Aligning values with investments

Building upon a long history of supporting and fostering healthy communities, St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) has become the first hospital in Southwestern Ontario to align its investments with its values to make an impact across the region.  

St. Joseph’s is collaborating with VERGE Capital, which provides growth capital to social enterprises, and is among the initial investors in the Verge Breakthrough Fund II and co-lead of the fund with the Canadian Alternative Investment Foundation through Pillar Nonprofit Network. In taking this step, St. Joseph’s is paving a new path in social impact investing.

A growing trend, social impact investing is an alternative investment strategy aimed at investors looking to generate social or environmental benefits in addition to financial gains. 

“Enhancing the economic and social health and well-being of our community is a priority for St. Joseph’s and social impact investing brings this commitment to a new level,” says Lori Higgs, Vice President, Clinical Support and Chief Financial Officer.

VERGE Capital is a social finance program of Pillar Nonprofit supported by many community collaborators. It is Southwestern Ontario’s first social impact investing intermediary, providing growth capital to organizations whose main goal is promoting social or environmental welfare rather than making or maximizing profit.

The Verge Breakthrough Fund II, which officially launched with a $1.75 million initial investment, aims to raise up to $10 million to provide lending capital to local enterprises, projects and organizations tackling the region’s most pressing challenges including affordable housing, equity and inclusion, climate action, and systems change, explains Filsan Farah, Program Lead, VERGE Capital. Financing provided will help these enterprises successfully turn unmet social, economic and environmental needs into viable business opportunities that have a lasting positive impact on the well-being of their community.

In particular, the fund is dedicated to providing more equitable access to capital for social enterprises owned by, led by, or serving historically excluded and marginalized populations.

St Joseph’s, like all hospitals, invests money the organization has in reserve to grow this money and enable critical future investments.

“For St. Joseph’s, social impact investing is about community building, which is close to the heart of our organization and our work with like-minded partners. It’s very much a fit with our mission and commitment to collaboration that fosters equity, health and well-being for the most vulnerable in our community.”

-Roy Butler, President and CEO of St. Joseph’s

Visit the VERGE Capital website to learn about the programs and organizations it supports and the impact it has had in Southwestern Ontario.