About

For 28 years, Marillac Mission Fund (MMF) has supported and partnered in efforts to care for and encourage the wellbeing and dignity of people experiencing poverty through grant funding, community engagement, research and advocacy. 

Today, MMF supports a broad range of initiatives to serve those experiencing poverty, focusing on Older Adults Living Independently, Immigrants & Refugees, Veterans, Human Trafficking Prevention, Advocacy & Coalition-Building, and Capacity Building for grantee organizations. We serve the metropolitan area of St. Louis, including 15 counties in Missouri and Illinois, and have funded more than $45 million in grants.

MMF staff and leadership are committed to learning, listening, researching and responding to critical issues in the region, which informs our Responsive Grants focus areas.

MMF is a philanthropic program of Ascension.  Ascension is one of the nation’s leading non-profit and Catholic health systems, with a mission of delivering compassionate, personalized care to all with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. In FY2022, Ascension provided $2.3 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 140,000 associates and 36,000 aligned providers and operates more than 2,600 sites of care including 139 hospitals in 19 states.