January 6, 2026 // Diocese

30 Years of Serving God and Neighbor

Tim Johnson

Meg Distler has a heart for service, and for more than 30 years, she served the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and the community as executive director of the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation. As of January 1, Distler has relinquished that role to Matt Smith.

In a recent interview with Today’s Catholic, Distler reflected on the foundation’s early days, its evolution, and the faith that has sustained her work.

“When I started working for the Poor Handmaids in 1993, to do fundraising for St. Joe Hospital, that’s what the foundation was there to do: to manage any restricted gifts coming into the hospital that were placed in the foundation,” Distler said.

Those early years were exciting, she said, “because we were both raising funds for programs that the sisters had – programming that they had that wouldn’t necessarily pay for itself but was important to the community.” Among those efforts was fundraising for the St. Joseph Hospital burn center, a vital but costly service.

A major turning point came in 1998, as health care financing changed nationwide.

“With a lot of the changes in health care financing, the sisters sold the hospital because they could no longer operate it and maintain the quality that they wanted,” Distler said. “So we took some of the assets and tried to listen to the community and use those assets to make sure the poor had access to health care.”

She soon assumed the role of executive director of the newly formed St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, with members of the Poor Handmaids continuing to serve on the board.

“The sisters were always clear,” Distler told Today’s Catholic: “Nobody should go without health care.”

Under Distler’s leadership, the foundation’s mission expanded beyond traditional grantmaking to include building systems and infrastructure to serve those most likely to fall through the cracks.

“In addition to responding to great needs in the community, about a third of our work has been listening to who isn’t being cared for in the system and making sure there are structures supporting the poorest of the poor in the community,” she said.

Distler said her early experience inside the hospital helped shape that work.

“That became easier for me because I had those first years really working inside the hospital and understood both sides of it,” she said. “I’ve worked both sides of the coin – fundraising and direct service.”

Supporting Women, Children, Families

The needs of women, children, and families have remained central to the foundation’s mission throughout Distler’s tenure.

“We’ve always been extremely pro-life, but more pro-family than pro-life,” she said.

Distler pointed to sobering realities in the community: “Half of the women giving birth in Allen County are single parents, and about half have needed government support or Medicaid for health care,” she said

Two programs stand out as particular sources of pride for Distler: Healthier Moms and Babies and the Prenatal and Infant Care Network.

“I wrote the grant that launched Healthier Moms and Babies, which has gotten a couple thousand women in-home case management,” Distler said.

Through the Prenatal and Infant Care Network, the foundation brings together hundreds of professionals and volunteers to support families from pregnancy through early childhood.

“We’ve got over 300 or 400 individuals in that continuum of care,” Distler said.

The foundation has also worked closely with A Mother’s Hope and Women’s Care Center, helping to launch some of the first gifts and funding for long-term support.

Immigration, Refugee Ministry

A second major pillar of the foundation’s work has been immigration and refugee services, particularly in partnership with Catholic Charities.

“We’ve worked a lot with Catholic Charities because they’re a major resettlement agency,” Distler said. “They’ve been a tremendous partner.”

Between 2008 and 2012, St. Joseph Community Health Foundation operated a refugee resettlement center serving Burmese refugees.

“We had over 25,000 visits to that center, helping people with food, clothing, and resources,” Distler said.

Within the facility, 11 agencies offered coordinated services, including access to government benefits, health education, and legal assistance, often with Burmese-speaking staff.

More recently, the foundation has invested in expanding legal services for immigrants.

“Getting your legal status has always been extraordinarily complicated,” Distler said. “It varies based upon what country you were born in and the year you entered into the United States.”

A Faith Formed Through Service

Reflecting on her own spiritual journey, Distler said her work has deeply shaped her personal faith.

“I’ve absolutely been formed by this work,” she said. “This has become a life work. How do you not be involved in this?”

She added, “I learned early on that when giving these gifts, I’m the one who receives more than I think anybody else.”

Distler also described moments of discernment she attributes to divine providence.

“When difficulties arose, I would say a prayer, and within an hour or two, the phone would ring and the answer would come,” she said. Former Bishop John M. D’Arcy, she recalled, referred to those moments as “God coincidences.”

Affirmation

Last year, Distler and her husband, Bob, traveled to Rome, where she met Pope Francis during a gathering of Catholic philanthropists.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” she said. “He took my hands and held my hands and looked you in the eyes and said, ‘How can I pray for you?’”

She added: “He was so full of joy. It emanated throughout the room.”

During the same trip, Distler attended Mass celebrated by Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. His homily, she said, has stayed with her – and she was delighted when he was elected pope last May.

Looking Ahead

Distler expressed confidence in the foundation’s future under its new chief executive director, Matt Smith, who has spent his career serving a wide range of Catholic organizations in northeast Indiana, including the University of Saint Francis, Our Sunday Visitor, and, most recently, Catholic Charities.

“I really believe that Matt is being called to lead it,” Distler said.

While stepping away from her executive role, Distler will remain active in service, including serving as a diocesan representative with the Pontifical Mission Societies. She also looks forward to spending more time with her husband and traveling to visit their two daughters – one in San Francisco and one in Virginia.

As she reflects on her years at the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, Distler returns to an image displayed in the foundation’s office: a depiction of Compassionate St. Joseph.

“The role of comforting people on very difficult journeys has been the inspiration of the foundation,” Distler said, “and of why one is called to serve the vulnerable.”

Legacy of Service

With her 32-year tenure with the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation concluded, Distler reflected on a vocation marked by generosity, collaboration, and faith-filled service.

“This has been an incredible journey of serving those in poverty,” Distler said, “which has taught me the importance of generosity, compassion, and the transforming power of God’s love.”

Distler expressed gratitude to her family – especially her husband, Bob, and her sister, MB – as well as to the Poor Handmaids, board members, and colleagues who shared in the work.

She noted that since the sale of St. Joseph Medical Center in 1998, the foundation has carried forward the sisters’ mission by stewarding a portion of those assets to support vulnerable neighbors across northeast Indiana (see sidebar).

“I never thought I would be here 32 years,” Distler said, “but this mission never gets old. It is still exciting to experience the transformational joy of serving your neighbor.”

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By the Numbers

During Meg Distler’s tenure as executive director, the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation has:

• Distributed nearly $30 million

• Supported 296 local organizations

• Awarded 2,046 grants focused on community health, family stability, and social support.

Distler also highlighted moments when she witnessed “incredible friendships, creativity, and God’s hand at work,” including efforts to:

• Change local health policies addressing lead poisoning in low-income housing

• Operate a refugee resource center that provided more than 25,000 services to newly arrived Burmese residents

• Help launch critical community infrastructure, including Healthier Moms and Babies, A Mother’s Hope, Amani Family Services, GiveHear, Courageous Healing, the Prenatal and Infant Care Network, HEAL, and Double Up IN.

For more information on the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, visit sjchf.org.