Foundation Annual Reports

CALIFORNIA WELLNESS FOUNDATION
6320 Canoga Avenue, Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, Calif. 91367
(818) 702-1900
http://www.tcwf.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: This private foundation was established in 1992 when Health Net of California, a large health-maintenance group, changed from nonprofit to for-profit status. Under the terms of the conversion order approving Health Net’s for-profit status, the foundation received the equivalent of the valuation of Health Net at that time — some $300-million — plus 80 percent of the equity of the holding company formed as Health Net’s “parent.”

In subsequent years, the merger of Health Net’s parent company and QualMed has substantially increased the assets of the foundation, which is independent of any company.

In 2006 the foundation reviewed 1,405 letters of interest and approved 409 grants totaling nearly $53-million through its eight programs, which concentrate on the following issues: diversity in the health professions, environmental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage-pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, women’s health, and work and health.

The foundation also has four overarching themes that help guide its grant making: leadership development, organizational sustainability, public policy, and “traditionally underserved populations,” including youths and residents of rural areas.

California Wellness encourages requests for operating support, continuing its custom of allowing grantees to carry out programs while also covering overhead and other expenses, but also welcomes requests for money for specific projects.

In addition, the foundation reserves a pool of dollars so that it can respond rapidly to emergent needs outside the priority programs listed above.

Overall, those grants stress supporting “safety net” health-care providers, helping low-income people learn to use the health-care system, carrying out policy analysis and advocacy, and serving the health-related needs of homeless people in urban areas, residents along the California-Mexico border, and disadvantaged ethnic groups, particularly with regard to cultural and linguistic differences.

For example, a three-year, $180,000 grant went to Covenant House California, in Hollywood, to continue to provide mental-health services, shelter, and transitional-living programs to homeless youths in Los Angeles County.

Other representative grants included $240,000 over three years to Uncommon Good, in Claremont, for the Adopt an Angel program, which provides debt relief to minority physicians who provide services at community clinics in Los Angeles, and $180,000 over three years to Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries to improve indoor environmental conditions for low-income immigrants who live in substandard housing.

The foundation also administers four award programs: the California Peace Prize, which each year honors three “unsung heroes” working to curtail violence in California neighborhoods; the Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award; the Public Policy Leadership Award; and sabbaticals for leaders of nonprofit health groups.

Recipients of the $25,000 Peace Prize included Sahra Abdi, an activist in San Diego who works with refugee families that have fled violent conditions in East Africa and may be suffering from health conditions that could make them prone to violence themselves.

Application procedure: The foundation makes grants to organizations in California that are classified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and government agencies and public charities as defined in IRC Section 170(b)(A)(vi). Potential applicants should first submit a one- to two-page letter of interest to the director of grants management. Detailed information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Gary L. Yates, president and chief executive officer; Magdalena Beltrán-del Olmo, vice president of communications; Margaret W. Minnich, vice president of finance and administration; Cristina M. Regalado, vice president of programs; Joan C. Hurley, director of grants management; Fatima L. Angeles, director of evaluation and organizational learning; Saba S. Brelvi, Jeffrey Seungkyu Kim, Earl Lui, Julio Marcial, and Sandra J. Martínez, program directors; Peggy Saika, chair of the Board of Directors.

COLUMBUS FOUNDATION
1234 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43205
(614) 251-4000
http://www.columbusfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2006.

Note: The preceding financial information is for the foundation and its affiliated organizations.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1943 by Harrison M. Sayre, an editor and founder of the American Education Press, and a group of other Columbus citizens.

In 2006 the foundation ranked as the 10th largest of the approximately 650 community foundations in the United States.

All told, it comprised nearly 1,600 charitable funds, one affiliate fund that serves communities outside Columbus and central Ohio, and 29 supporting foundations. Those supporting foundations had a collective market value of $301.4-million and paid out more than $26.7-million in grants.

Also in 2006, the foundation received some 4,000 gifts totaling $107-million — the largest amount it had ever received in a given year — and donors created 108 new funds.

Partly due to this largess, the foundation made grants totaling $72.3-million to 6,582 nonprofit groups. Grant making was apportioned as follows: education received 34 percent of grant dollars; health, 18 percent; social services, 16 percent; the arts and humanities, 15 percent; conservation, philanthropy, and religion, 12 percent; and urban affairs, 5 percent.

Also that year, the foundation awarded scholarships totaling more than $1-million to 660 students.

The Columbus Foundation and its donors raised $214,500 to bring the Benefit Bank, a network of groups based in Philadelphia, to central Ohio. The Benefit Bank provides free services at approximately 25 local sites that help poor, working people gain access to tax credits and other benefits they are eligible for.

Education grants included $35,000 to Otterbein College, in Westerville, Ohio, for the Ubuntu Mentoring Program, a partnership between the college and students who attend Columbus public schools.

Allocations in other program areas included $17,060 to Thurber House, in Columbus, for operating support of this literary center, and $50,000 to the Mount Carmel Health System, also in Columbus, for an effort to improve positive medical outcomes for low-income, minority patients with a diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease.

Application procedure: The foundation previously limited its grants to seven areas — the arts, conservation, education, health, philanthropy, social services, and urban affairs. Starting this year, however, grant applications will not have to fit into one of those defined areas in order to be considered for support. Additional information about new grant-making priorities and application deadlines and procedures is available on the foundation’s Web site. All letters of intent, as well as full proposals, must be submitted online.

Key officials: Douglas F. Kridler, president and chief executive officer; Raymond J. Biddiscombe, vice president for finance and administration; Lisa Schweitzer Courtice, vice president for community research and grants management; Philip T. Schavone, vice president for donor services and development; Tamera Durrence, assistant vice president and director of supporting foundations; Carol M. Harmon, assistant vice president and director of communications and marketing; Nancy Fisher, grants manager; Ann Isaly Wolfe, chairman of the Governing Committee.

MEADOWS FOUNDATION
Wilson Historic District
3003 Swiss AvenueDallas, Tex. 75204
(214) 826-9431
http://www.mfi.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: Algur H. (Al) Meadows, founder of the General American Oil Company of Texas, and his wife, Virginia, established the foundation in 1948. As stipulated by the couple, subsequent generations of family members and “trusted advisers” have administered the foundation’s activities, and the fund allocates grants only to qualified public entities and tax-exempt charities that serve Texans.

In 2006 the foundation made grants totaling $47,034,387 in five program areas: arts and culture, which received 59 percent of grant dollars; human services, 14 percent; health, 12 percent; civic and public affairs, 9 percent; and education, 6 percent. Staff members also awarded program-related investments totaling $5,544,837.

Within those grant-making categories, the foundation currently maintains three areas of particular interest: improving the education of Texas schoolchildren in kindergarten through 12th grade, conserving the environment, and guaranteeing high-quality mental-health services.

Geographically, the foundation usually allocates between one-third and one-half of its grants to organizations that serve the Dallas metropolitan area.

The unusually large percentage awarded to the arts in 2006 was due to the foundation’s single-largest gift in its history: a $33-million commitment to Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, for educational programs, acquisitions, student and faculty recruitment, and other projects at the Meadows Museum of Art and the Meadows School of the Arts.

The museum houses Algur Meadows’s collection of Spanish art, which spans several centuries and includes works by Goya, Gris, Murillo, and Picasso.

Human-service grants stressed support for needy children and families, basic needs, child and residential care, community development, employment and job training, housing, and legal assistance.

For example, $160,000 went to the Food Bank of Corpus Christi to construct a building to house a food pantry and nutrition-education services, and $118,000 went to Texas Appleseed, in Austin, to examine how the discipline policies of Texas schools lead to children’s involvement in the criminal-justice system and to develop recommendations for avoiding such practices.

Health-related grants emphasized support for a broad array of mental-health services, including support for abused and neglected children, Alzheimer’s care, grief and bereavement counseling, homeless people, and substance-abuse treatment.

Civic- and public-affairs grant making focused on citizenship, free enterprise, nonprofit organizations, the relationship between built and natural environments, and energy, plant, water, and wildlife conservation and research programs.

Awards included $100,000 to the Dallas Foundation to complete the Cottonwood Trail, a 35-mile network of hiking and biking trails connecting downtown Dallas and the suburb of Plano.

Over the past decade, the foundation has made some 350 grants totaling roughly $41.3-million to help improve public education in Texas.

Large grants in 2006 included $247,000 to the Texas State University System, in Austin, to integrate an online tutoring program designed to improve the math skills of middle-school students with an effort to provide hands-on experience for middle-school math teachers.

Application procedure: The foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year and there are no formal application forms. Any given organization is limited to one application within a one-year period. Applications are usually processed within three to four months. Prospective applicants should review the foundation’s grant guidelines, which are available in both English and Spanish on its Web site.

Key officials: Linda P. Evans, president and chief executive officer; Bruce H. Esterline, vice president for grants; Paula Herring, vice president and treasurer; Michael E. Patrick, vice president and chief investment officer; Bob Weiss, vice president for administration; Carol A. Stabler, director of communications; Michael K. McCoy, Cindy M. Patrick, Adrianna Cuéllar-Rojas, and Kathy Smith, senior program officers; Cynthia Cass, grants operation manager; Robert A. Meadows, chairman of the Board of Trustees.