News and Events

Article from OUTLOOK: The Magazine of Saint Marks Episcopal Cathedral January/February 2010

The Wells Foundation:
A New Focus on Social Innovation
by Anna Clark

In the 1880s, Annie Wells, the wife of Saint Mark’s Rector T.B. Wells, allowed a German immigrant neighbor to use her sewing machine and gave her lessons in “modern” sewing. Soon, more nearby immigrant women asked for lessons, so that they could earn money and support their families. Annie was soon overwhelmed, so the other women in the parish stepped up and established courses not only in sewing, but in typing, English, and Civics. Eventually, they established the Wells Memorial Settlement house in 1908 to serve the surrounding community. Neighborhood people, including immigrants, could send their children to kindergarten, find books in the library, search for work, and obtain treatment for illness there. At its height it served 150,000 clients a year. The settlement house services eventually were merged with other community service organizations, but the Wells Foundation incorporated as a separate non-profit in 1926 and is still going strong.

As this history shows, the Wells Foundation has always stated that it wants to address the causes of poverty and misery in the community by helping people to help themselves. Recently, the Wells Foundation has been re-focusing its mission on social innovation. This means Wells Foundation aims to provide financial support to entrepreneurial organizations that attempt social innovations that are measurable, cost-effective solutions to unmet needs in our community, and to initiate lasting change by addressing the causes.

The Wells Board decided to implement its new vision by taking homelessness as an initial focus, working with Heading Home Hennepin (HHH). This city-county partnership wants to eliminate homelessness in Hennepin County by 2016. Heading Home Hennepin realizes that what homeless people need is a home. Once they have a decent place to live, then social workers and others can get them the treatment they need for mental illness and addiction issues. Wells was the first private foundation to contribute to the project and paved the way for funding from other foundations. We help to fund an outreach worker in the downtown. Saint Mark’s Warm Space program frequently calls the outreach worker in order to get case worker services for their clients. Since its inception, Heading Home Hennepin has gotten more than half of the targeted 250 chronically homeless - who have lived on the streets for over a decade - into housing with services.

The Phoenix Project is another good example of social innovation funded by the Wells Foundation. In Minneapolis, some young Indian women have been forced into prostitution or want to leave prostitution but can’t. This program helps these young women by connecting them with counseling and supportive housing. For instance, the Phoenix Project works with the police to make sure that these young women can report violence committed against them without getting arrested for prostitution.

Wells also will take donations and use designated funds or restricted gifts to continue its commitment to more established programs of outreach in the community such as feeding the homeless. For instance, this year Wells is funding Project for Pride in Living, the Neighborhood Involvement Program, Episcopal Community Services and the ECS Covenant Program, the Groveland Food Shelf, Horizons Unlimited Food Shelf, and Our Savior’s Outreach Ministry.

The Wells Foundation continues to fund Sunday Night Supper and Monday Night Supper at Saint Mark’s, but we are currently working as a partner with Saint Mark’s on these important programs, rather than serving as the main source of funds.

As for all foundations, the economic downturn and increased need means that Wells risks depleting our capital and running down our assets. To solve this problem, we are planning to raise funds to replenish our assets so that we can continue to fund valuable social programs for another hundred years.

For more information on the Wells Foundation, contact the president of the Board, V. Katherine Gray, at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it