Saint Anna's Home Fund: An Organizational and Historical Case Study of Housing for Older African American Women

Saint Anna's Home Fund: An Organizational Study of the 80 Year Survival of a Housing Program for African American Women

Understanding historical patterns of African American organizations in meeting their own human service needs is a critical aspect of social work education that blends social work foundational areas of history, policy, human behavior and research. This presentation will present case-study research on the 80 year history of Saint Anna's Home Fund, an organization founded in Washington, DC by the bequeath of Alexander Crummell (1898-1898). Rev. Crummell is known for his service directed toward strengthening urban Black congregations through education and social services to their communities. In 1880, he founded St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., and the American Negro Academy. He was a prolific essayist for nearly two decades (Quinn, 2002). During his tenure with St. Luke's Episcopal Church, he made provisions for what today is called the St. Anna's Home Fund.

Using population-ecology theory (Hasenfeld, 1992) the case study addresses the stability of this organization over time. Political economy theory is also used to document and reinforce the importance of the effect of the organizational environment in shaping the organization's longevity and delivery system.

The case study uses historical research that underscores the proliferation of organizations serving African Americans during the Progressive Era and documents survival strategies of the subject organization. The findings of this study tie survival to the ability of the governing body of the organization to respond to internal and external political and economic forces. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of values and ideologies related to fidelity to serving to African American women-a racially specific group identified by the founder in his will.

The case-study used three major data collection strategies: historical data, strategic planning retreat reports, and interviews from current board members. Rubin and Babbie (2005) states that case studies are distinguished by their specific focus on a particular case and its connectedness to a particular theory(ies). Qualitative in nature, it describes a series of strategies that enabled the organization to survive, despite formidable external and internal constraints, and suggests some general patterns that may apply to other cases.

The key findings are:

(1) Adaptive strategies have been critical to the survival of the organization

(2) Continuity of board members has been a protective factor that

(3) Strategic selection of board members has ensured fidelity to ideology

of serving older women of African descent

The results can be used to inform practice as well as future research on organizational survival. Equally important is the beginning contribution this study makes by examining the role of cultural ideologies in the studies of organizational survival.

References

Hasenfeld, Yeheskel (Editor) (1994). Human services as complex organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Rubin, A. & Babbie, E. (2005). Research Methods for Social Work. Brooks and Cole: Belmont, Ca.

Quinn, F. (2002). African Saints: Saints, Martyrs, and Holy People from the Continent of Africa. New York, NY: Crossroads Publishing