foundation, Inc.
We also participate in the Amazon Smile program under the same name.
When you make a purchase on Amazon using Amazon Smile a portion of the sale price is donated to the Spiritans.
Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement
Congregation of the Holy Spirit
1700 West Alabama Street
Houston, TX 77098-2808
713-522-2882
missionadvancement@spiritans.org
SOMA's historic average grant of $8,000 tracks well with what Philanthropy News Digest indicates to be the average grant of non-profits with assets of less than $1,000,000.
Frequently we direct grant applicants seeking larger amounts to institutions such as the Koch and Conrad Hilton foundations which distribute multiple millions of dollars each year.
In 2020 SOMA distributed $184,600 to mission projects as reflected in the accompanying chart.