Discover Your Legacy

Legacy Giving involves a process of discovery of what is meaningful to you and why. This process of discovery can be facilitated through personal storytelling. From time to time, the Office of Legacy Giving will sponsor workshops where participants are guided through a process of discovering their personal heartfelt values through storytelling and how to effectively document, share and record these life values through video or in writing.

Create Your Family Legacy

Charles Collier reminds us in his book “Wealth in Families” that the sharing of family stories is the first organizing principle in creating strong and healthy families. Personal stories that are shared from generation to generation provide an important context for family traditions and values.

Research also shows that telling children stories about who they are and where they come from provides benefits to them such as heightened adolescent self-esteem, emotional intelligence, a stronger self-identity and lessened risks of depression and anxiety later in life. It shows them “the stuff they are made of” and gives them access to a continuing story line that is much stronger and deeper than their own individual story.

Family legacy storytelling reminds us of what it means to be human and connected to a larger community. In a profound way, it reminds us that being human always points to something, or someone, other than oneself, and that in the act of helping others, we find our own humanity.

Philanthropy is one way that families can share their stories and values with the community. To further explore how to create and share your family's philanthropic legacy, please contact the Office of Legacy Giving at (925) 947-4449 or foundation@johnmuirhealth.com.

Share Your Family Legacy

Sharing your story is an important part of the Legacy Process and is often a true gift to loved ones. Research has shown that children who know their family narrative often display a higher degree of resilience and happiness than children who do not know their family story.

Questions To Consider:
• “Have you ever thought about what your descendants will know about you?”
• “How would you like to share your story?”

Here is an additional questions to get you started on your legacy plan: StoryCatcher for iOS is a fun and simple tool to create and share video stories with; complete with titles, video footage, photos and screen text. You can record and save all that you, your family, your friends — or maybe even strangers — have to tell.

Is there a John Muir Health Story that you would like to share with the Foundation?

Celebrate Your Family Legacy

The Foundation hosts an annual brunch in the spring as a way of celebrating those individuals who have included John Muir Health in their estate plans as part of their charitable legacy giving. If you have included John Muir Health in your estate plans and would like to attend please contact the Office of Legacy Giving.

Family Legacy Stories -- Endow Your Values

Some things never change, like the value of quality and compassionate health care. Through your philanthropy, you have the power to endow the future of care at John Muir Health. Endowments are a vehicle that provide a permanent and growing source of support for the areas within John Muir Health that are most meaningful for you.

For more information on ways to establish an endowment at John Muir Health and the related financial benefits, please contact the Office of Legacy Giving at (925) 947-4449 or foundation@johnmuirhealth.com.