Contact Mercy Health Foundation Jefferson
Mercy Health Foundation Jefferson
1400 US-61
Festus, MO 63028
Because of your generosity, our Foundation continues to make a lasting difference for Mercy’s patients, programs and services. In FY25, you helped us raise more than $500,000 — and together, we allocated over $2.7 million to improve the health of our community. This impact was made possible not only through this year’s gifts, but also through the strength of prior-year reserves and investment income. Thanks to you, we were ready to meet urgent needs with care and compassion.
Every year, lives are changed because donors like you stepped forward to give. This snapshot illustrates some of Mercy’s most critical fundraising initiatives that will benefit not only our patients and their families, but also our caregivers and our community.
$673K dedicated to establishing a Spine and Pain Management Clinic in our community.
$100K to support cancer care, including nurse navigation, new infusion chairs and patient assistance
$2.8M fully funded a da Vinci robotic surgical system and essential renovations to the OR
$60K provided patient assistance for basic needs, including transportation and prescriptions
For 39 years, Ruby Marie Jennings has been fighting a battle that doesn’t show on the outside. Since the age of 16, she’s carried the weight of Bipolar I, major depression, anxiety and suicidal ideations.
She’s been hospitalized more times than she can count. She’s attended intensive outpatient programs (IOP) multiple times. And with each return, her shame and frustration grew.
“I felt like a failure every time I had to attend IOP again,” Ruby says. “But this time was different.”
In early 2025, Ruby became an inpatient at Mercy Hospital South following a major depressive episode. Upon discharge, she chose to attend IOP at Mercy Hospital Jefferson — reluctantly. But what she found there wasn’t judgment or indifference. It was hope.
From the moment she arrived, the care team treated her with empathy and compassion. “They asked me the same questions I’d always been asked,” Ruby shares, “but this time, I could feel that they truly wanted me to get better.”
Melody, one of Ruby’s caregivers, helped her complete a gene-site analysis, which made a critical difference in stabilizing her medications.
Then came Crystal.
“I could write a book about Crystal,” Ruby says with a smile. “She taught me how to use coping skills, some new, some old. But for the first time, I actually practiced them.”
That practice led to a moment that might seem small, but was, in Ruby’s words, HUGE. Sitting in a restaurant, overwhelmed by anxiety, she started “bee breathing” — a technique she learned in group therapy.
“I felt ridiculous,” she laughs, “but it worked. I felt better. And for the first time in a long time, I started to believe I could take care of me.”
When you support Mercy’s Behavioral Health programs, you’re not just funding supplies or spaces. You’re giving people like Ruby the chance to truly heal. You’re helping someone who once felt like a failure now say:
“This time, I feel hopeful.”
Mercy Health Foundation Jefferson
1400 US-61
Festus, MO 63028