Arras Foundation

We are changing our name to reflect our work in the community!
The J. Marion Sims Foundation is now the Arras Foundation. Learn more in this video message from Susan DeVenny, President & CEO

Letter from our Board Chair and President & CEO

July 10, 2020

To our Community:

We are proud to announce our new name to you. The Arras Foundation.

On March 28, 1995, the Foundation was created by a vote of hospital members and directors. Our initial assets came from the sale of the Elliott White Springs Hospital in November 1994. For 25 years, we have been focused on strengthening the health and wellness of all who live in our community.

In 2017, we began to explore the reality that our name, the J Marion Sims Foundation, was a source of confusion to our partners. We are not a family foundation, nor are we affiliated with Dr. Sims. We also learned that we had missed opportunities to fully engage with the entire community due to our name being a barrier. The board and staff commissioned a branding advisory team to explore a name that reflects our tenets, values, and the work we do each day.

The new name – the Arras Foundation – reflects the tradition of the Foundation’s work since 1995. Though we have a new name, our goal does not change. The Arras Foundation will continue its long-standing work of promoting the health and well-being of residents in the communities of Fort Lawn, Great Falls, and Lancaster, SC, building on the collective wisdom of all the people who live here.

We look forward to working together with the entire community to continue to “see the possible.”