Foundation Annual Reports

THE COMMONWEALTH FUND
One East 75th Street
New York 10021-2692
(212) 535-0400
e-mail: cmwf@cmwf.org
World-Wide Web: http://www.cmwf.org
Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The fund was endowed in 1918 by the philanthropist Anna M. Harkness and was given the assets of the James Picker Foundation in 1986. It makes grants nationally in four program areas: improving health-care services, bettering the health of minority Americans, advancing the well-being of elderly people, and developing children and youths. In all four areas, it emphasizes prevention and the promotion of healthy behavior. The fund also makes a limited number of grants to encourage innovative approaches to improving public services and spaces in New York City.

In 1996-97, the fund appropriated $12.1-million to the four national programs. That amount was allocated as follows: improving health-care services received 38 per cent of grant dollars; developing children and youths, 27 per cent; the elderly, 21 per cent; and minorities, 14 per cent. All figures were commensurate with those reported for the previous fiscal year.

Health-care grants emphasize projects to educate the public about gaps in health-insurance coverage and create policy options to narrow those gaps, to establish and adopt standards for evaluating and monitoring managed-care health plans, to develop information to help academic health centers and “safety-net” providers carry out their functions while adapting to managed care, and to educate the public and doctors about women’s-health issues and concerns.

For example, $210,397 went to Columbia University in New York for symposia and policy reports on important topics related to women’s health, including mental-health services and the health of adolescent girls and young women.

Child- and youth-development grants stress expanding pediatric practice to include child-development advice and parental support and increasing guidance and vocational programs and career opportunities for youths.

Grants included $222,128 to the University of California at Los Angeles to analyze data from the 1996 Commonwealth Fund Survey of Parents with Young Children. The survey was designed to provide a framework for evaluating the pediatric-health-care experiences of parents with children younger than 3 years old.

Grants to promote the well-being of elderly Americans emphasize improving the quality and accessibility of long-term care and insuring that the Medicare program is capable of providing health security for growing numbers of elderly people.

Minority-health projects focus on identifying barriers to adequate care for the increasingly diverse U.S. population and on developing minority leaders to fashion health-care policy for minority Americans.

In 1996, the fund reviewed its Harkness Fellowships Program, which enables young leaders in Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand to study social and public-policy issues in the United States, and selected the final class of fellows under that program. It simultaneously established a new direction for its international grant making: the International Program in Health Policy, which aims to build an international network of policy- oriented health-care researchers and to spark innovative thinking and exchanges on health policies that can benefit the United States and other industrialized nations.

Awards to benefit New York City included $15,000 to the Central Park Conservancy for a program that provides teen-agers with summer internships in park operations and administration and visitor services.

Application procedure: After determining that the proposed project falls within the fund’s stated goals and priorities, applicants should submit a brief letter that describes the proposed area of work, the importance of the problem to be dealt with, and the strategies to be employed. The letter should also include an estimate of the total amount of money needed and the amount requested from the fund, a proposed schedule and work plan, expected outcomes, and relevant qualifications of the person or people who will direct the project. Grants are made only to tax-exempt organizations and public agencies; grants are not made directly to individuals or for general support, endowment, planning or continuing activities, capital support, or work for which achievements cannot be measured. Proposals that are recommended by the fund’s staff members are then considered and voted on by the board at its meetings in April, July, and November. Letters of inquiry should be addressed to Adrienne A. Fisher, director of grants management.

Key officials: Karen Davis, president; John E. Craig, Jr., executive vice-president and treasurer; Brian Biles, senior vice-president; Karen Scott Collins and Kathryn Taaffe Young, assistant vice-presidents, national programs; Mary Lou Russell, assistant vice-president for special projects; Cathy Schoen, director of research and evaluation; Robin Osborn, director, International Program in Health Policy; Michael C. Barth, David Blumenthal, Karen Scott Collins, Judith Feder, Joan M. Leiman, Marilyn Moon, and Cathy Schoen, program directors; Adrienne A. Fisher, director of grants management; Charles A. Sanders, chairman of the Board of Directors.

NORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
347 Midway Boulevard, Suite 312
Elyria, Ohio 44035
(440) 324-2822
World-Wide Web: http://www.nordff.org/
Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation is the successor to the Nordson Foundation, a charitable trust established in 1952 by the industrialist Walter Nord. It was reorganized under its current name in 1988 and awards grants to projects in several geographical areas, with the majority going to benefit residents of Lorain County, Ohio.

Grants are made in four major program areas: health and social services, which received 71 grants totaling $1,489,521 in 1997; civic affairs, 50 grants totaling $1,239,485; education, 24 grants totaling $1,203,457; and the arts and culture, 28 grants totaling $334,000. In all areas, high priority is given to programs designed to meet the needs of low-income and disadvantaged people and to projects that take up the root causes of poverty.

The health and social-services grants emphasize support for programs for at-risk and disadvantaged children, youths, and families. For example, $10,000 went to the Cleveland Mediation Center for its Homeless Prevention Project, and $15,000 went to the Lorain County Urban League in Elyria, Ohio, for a summer day camp for young people.

Civic-affairs grants focus on such neighborhood-based issues as public safety, work-force development, low-cost housing, crime prevention, and economic development and revitalization. Awards included $50,000 to the Lorain County Community Action Agency to initiate a lease-purchase housing program for low-income renters, and $10,000 to the American Farmland Trust in Washington to establish a field office in Ohio for work on farmland-preservation issues.

Grants made through the education program included $200,000 to the Lorain County Community College Foundation in Elyria to develop a distance-learning classroom that will enable Lorain County students to pursue four-year degrees.

Arts grants emphasize arts-education programs. Allocations included $15,000 to the Cleveland-based Great Lakes Theater Festival for educational and outreach activities for Lorain County residents.

Application procedure: There is no formal application form. Only one copy of the proposal is needed; it should include a cover letter signed by the organization’s executive director or board president; a one-page abstract of the proposal; and a detailed description of the proposed project, including background information on the problem to be taken up or the need to be served, a clear statement of the project’s goals and objectives, a description of the process to be used in evaluating the project’s effectiveness, and a budget detailing anticipated income and expenditures. A copy of the letter from the Internal Revenue Service confirming the organization’s tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, a list of board members, and a copy of the organization’s most-recent financial statements should also be included. Deadlines for submitting proposals are April 1 for a June decision, August 1 for an October decision, and December 1 for a February decision.

Key officials: Rickie Weiss, interim director; Joy L. Anderson and Karen E. Cook, program officers; Sharon D. White, controller; Ann M. Matus, office manager; Joseph N. Ignat, president of the Board of Trustees.

RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION
70 Elm Street
Providence, R.I. 02903
(401) 274-4564
World-Wide Web: http://www.rifoundation.org
Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1996.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation was established in 1916; it makes grants through approximately 520 constituent funds for projects that benefit residents of Rhode Island.

In 1996, 51 per cent of grants were awarded through discretionary funds, 37 per cent through designated funds, and 12 per cent through advised funds.

Grant making from the foundation’s discretionary funds focuses on three major program areas: children and families, community and economic development, and education.

Thirty-six grants totaling $1.5-million were made through the children and families program, which focuses on low-cost health-care services, early-childhood education, and other comprehensive services. Awards included $40,000 to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank to develop model food-distribution systems in Central Falls and Pawtucket and $100,000 to Tides Family Services in West Warwick to develop a system for assisting truant and other youths involved in the criminal-justice system.

Thirty-four grants totaling nearly $1.3-million were made through the education program, which focuses on public-schools reform and parental involvement. Allocations included $100,000 to Suffolk University in Boston for “The Right Question” project, which helps provide disadvantaged parents with the resources they need to participate more actively in their children’s education.

Sixty-two grants totaling $1.2-million were made through the economic-development program, the foundation’s newest grant-making area. Awards included $57,600 to the Newport County Development Council for a downtown-revitalization project and $25,000 to the South County Center for the Arts in West Kingston to restore the Washington County courthouse for use as a community arts center.

To commemorate its 80th anniversary, the foundation pledged $5-million to the “Teachers and Technology” project, which seeks to provide training and laptop computers to at least one of every three Rhode Island teachers over a three-year period. The foundation also inaugurated a lecture series tied to its three program areas; speakers included Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington.

Application procedure: Organizations interested in applying should submit a three- to four-page letter of intent that provides a statement indicating how the goals of the proposed project relate to one of the foundation’s three major areas of interest, an explanation of how the work being proposed involves the community being served, a description of the basic strategies and activities designed to bring the project to a successful conclusion, and an estimate of the total costs and the amount requested from the foundation. Letters of intent should be addressed to Ronald D. Thorpe, Jr., vice-president for program; deadlines are November 15, March 15, and July 15. If the foundation desires, organizations will be invited to submit a full application.

Key officials: Ronald V. Gallo, president; Ronald D. Thorpe, Jr., vice-president for program; Carol Golden, vice-president for development; Robert D. Rosendale, vice-president for finance and administration; Rick Schwartz, director of communications; Karen Voci, director, office of evaluation and special partnerships; Nellie M. Gorbea and Melvin J. Bell, Jr., program officers; Tina Donate-Gonzalez, grants administrator; Melvin G. Alperin, chairman of the Board of Directors.