SHARE Foundation

The SHARE Foundation was established in 1996 with the proceeds from the sale of El Dorado’s nonprofit hospital to a for-profit corporation. Now with invested assets of about $60 million and other forms of revenue, SHARE spends about $10 million a year on programs to benefit the health and well-being of those in Union County.

Those programs, according to President and CEO Brian Jones, are:

• The Interfaith Clinic, which sees more than 4,000 patients a year;

• Lift Touch Hospice;

• Extreme, which provides healthy living and drug-free training to area youth;

• Scholarships for health professionals who then work in the region;

• Chaplaincy services for the Medical Center of South Arkansas;

• HealthWorks Fitness Center, the former YWCA that now provides subsidized memberships to more than 4,000 residents (and free membership to those with health or financial need); and

• Grants to local nonprofits for programs that further the foundation’s health mission.

All seven programs are part of the same 501(c)(3) nonprofit, each with a director who reports to Jones and the same board of directors. Some have advisory boards or steering committees.

SHARE has between 150 and 175 employees, including two full-time nurse practitioners and a medical director at the Interfaith Clinic. But SHARE programs also depend on volunteers, Jones said. “Our hospice relies a lot on volunteers, and the Interfaith Clinic has volunteer pharmacists and dentists. Extreme Youth Program and HealthWorks also rely on volunteers. The chaplaincy program — we couldn’t do it without volunteer chaplains.”

While the clinic and fitness center receive revenue for services from users who can afford to pay, the funding mix also includes memorials to the hospice program, an annual golf tournament for the clinic and individual gifts to the health professional scholarship program.

“We’re very conservative. Our goal is to sustain ourselves and to provide these services for as long as we can,” Jones said.