In memory of Sister Irene Duchesneau, the Fanny Allen Corporation announces the establishment of the $25,000 Sister Irene Duchesneau Innovation Grant. In keeping with the mission of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph and the legacy of Sr. Duchesneau’ s efforts to care for the most vulnerable people in the community, including the poor, the sick, the homeless and the elderly, this grant will be awarded annually to a nonprofit with an innovative, collaborative proposal that addresses the root causes of one of these priority issues. This grant award is separate from the regular grant process.

Sister Irene Duchesneau, a Religious Hospitaller of St. Joseph (RHSJ) of the Fanny Allen community, died Dec. 5, 2020. She left a legacy not only as a leader in Vermont at the former Fanny Allen Hospital and as a member of many boards and committees serving the vulnerable, but, most importantly, as former executive director of the Fanny Allen Foundation where she helped establish and support countless agencies, such as COTS, Spectrum, Special Services Transportation Agency, Burlington Community Health Center and food pantries and shelters throughout the state.

Sister Irene Duchesneau’s legacy as a “faithful servant” lives on through the Fanny Allen Corporation which she helped establish and represents the mission of her and her religious sisters in its grants to nonprofits that care for the poor, the sick, the homeless and the elderly.

In 1988, Fanny Allen Holdings (formerly Fanny Allen Hospital, Hotel Dieu) and Corporation became a member of Covenant Health, a Catholic not-for-profit health system. In 1995, Fanny Allen Hospital merged with University Health Center, Medical Hospital of Vermont (formerly Mary Fletcher Hospital and the DeGoesbraind Hospital), to become Fletcher Allen Health Care (now UVM Medical Center).

In 1995, the Fanny Allen Corporation continues the mission of the RHSJ in the community by making grants to nonprofit organizations in Vermont that reflect the compassion of Christ in their service to people who are sick and poor. Over the last 12 years, the foundation has made $6.4 million to nonprofits organizations in Vermont serving the most vulnerable.