Bon Secours is committed to creating communities of health, hope and well-being. How we organize our society – in terms of economics and politics – directly affects the capacity of a person to grow and develop. We've developed the following initiatives to better serve the communities we belong to:
Green Initiatives
Bon Secours embraces ecological stewardship as an essential part of caring for all of God’s creations and as an integral part of advancing the healing mission of Jesus to bring individuals and communities to health and wholeness.
The organization focuses its efforts on three programming pillars: Recycling, Regulated Medical Waste and Energy Conservation. Since the program’s inception, recycling has increased 90%, regulated medical waste was decreased 69% and energy has achieved a 2.5% site EUI reduction. Bon Secours has embraced a culture of sustainability and continues to strengthen the connection between the health of individuals, communities and the environment in its services.
Bon Secours facilities have received over 60 Practice Green Health Awards- the premier national environmental organization for leaders in healthcare sustainability-reflecting an overwhelming recognition of the reduction in the system’s carbon footprint.
In 2013, Bon Secours St. Petersburg Health System was awarded the Partner for Change award from Practice Greenhealth – the leading organization working to decrease the environmental degradation caused by the healthcare industry.
We were recognized for our efforts in increasing recycling and reducing the disposal of Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) as a percentage of total waste. At Bon Secours St. Petersburg, we have begun the process of replacing toxic cleaning agents with effective yet less environmentally harmful products. Lastly, we have invited caregivers at all levels to enter into a covenant to reduce consumption and reuse items wherever and whenever possible within the limits of appropriate healthcare operations. At Bon Secours St. Petersburg, we are providing Good Help to the environment.
Mission Fund
The Bon Secours Mission Fund, an endowment fund created in 1998 for the purpose of addressing the unmet needs of those who are poor and underserved, provides funding for many of these initiatives and continues the tradition of bon secours (good help) established in 1824 when the Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours was founded in Paris.
The Mission Fund supports a range of initiatives, some of which address basic services like access to dental and primary care services; others of which address more complex issues such as lack of decent housing, food justice, social services, support to victims of domestic violence, urban agriculture, senior healthcare, and community wealth building initiatives. Through the Healthy Community Initiative in the Tampa Bay, Bon Secours is developing long term, collaborative relationships with the people who live and work in selected neighborhoods and with other local organizations to identify and address priorities to improve the quality of life and health.
To learn more about our work and how you can help, contact Kip Corriveau, Director of Mission, or Chitra Naidu, Program Manager, Community Health.
Healthy Bucs
Since 2014, Bon Secours St. Petersburg has partnered with the Pinellas Department of Health and the Saturday Morning Market to provide Healthy Bucs vouchers to low income patients served by the Florida Department of Health’s Obesity Clinic. These vouchers allow patients to purchase healthy fresh fruit and vegetables at affordable prices, so that patients are able access necessary and nutritious food. Now on the journey to becoming an evidence-based program, Healthy Bucs compliments the nutritional counseling clinic patients receive so they can afford to make healthy choices for themselves and their families.Fresh & Healthy
Funding was provided to the St Petersburg Free Clinic to increase access to fresh and healthy food, and strengthen diabetes nutrition education. Fresh & Healthy cooking demonstrations included health education sessions with a nurse educator, a cooking demonstration and tasting, and handouts with recipes. Attendees were given “Healthy Bucs” vouchers they could use to purchase seasonal produce at the Saturday Morning Market.Urban Agriculture
Since 2011, Bon Secours St. Petersburg has served as an active partner in organizing and leveraging the authority of the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Coalition (SUAC), a group of volunteers who facilitate the creation of gardens to increase access to locally grown produce. Since that time the Healthy Community Initiative has sought to foster and promote the growth of urban gardens throughout the community. The Jordan Park Community Garden, a sustainable eco-agriculture and social services initiative located in the Jordan Park public housing community, developed by the Local Food Project, grew out of this initiative. There, volunteer master gardeners from SUAC engage and educate neighborhood residents in sustainable gardening methods for the care of their own garden plots. The project includes JP Kids Garden Club butterfly and demonstration veggie/herb garden, family garden plots, a community service garden project, and senior table gardens. Preschoolers may join Magic Carpet Reading Circle, where a volunteer reads to the children each week, and each child may take home a book to keep. Resident gardeners have learned organic gardening basics to grow their own food. Seniors who are unable to garden themselves may receive deliveries.