Dear Friends,

We are pleased to present the 2019 Annual Report, Making a Difference Together.

With the Board’s leadership in 2019, the CHHSM team and our dedicated volunteers were able to achieve a number of significant accomplishments and major initiatives.  Here are some examples of how we are Making a Difference Together:

• We held a great Annual Gathering in Chicago in March focused on the theme Toward Tomorrow—Together We Learn, Together We Flourish.
• We welcomed new organizations to membership.
• We altered our membership model to allow individual members.

This makes a difference because the Annual Gathering and the additions to membership are critical contributors and participants to the impact we make in the world when we come together!

• We continued our tradition of leadership formation as we convened another wonderful class of the Nollau Leadership Institute.
• We were able to take Nollau to You out to the community in one day retreats on 8 separate occasions.
• We supported our membership with Legacy Fund scholarships totaling more than $17,000.

This makes a difference because our ongoing commitment to serving leadership formation and development is what positions us to remain a relevant community that comes together to create a caring world!

• We saw that CHHSM member organizations provided more than $1 billion in uncompensated, charitable care in 2019.
• We served as presenting sponsor of General Synod 32 in Milwaukee.
• We prepared a resolution that was adopted by the delegates at GS 32 to recognize the opioid crisis as a health issue.
• We invested in our staff team with an enhanced benefit package.

This makes a difference because these actions are important parts of, and reminders of, the vision of creating a just world for all!

• We hired Elyse Berry, our Associate for Advocacy and Leadership Development, and re-launched our advocacy initiative in a major way.
• We recruited a new CHHSM scholar, Essence Ellis, and made a substantial increase in the scholarship support for this role.
• We offered significant financial support to the UCC medical debt relief initiative.
• We held numerous meetings and generative sessions designed to form structures that help us achieve our vision.

In addition to these headlines, we made a number of operational and governance changes that make a difference by allowing us to function in a more nimble and efficient manner.  With all of these very significant investments in our shared ministry, CHHSM still had a nice surplus in operations at year end and a very significant increase in net assets through its holdings at United Church Funds and The Cornerstone Fund.

All of this is making a difference because together these actions help us to realize the vision statement we hold dear to our hearts that together we create a just, caring and compassionate world.

With Gratitude,