The Buchanan Foundation was started in 2018 by Rose M Ray, a community leader with a desire to meet the needs of the public. She has been doing service work in St. Louis for nearly the last four decades and founded the organization to provide resources to underserved communities with a lack of basic needs. The Buchanan Foundation is unique in that the non-profit does not just focus on one issue, but a wide range of causes. Rose ensures that people who come to the organization for help are shown care and love while given the appropriate resources.
The Buchanan Foundation serves many populations within the community such as people with mental illness and addiction, those who experience homelessness, and moms and babies. They provide food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and other items that are needed to survive. The organization is currently trying to acquire a building to be a shelter for people to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer and a place where they can shower or do laundry. The Buchanan Foundation partners with multiple organizations to be able to provide services to those in need. Through funding received from FLOURISH, the organization was able to run the “Golden Sneakers” program, which in part allowed for young children to receive footwear. The project also had the goal of providing assistance, education, and resources to families in the Baden neighborhood, an area with a high risk of infant mortality.
Rose is determined to help anyone in the community who needs it. She wants people to feel comfortable enough to tell her what it is they need help with. She wishes that others, especially mothers, are more open and willing to talk about mental health as we all struggle with adversity in our lives. She also hopes that people spread the word about the Buchanan Foundation. While in-kind gifts are helpful for keeping the organization going, Rose shared that grants and sponsors are also important to their success; with financial assistance, if supplies run out, they can always go out and order more. Nevertheless, the doors to the Buchanan Foundation are open for those in need of support so that everyone in society can have their basic needs met.
To connect with their work or contribute, visit https://buchananfoundationinc.org/ or email or call Rose at [email protected] / (314)-388-9984 for more information.
Learn more about the Buchanan Foundation’s FLOURISH grant funded project, Golden Sneakers.