Top 10 Milestones to Remember: 2021 in Review

Now that 2021 is over, we’re reflecting on and celebrating our most impactful stories from the past year – from releasing our new strategic vision, to historic investments in Black-led change, to a $1 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott that boosted our recovery work for local arts groups. Here are some of our most meaningful milestones from 2021. 

Together, We Prosper: Launching a New Strategic Vision for Closing Our Community’s Racial Wealth Gap

In October, we shared the culmination of months of deep heart work: our 10-year strategic vision to close our region’s racial wealth gap. First unveiled at our annual meeting, the vision centers on three core leadership pillars: leading with racial equity and inclusion, aligning business with values, and closing the racial wealth gap. We envision a future where all have the opportunity to prosper – and know together, we can realize this vision as reality.

Celebrating Our Community’s Champions

View a recording of our Celebration of Community Champions program.

In May, our virtual Celebration of Community Champions lifted up our collective COVID-19 response efforts and the everyday heroes – local individuals and companies – who stepped up for our region in exceptional ways. We were proud to highlight Feed the Fight as our Community Hero; Food for Montgomery as our Collaborative Hero; CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield as our Corporate Hero; and Dr. Monica Goldson, Senator Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. (in memoriam), Steve Proctor, and Dr. Alvin Thornton as our Civic Heroes. The evening also featured special performances from Arts on the Block, DC Jazz Festival, the Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate, and Synetic Theater.

Historic Investments in Black Leaders and Black-Led Nonprofits

Jawanna Hardy, a US Air Force veteran, leads an outreach program providing resources to communities affected by youth homicide, suicide, and mental health illnesses.

We were proud to make several historic investments in Black-led change impacting our region. Through our Black Voices for Black Justice Fellows, an initiative launched in 2020 with Bridge Alliance Education Fund and GOODProjects, we selected 10 inspiring Black leaders and activists on the frontlines of advancing racial equity and social justice. Additionally, a generous gift from Facebook enabled investments of nearly $1 million in 17 Black-led organizations leading systems change work. These awards supported the immediate infrastructure needs of grantees, including staffing, strategic planning, marketing and communications, professional development, and more. 

Direct Cash Transfer as a Vehicle for Speed, Inclusivity, and Equity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Community Foundation and many of our philanthropic partners embraced giving directly—transferring cash to people—as an effective and efficient means of providing relief to those hit hard by the sudden economic and health emergency. Since the onset of the pandemic and in partnership with donors, nonprofit organizations, and local government agencies, we facilitated the administration of approximately $26 million in funds, distributed in increments of $50 to $2,500 to approximately 60,000 residents across the Greater Washington region. Urban Institute published a report chronicling the goals, strategies, and short-term achievements of our effort to develop and implement cash transfer strategies at the height of the pandemic. 

Advancing Housing Justice and Preventing Evictions

Housing Counseling Services received a grant to help tenants apply for rental assistance by meeting them where they live, learn, pray, and play.

Our Partnership to End Homelessness continued its critical eviction prevention work in response to the pandemic and economic crisis. Its work to advance housing justice included more than $300,000 in grants to address our region’s housing crisis and inequalities by funding seven nonprofits leading advocacy and organizing efforts. Hear from our Community Investment Officer Jennifer Olney on the Partnership’s eviction prevention work and her explanation of common misperceptions about homelessness – and how you can get involved in helping more people obtain and maintain stable housing during a crisis and beyond.  

Improving Equity and Economic Mobility in Prince George’s County

Jacob’s Ladder was selected by ELIF members to receive a microgrant for its Academic Enrichment Program that provides tutoring, basic literacy skills, and mentoring to students.

Our Emerging Leaders Impact Fund (ELIF), a new giving circle for young professionals in Prince George’s County, announced its inaugural grants to five Prince George’s County nonprofits working to combat chronic absenteeism in County schools. ELIF is currently recruiting new members for 2022; Interested candidates can apply here. While our Equity Fund, which works to eliminate social and economic disparities in Prince George’s County, awarded $440,000 in grants to help 19 nonprofits advance food security, affordable childcare, and workforce equity. These grants were made possible thanks to a generous gift from the Ikea U.S. Community Foundation. 

Increasing Food Security and Educational Equity in Montgomery County

Food for Montgomery received our Collaborative Hero Award for its public-private effort to coordinate and expand food distributions, support local farmers and small businesses, and improve food systems to combat food insecurity in Montgomery County.

Our Children’s Opportunity Fund was recognized by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading as a 2021 Bright Spot community for its COVID-19 response work, including the launch of Educational Enrichment and Equity Hubs. Equity Hubs offered a safe place for low-income students to participate in remote learning during school closures, welcoming more than 1,400 students across 70 sites. Our Food for Montgomery initiative has marshaled the resources of nonprofits, faith communities, local businesses, farmers, and county agencies to increase food access and help families recover from crisis. It has raised and deployed over $2.1 million to double the number of food distribution sites, help sustain local farmers and small businesses, and improve the hunger relief system to meet today’s challenges and future crises. 

Gift From Mackenzie Scott Enables Additional Relief Funding For Local Arts Groups

Dance Institute of Washington received a grant to support its facility renovation and a program evaluation with a focus on racial equity.

Arts Forward Fund was established in partnership with The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to help struggling arts and culture organizations to adapt their programming to survive and recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic. In 2021, the initiative was recognized by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott with a $1 million gift as part of a cohort of equity-focused efforts. Thanks to Scott’s generosity, we were able to award a second round of grants in September 2021, investing in nearly 90 local arts groups. In total, the fund has made nearly $2.7 million in grants to 130+ organizations – 60% of which are BIPOC-led or BIPOC-serving.

Turning Ideas Into Action for Community Change

Learn about several of our Community Action Awards supported projects in this video produced by our partners at Comcast.

As the last step in our three-part VoicesDMV community engagement initiative, we awarded our inaugural Community Action Awards microgrants to 50 local activists, artists, and advocates leading neighborhood-based projects which advance equity and inclusion. Projects included public murals in Brookland, Forest Bathing in Maryland, yoga and dance accessibility, and more. In December, our former Senior Advisor for Impact Benton Murphy reported back how grantees are doing – and the collective impact of these projects - read his post for several inspiring videos and photos. 

Aligning Our Business With Our Values: A New Partnership With SEI

Check out this video featuring our OCIO providing an update on your investment options and their performance.

We believe to truly affect change, our values must inform and drive our actions – and this was the impetus for partnering with SEI as our outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO). The leading global investment firm is known for its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, values we wholeheartedly share. As an OCIO with 450+ clients worldwide – more than 170 of which are nonprofits – SEI serves as an extension of our staff, providing world-class investment expertise and constant focus on managing the charitable funds you have entrusted to us. Check out this new video featuring our OCIO providing an update on your investment options and the performance of our investment portfolio.

In Memoriam: Diane Bernstein, Jane Bainum, Milt Peterson, Senator Mike Miller, Waldon and Rhonda

As a member of our Partnership to End Homelessness Leadership Council, Waldon Adams was instrumental in our work to ensure everyone has housing they can afford.

Last year, we lost several special members of The Community Foundation family. We pay tribute to former Trustee, donor, and friend Diane Bernstein; Jane Bainum, co-founder of the Bainum Family Foundation and longtime philanthropic partner; Milt Peterson, trusted donor and founder of Peterson Companies; and the beloved Senator Mike Miller, one of our 2021 Civic Hero honorees. We also remember and honor our friends Rhonda Whitaker and Waldon Adams, two tireless advocates for ending homelessness who passed away unexpectedly in April. 

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From Crisis to Recovery: A Pivotal Year

You can also view our FY 2021 annual report for more highlights from our crisis to recovery work in 2020-2021.

The Community Foundation Invests $6.2+ Million in 70 Nonprofits Nurturing Equitable Recovery

Grants aim to increase food security, close the opportunity gap, support survivors of domestic violence, and build stability for more families.

The region’s largest local funder has announced more than $6.2 million in grants to 70 nonprofits addressing issues facing families and communities in the Greater Washington region as they adapt to a post-pandemic life. 

The Greater Washington Community Foundation is investing in equitable recovery targeting a wide range of challenges, from helping families facing food insecurity, to advancing educational equity, supporting survivors of domestic violence, and building stability for more families. 

These grants represent initial investments that lay the groundwork for The Community Foundation’s new 10-year strategic vision to close the region’s racial wealth gap. The Community Foundation’s new strategy focuses on increasing economic mobility by prioritizing historically underinvested BIPOC neighborhoods that have been systematically denied access to wealth building opportunities. The Community Foundation is specifically interested in neighborhoods and census tracts that are experiencing the highest incidences of system-induced inequities in the areas of health, homeownership, education, employment, income, and life expectancy. 

“The pandemic not only increased demand for housing, food, and educational supports, it also exacerbated and brought longstanding inequities into focus,” said Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “These grants will help our nonprofit partners sustain and continue to adapt their services to support equitable recovery by providing individuals and families with what they need to survive and thrive today and for the long-term.”

Food Security

With 1 in 10 Montgomery County residents facing food insecurity due to COVID-19, The Community Foundation’s Food for Montgomery initiative is marshaling the resources of nonprofits, faith communities, local businesses, farmers, and county agencies to increase food access and help families recover from crisis. Grants totaling $959,590 will build the resiliency of 14 nonprofit and faith-based partners to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs throughout Montgomery County.

Afrithrive to support its two-acre farm and community gardening program to engage African immigrants in growing culturally specific produce which is hard to obtain through most food distribution providers. 

American Muslim Senior Society to support staffing, equipment, and cold storage necessary to strengthen its food security work and maximize the power of its volunteer network.

BlackRock Center for the Arts / Up-County Consolidation Hub to hire a bilingual social worker to connect vulnerable families to sustainable food resources and supports that are vital to their recovery.

Celestial Manna for staffing needed to advance food recovery efforts that prevent food waste and save thousands of dollars.

Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming to support the development of an urban farm and community gardening program in Wheaton, MD that will enable residents to grow their own culturally appropriate food.

Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER) to support community-garden work that will engage Long Branch area residents to grow their own food for their community.

Guru Gobind Singh Foundation to support expanded storage that will enable this volunteer-driven effort to sustain its food security work.

Kingdom Fellowship CDC / East County Consolidation Hub to support the development of an innovative cold storage resource to help hub partners prevent waste and distribute food more efficiently. Hub partners include Kingdom Fellowship, Rainbow Community Development Center, Kings & Priests Court Int'l Ministries, and People's Community Baptist Church. 

Manna Food Center, A Place of Hope, Co-Health, Ethiopian Community Center Maryland, Identity, Kings and Priests’ Court International Ministries, and Southern African Community USA to enable outreach partners to connect residents with Manna Food Center’s resources and provide vouchers to purchase culturally specific foods to meet their needs.

The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland and its partners, the Crossroads Community Food Network and FRESHFARM, to build the capacity of local farmers markets so they can more effectively reach and serve customers that rely on federal nutrition benefits, thereby increasing access to healthy food from local farmers.

Rainbow Community Development Center for staffing necessary to foster resiliency in the East County region through collaborative work with key partners and to sustain the organization’s expansion spurred by the pandemic.

Red Wiggler Community Farm to employ adults with developmental disabilities to grow healthy food for group homes and food distribution partners throughout the county.

Shepherd’s Table to support the necessary equipment and kitchen improvements to sustain and deepen collaborations bringing prepared meals to individuals and families facing food insecurity.

WUMCO for expanded cold storage that will enable the collection of more donations from local farmers and hunters to distribute in the rural, Up-County area. 

Education and Literacy

The Community Foundation’s Children’s Opportunity Fund (COF) is a public-private partnership that invests in innovative, evidence-informed efforts targeted at reducing educational disparities to close the opportunity gap in Montgomery County. Reading mastery is a key predictor of a student’s career attainment, and the most critical time to gain these skills is between birth and third grade. Recent grants of $200,000 will further COF’s strategy to improve third grade literacy rates by supporting early literacy programs, tutoring programs, and out of school time activities. 

Kid Museum to create an intentional curriculum for students in Grades K-3 that integrates STEM, literacy, and social emotional learning at Rolling Terrace and Strathmore, two Title 1 Elementary Schools -- in the spring the program will be piloted at additional elementary schools. 

Imagination Library to expand its program developed for children from birth to age 5 in seven zip codes to receive free, high-quality, age-appropriate books delivered to their home every month. 

Survivors of Domestic Violence

In partnership with the Prince George’s County Department of Family Services, The Community Foundation administers the Domestic Violence Community Grants Fund to support nonprofits assisting families and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking to achieve a greater level of independence and self-sufficiency, cope with healing, and rebuild the family unit. Grants of $120,00 to four organizations will support counseling services, housing and transportation, and legal services.

Community Advocates for Family and Youth to support the recently launched Begin Again and Thrive program to address housing needs by providing emergency accommodation, permanent relocation, and financial assistance. 

Community Crisis Services to provide shelter transportation, limited rental support, and to meet individual needs such as school lunches or school supplies for a family or student. 

Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County to continue funding a staff attorney position and program offering legal assistance.

House of Ruth Maryland to support the provision of counseling/therapy services including IPV education, safety planning, and trauma reduction. 

Children, Youth, and Families

The Community Foundation administers the Fund for Children, Youth, and Families, a five-year initiative, to invest in effective organizations working to make the community more vibrant, healthy, and stable. The 2021 cycle includes nearly $4.8 million in multiyear grants to 50 nonprofits offering housing services, permanency support, academic support, and early career development programs.

826DC to help students improve writing skill development and increase fluency with writing based on the National Writing Project standards.

Adoptions Together to provide training for families interested in fostering and to place foster children in permanent homes.

The Arc of Prince George’s County to support participants of the Ready@21 Program, which helps young adults through career coaching and resume development to increase job readiness, improve college awareness, and develop self-advocacy skills.

Aspire! Afterschool Learning to improve reading instructional level by one grade or more for students in its afterschool care program.

The Barker Adoption Foundation to provide older foster child adoption training and facilitate the placement of older foster children and/or sibling groups.

Bread for the City to support advocacy efforts for families at risk of housing displacement and to provide direct services to families through the Food Program, Clothing Program, Medical Clinic, Social Services Program, and Legal Clinic.

Bright Beginnings to support early childhood development for children ages 0-5.

Carpenter's Shelter to help families who enter shelter to gain stability and transition to permanent housing and sustain independent living.

CASA for Children of DC to provide advocacy support for reunification, adoption, or guardianship for foster youth and workforce development activities for older foster youth.

Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) to provide trainings and support for pre-adoption and post-adoption guardians.

Central American Resource Center to provide financial training and planning to support stable housing for Latino immigrants.

Children's Law Center to provide legal representation for child welfare cases to ensure children are growing up in permanent, stable families.

Community Crisis Services, Inc. to assist households experiencing homelessness and/or domestic violence to access safe, permanent housing.

Community Family Life Services to provide intensive financial coaching, financial case management, and wrap around supports for women seeking housing stability.

Cornerstones, Inc. to provide rental assistance services for at-risk tenants.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/ Prince George's County, Inc. Support the Job Readiness and Transitioning Youth program, which ensures that at youth participants who emancipate will do so with stable housing

Voices for Children Montgomery to provide placement in safe homes for clients at case closure.

DC SAFE to help clients move to safe transitional or permanent housing after their stay in SAFE Space.

DC Volunteer Lawyers Project to offer advocacy and referrals, including enforcing victim rights in housing, employment, and public benefits, as well as provide legal assistance and advocacy with victim legal rights.

DC127 to help teen parents who are aging out of foster care be prepared for a life of independence with stable housing, jobs, and increased access to supportive services.

District Alliance for Safe Housing to help families transition from emergency shelter to more permanent housing with increased economic and housing stability.

District Of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment to help secure long-term housing for residents displaced and impacted by public housing redevelopment.

Doorways for Women and Families to provide re-housing supportive services to help participants achieve stability and transition to permanent housing.

The Dwelling Place, Inc. to help program residents remain stably housed and maintain compliance with program requirements through case management, increasing financial stability, and home visits.

Family & Youth Initiative to assist participant teens in foster care with finding an adoptive family and provide continuing support to participant youth who age out of foster care.

Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso to provide afterschool and summer programs for children in the child welfare system to allow them to develop positive relationships with adults and peers.

Crittenton Services of Greater Washington to increase school attendance, academic engagement, and grade point average for Goal Setting Girls participants.

Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center (FAPAC) to provide training, peer support, financial stability, and individual advocacy to foster families in DC.

Homeless Children's Playtime Project to provide ongoing play programs and supportive services for homeless children in DC.

Hope And A Home, Inc. to help resident families increase financial stability and make progress towards transitioning into and/or maintain permanent, stable housing.

Horizons Greater Washington to provide literacy and math academic enrichment support for students.

Housing Up to provide employment support, rental assistance, and financial support services for affordable rental housing buildings.

Interfaith Works Inc. to help families experiencing homelessness achieve stability and transition to permanent housing with the assistance of case management and supportive services.

Martha’s Table to support academic enrichment for the six developmental domains — early literacy, early math, language, cognition, physical development, and socioemotional development.

Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc. to support the Home Visiting Program, which encourages early childhood development through reading, storytelling, and singing with young children daily.

Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. to help residents maintain on time rent payments and permanent, stable housing.

My Sister's Place to help residents increase income, provide case management, and transition to transitional or permanent housing.

National Housing Trust Enterprise to help NHT households participate in financial programs and maintain stable housing.

Neighborhood Legal Services Program to host “Know Your Rights” presentations and represent clients in cases involving housing discrimination, illegal eviction, rent increases, housing conditions, voucher termination, and loss of subsidies.

Neighbors Consejo to assist low-income families in transitioning from shelter to rental housing, while helping them improve their personal and financial stability.

Northern Virginia Family Service to provide foster care pre-service training and Resource Parent certification.

One Common Unity to improve course grades, increase class attendance, and reduce punitive disciplinary actions for students in the Fly by Light program.

One World Education to increase research and writing skills as well as social and emotional learning for students.

The Platform of Hope to provide housing, education, employment, family stability, finances, and health support services for low-income families at risk for homelessness.

Prince George's Child Resource Center, Inc. to improve language and cognitive abilities through participation in child development and parent/child learning activities.

Reading Partners to help students meet or exceed their primary, individualized end-of-year literacy growth goal.

Right Beginnings Inc. to provide career development, mentoring, and career counseling to homeless women seeking to increase financial stability to find housing.

Rising for Justice to provide tenant rights educational trainings and legal services for tenants in need of improved housing conditions or facing eviction.

Sasha Bruce Youthwork to help at-risk youth achieve safe and stable living environments.

Stepping Stones Shelter to help resident families increase their income during stay and move on to stable housing utilizing a subsidy program.

Philanthropy is a journey: Our Tips for Giving With Confidence

By Rebecca Rothey, Chief Philanthropy Officer

As I was listening to a presentation by the author of a new book, In Defense of Philanthropy by Beth Breeze, it struck me that the need to defend philanthropy may come as a surprise to some readers. However, as Beth pointed out, there is a growing effort to denigrate philanthropy and the value it brings to our communities. At The Community Foundation, we have the privilege of  working directly with generous individuals and families who care about their community, and seeing firsthand the impact that philanthropy can and does accomplish for our region and beyond.

As we enter a new year with continued uncertainty about the pandemic, our economy, and even the very future of our democracy, philanthropy remains more important now than ever. I remain heartened by the many ways in which our donors have stepped up in response to community challenges – from combating gun violence to supporting animals, the arts, and the environment. Notable examples include:

Peace For DC was established by a grieving father to address the rise of gun violence in DC. Peace for DC will build community capacity and fund evidence-based gun violence intervention solutions to drastically reduce DC homicides over the next 5 years—and help bring racial and economic justice to DC’s most under-resourced communities.

Ann Manheimer established her legacy to provide a way for people to prepare for service-oriented work that will meet future societal needs. Her inspiration grew from her career at the US Department of Education, volunteer work with seniors and animal rescue, and travel to places of both great natural beauty and stunning man-made art.

On July 4, 2020, 11-year-old Davon McNeal lost his life to gun violence as he was leaving a Stop the Violence cookout with his mother. After consulting Davon’s mother, DC residents Mary Grace and Al Rook founded the Davon McNeal Memorial Fund to give at-risk youth in Wards 7 and 8 a respite from potential violence through pro-social programs in sports, the arts, and education.

We are proud to partner with these donors to help pursue their philanthropic goals by making the set up and administration of their charitable giving simple and convenient for them -- including suggesting the best structure for the charitable fund, providing staff expertise, receiving gifts, making grants, and covering accounting.

While the word “journey” has become over-used, through the course of my career I have learned that those moved to address concerning challenges or to preserve valued purposes engage in an ongoing learning process. Philanthropy does not have all the answers. What it has is a commitment to asking questions and to acting in response to current answers. Answers inevitably lead to more questions. Better to generate a new set of questions, and possibly more effective answers, than to do nothing.

We are grateful that you have chosen to partner with The Community Foundation on your philanthropic journey. As we approach the end of another unprecedented year, I want to leave you with a few of my top tips for the most effective way to maximize your giving and philanthropic work, now and in the future:

• Gift appreciated stock that you have owned for more than one year. With the possibility of capital gains tax rates going up next year, this year may be an especially advantageous time to gift assets held long-term. With the past year and a half’s market gains, you may still have long-term gains in your portfolio and there is an opportunity to capture the gains into a philanthropic fund. Donating appreciated securities to your fund may mitigate the impact of capital gains taxes. As a reminder, always let us know when you are making a gift of stock.

• If you are over 70.5 years old, make a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA. While these gifts may not be granted to a donor-advised fund, there are several other ways for you to directly transfer up to $100,000, including your required minimum distributions, from your IRA to minimize your reportable taxable income . Ask us how!

• Bundle your giving into a donor-advised fund. With the currently higher standard deduction and limitations on SALT deductions, only approximately 8% of tax filings now itemize. A large gift in one year to a donor-advised fund can potentially lead to a larger charitable income tax deduction in the year given and the grants can be made over a period of two or three years.

• Maximize your gifts of cash to take advantage of the opportunity to deduct up to 100% of your adjusted gross income through the end of this year. These gifts may not be made to a donor-advised fund.

I encourage you to speak with your financial advisor or accountant about the most tax efficient ways to give.

As always, feel free to reach out to us if you have questions or want more information about any of these options. You can reach us Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Please note our holiday closures on December 24 and 31, and special hours on December 23 and 30 when we will close at 1 p.m.

I wish you a safe and connected holiday season.

Following up with our Community Action Award Winners

By Benton Murphy, outgoing Senior Advisor for Impact

Earlier this year, the Community Foundation issued $100,000 in small grant awards to community partners across the region through our Community Action Awards. The Awards were provided to a cohort of 50 activists, artists, and advocates leading neighborhood-based projects that would spark change in their communities. 

The Community Action Awards are part of our three-part VoicesDMV series, a powerful community engagement initiative launched in 2017 to explore our region’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. In 2020, VoicesDMV tapped into Community Insights through a regional survey and convened hundreds of residents from across the region to discuss ways to make our communities stronger through On The Table conversations.

While many of our Awardees are still working to finalize their programs, we are thrilled to share some highlights of some excellent programs that have taken place over the past year.

American University and EL Haynes Public Charter School received an award to support their Action Research for Community Change project. The project, sparked by a conversation that took place as a part of our On the Table day of dialogue in 2020, was an innovative and impactful partnership that paired AU college students and high schoolers at EL Haynes Public Charter School in conversations on race and equity. Students at both institutions participated in virtual classrooms together, co-learning and co-designing a community action research project. AU students developed a curriculum and guide for community action research. EL Haynes students conducted a bilingual survey of the student body with more than half of student responding. Based on student responses, the action researchers made a series of recommendations that yielded commitments from school leadership to hire a new social worker, offer two new elective courses focused on centering Black lives, and a commitment to using student surveys to inform future teacher professional development. What’s more—AU students developed a workbook on action research that the students can use in future years to continue to lift up student voices for change!

The Brem Foundation received an award to provide funding for its Wheels for Women program which helps connect women to breast care appointments. The District of Columbia has the highest death rate for breast cancer in the United States, and despite being diagnosed at the same rate, Black women have a 40% higher death rate from breast cancer than white women. Brem used funds to support 76 one-way rides for women to get to their breast care appointments, the majority of recipients were Black women. Brem also was able to use funds to expand from 8 to 9 community partners for rides, which will be useful for the many recipients who live very far from their health care provider.

IMPACT Silver Spring used its award to support its Sewing Academy for Latina Women. The Academy was the brainchild of IMPACT’s Women’s Empowerment Collective, composed mostly of parents of IMPACT’s youth programming or who became interested through direct outreach at local schools. The award funded the purchase of sewing machines and supplies, as well as compensation for experienced seamstresses who served as instructors in the program. Twenty women registered for the Academy over a six-month period. The women of the Academy both built their sewing skills as well as strong bonds and a new support network. Participants were also supported to participate in civic actions, including providing testimony at Montgomery County Council hearings on the importance of affordable vocational education. When the Academy students gathered with their family, friends, and IMPACT staff for their graduation in July they held a fashion show to showcase the students’ work, with one participant noting: “I made three dresses. I never thought I could do this. I’m making my dreams come true.”

This has been an especially meaningful program for me to take on as I wrap up a 17-year stint here at The Community Foundation to move on to other opportunities. Having led our inaugural Community Action Awards program, it is so wonderful to see how impactful these small-dollar grant awards can be. It is instructive for us as funders and individual donors that even a small gift can be meaningful for those who are striving to make the world a better place for everyone. I am hopeful that you will find our next crop of Awardees as inspiring as I have found this one!

View the Impact of Several Projects

Got You Covered Diaper Bag Project

Live It Learn It for Drew Elementary School

DC KinCare Alliance Relative Caregiver Community Board Outreach and Education Project

Zoom Pals, an intergenerational pilot project in a partnership between American University and Hyattsville Aging and Place

Mamas Together Mutual Aid Community Survey Project

Mamas Together Mutual Aid Community Survey Project

Baños de Bosque and Defensores de la Cuenca "forest bathing"

AALEAD Overcoming Gentrification in Chinatown

Book Club for Kids podcast

Young, Black and Giving Back Institute'sYoung, Black & Working from Home Community

Investing in Nonprofit Capacity to Leverage Federal Funds to End Homelessness

The Partnership to End Homelessness is excited to announce a $250,000 investment from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to double our support for this important project. Together, we are working to leverage ongoing federal funding to support our nonprofit partners providing Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).

In April 2022, DC is expected to launch a new Medicaid Benefit that could result in an additional $20+ million in annual federal resources for PSH services in DC.

The new benefit will allow nonprofit providers to bill Medicaid for PSH services. The additional federal funding that will be leveraged through this investment will result in higher reimbursement rates for nonprofit providers, meaning the ability to improve retention of talented, experienced staff and build internal capacity to meet new quality and outcome metrics.

PSH is a proven model for ending chronic homelessness and an effective tool that works by pairing housing with wrap-around support services. PSH services are voluntary, flexible, and individualized to help people achieve their personal goals, such as stabilizing and improving their physical and mental health, gaining employment, reconnecting with family, and participating in the community. These supports help people experiencing chronic homelessness obtain affordable housing and remain permanently housed. 

To learn more about Permanent Support Housing, check out our blog post featuring former Leadership Council member, Waldon Adams.

Image courtesy of Open Arms Housing, one of our PSH provider partners

In DC there are currently around 4,000 clients in the PSH program. Across the city, nonprofits provide supports for clients in the PSH program including housing navigation, housing stability and the basics of landlord-tenant relationships, connection to employment and training, navigation through public systems, and connection to community resources. Services can also provide clients with tools to cope with mental health, addiction, trauma, physical health problems, and other issues they might be experiencing that jeopardize housing stability.

Opportunity for Impact

In order to make this transition to billing Medicaid, nonprofits will need to adopt new practices, quality control checks, and new or updated internal systems related to human resources, accounting, and compliance functions.

Through the Partnership to End Homelessness, The Community Foundation is uniquely positioned to leverage and align private sector resources to support PSH providers to increase capacity and begin billing Medicaid. This could include technical assistance and coaching from consultants with expertise and experience with Medicaid billing and enrollment, or one-time technology investments to set-up necessary systems and tracking to bill Medicaid.

Advancing Racial Equity Goals

Ensuring all PSH providers, big and small, are able to make the transition to Medicaid billing is an important part of our goal to increase racial equity in the homeless service system. Smaller organizations, many led by Black and Brown leaders, are often the organizations that don’t have additional support and resources to increase capacity. By investing across the system and ensuring all providers have access to capacity building resources, it is our goal to ensure that all organizations will have the support they need to make the transition to Medicaid billing and benefit from federal funding and higher reimbursement rates for services. 

Advancing Public-Private Solutions to End Homelessness in DC

The Partnership to End Homelessness was created to leverage private philanthropy, in alignment with Homeward DC, the city’s Plan to End Homelessness, to create sustained investment in the homeless services system.

The Partnership is working with partners at the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) to coordinate these funds and support PSH providers and the system as a whole to make the necessary investments to access ongoing federal funds.

How Can You Help?

Join the Partnership to End Homelessness and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation in our efforts to leverage federal funding and increase the capacity of our nonprofit providers. We are bringing together private funders in order to bridge the gap between opportunity and impact. Contributing to this project can make a significant impact in ensuring support and stability for our neighbors in Permanent Supportive Housing.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness, at [email protected].

Three Ways to Address Hunger Across Our Community

By Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for Montgomery County

Since the pandemic struck, I have watched with deep admiration as our region’s food security leaders stepped up to the challenge of a lifetime. On top of skyrocketing need, our nonprofits and faith-based partners faced plummeting food donations, massive disruptions to the supply chain, and a significant drop in their volunteer workforce. It was clear that our community had to act fast to prevent our neighbors from going hungry, and we did! 

In addition to the investments from our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, The Community Foundation launched Food for Montgomery, a public-private initiative leading a coordinated response to the hunger crisis. This effort is marshalling over 100 nonprofit & faith-based food distributors, farmers, restaurants, county agencies, and generous donations from hundreds of donors. As a result, we’ve expanded access to healthy foods throughout the county to reach the 1 in 10 residents who otherwise didn’t know where their next meal would come from.

While talking with food security leaders about what they’ve accomplished and their projections for the coming year, I’ve noticed a shared concern. Many vividly recall the lopsided recovery from the 2008 economic downturn, when our lowest-income neighbors were hit the hardest and took the longest to recover. They worry that between the rise in vaccinations and improvements in the economy, donors and volunteers might think the pandemic is effectively over. In truth, our nonprofits and faith-based food distributors are serving thousands of children, seniors, adults, and people with disabilities who are still struggling. This includes many low-income essential workers (who were heralded as heroes just last year) plus families rebounding from the loss of breadwinners and caregivers due to COVID-19. 

After reflecting on the herculean efforts of our food security partners over the last year and the work ahead, I have three pieces of advice for anyone who is passionate about fighting hunger:

Support Creative & Nimble Partnerships

Manna Food Center worked with grassroots leaders, schools, county agencies, faith-communities, farmers, and other nonprofits to get food to those in need.

The most effective organizations foster strategic partnerships with other nonprofits, local businesses, farmers, etc. If you’re thinking about starting a brand new effort, I encourage you to first look into volunteering for an existing organization or explore how you might foster connections between new partners.  For donors, I strongly recommend providing flexible general operating support which was pivotal over the last year, enabling nonprofits to problem-solve quickly and work strategically to increase the number of people they could serve. If you’re looking inspiration, you give to one of The Community Foundation’s strategic response initiatives or browse our grantee lists for vetted organizations you can support directly. 

Invest in Building A More Equitable Food Security System

The deepest impact came from organizations that set racial equity as a top priority guiding all they do. For many, that means taking the time to develop relationships with the people relying on their food distributions. By listening and learning, they’ve continuously improved their services and how they reach people. I’ve also been inspired by nonprofits that partner with grassroots community leaders, empowering them to serve as connectors, identify solutions, and drive change in the neighborhoods where they live. If you are a prospective volunteer or donor, be sure to browse our grantee list to learn about the impact of these organizations. For nonprofit leaders wanting to deepen their impact, be sure to connect with your peers and The Community Foundation so we all can continue to learn together. 

Scale Innovation & Efficiency

Our partners from The Healthcare Initiative Foundation, GRO Consulting, and BlackRock Center for the Arts teamed up to create the very first consolidation hub to connect people to food and other vital supports.

In the early days of the pandemic, many partners across the region could not obtain the food, equipment, and supplies needed to keep their doors open. Fortunately, the advocacy of key local conveners — such as the Montgomery County Food Council and Prince George’s Food Equity Council — enabled nonprofits and faith communities to partner with each other and local government. By working together, we’ve been able to maximize both public and private dollars to meet the need. However, without leadership and investment, there’s a risk that we’ll fall back to the pre-pandemic levels of support to food partners. That was not enough to meet the need back then, let alone now. In addition to supporting vital advocacy and convening partners, all of us — nonprofits, volunteers, and donors — must tell our local government leaders that food security is a top priority that requires system-wide solutions. To learn about some ideas in the works, check out this recent Washington Post article featuring quotes from local government and nonprofit food champions.

One silver lining coming of this crisis is that it forced us to reimagine what’s possible and stretch the limits of what we can achieve.  For those of us who are passionate about food, that means we must continue to work together toward the goal of a community free from food insecurity. 

I hope you will join us in this work!

Changing Perceptions About Homelessness in DC

By Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness

This week, communities across the country marked Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, an annual program designed to bring people together to share information and stories that help draw attention to the persistence of hunger and homelessness in our community. Through our Partnership to End Homelessness, one of our goals is help to our partners and community members better understand who experiences homelessness and why, and what we can do about it.

Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about homelessness and housing instability.

It is no secret that DC has a severe shortage of affordable housing. As local housing costs continue to outpace people’s incomes, nearly 1 in 5 residents reported they could only make it by for less than one month if they lost their current sources of income. A person working a minimum wage job would have to work two full-time jobs in order to cover rent on a one-bedroom apartment in DC. Without stable housing it is hard to focus on your health, get an education, maintain employment, or take care of other basic needs.

It’s important to remember that homelessness is not a choice or an individual failure. Homelessness is the result of systems that are failing our neighbors and as a result, failing our community. Due to systemic racism and decades of discrimination in housing, employment, and access to healthcare, Black and Brown residents are much more likely to struggle with housing instability and to experience homelessness. Although Black residents make up less than half of DC’s overall population, they make up 87% of people experiencing homelessness in DC. As we talk about racial and social justice, we must also talk about housing justice.

It’s important to remember that people who lose their housing and experience homelessness and housing instability are our neighbors.

People like Shelley, a mother and veteran, who could not make enough income to afford housing for her and her daughter. Or Janet, who lost her apartment after she was laid off when her employer shut its doors.

In DC, nearly 1 in 100 residents are without housing on any given night. They’re our neighbors including working adults, people suffering from chronic health conditions, families, college students, senior citizens, LGBTQ+ youth, and veterans. With the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, many households who were already struggling, lost their jobs or childcare and quickly fell behind on rent. According to a recent analysis by DCFPI, renters in DC still owe over $70 million in back rent.

We know that in order to reach our goal of preventing and ending homelessness, it will take all of us working together and doing our part. Over the past year, we have been working closely with our nonprofit and government partners to ensure that no one loses their housing during the pandemic. We’ve also been inspired by innovative partners like Empower DC and Horning Brothers who are going above and beyond to connect tenants with available resources to help them remain stably housed.

Join us in our work to ensure everyone has safe and stable housing that they can afford.

In 2019, we launched The Partnership to End Homelessness, a public-private partnership aimed at uniting DC government and the private sector around strategies to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring. We believe that ending homelessness in DC starts with creating more supportive and deeply affordable housing and strengthening our system so people have the supports they need to obtain and maintain stable housing.

With support from our donors and investors, the Partnership has helped to leverage and align over $12 million in funding to build and preserve affordable housing, provide critical support to nonprofits working on the front lines with people experiencing homelessness, and to support advocacy efforts that secured funding for housing for an additional 3,500 households in this year’s city budget.

We are making progress, but there is more to do. During Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, the Partnership is ramping up its efforts to end homelessness in DC and I hope you will join us. To learn more about our work, and how you can get involved, we invite you to explore our website or our most recent Impact Report, and consider supporting our work with an a donation to our grantmaking program.

Quarterly Update to the Community

Dear Community Foundation Fundholders,

I hope you and your family are enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

 Thanks to the continued generosity and care of our community of givers, we collectively awarded more than $21 million in grants last quarter to nonprofits working to strengthen our region and beyond.

In August, we were proud to release our 2020-2021 Annual Report and share how we mobilized $40 million in community support to help our neighbors facing hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the incredible donors, nonprofit partners, and community leaders who stepped up to help us meet this challenge. In case you missed our 2021 Annual Meeting or the release of our Annual Report, you can find the recording and resources here.

Last quarter, our community impact work included:

• A new partnership between our Food for Montgomery initiative and Feed the Fridge to provide meals for families in need at Mary’s Center.

• Our Partnership to End Homelessness participated in the White House Eviction Prevention Summit and invested in Housing Counseling Services to help more tenants apply for and access rental assistance.

• Historic investments to address the infrastructure needs of 17 Black-led organizations, enabled through a generous $1 million gift from Facebook. 

• Additional investments from Arts Forward Fund totaling nearly $1.7 million to help 89 arts and culture organizations recover from the impact of the pandemic.

• Welcoming new funds like America Remembers Fund, which supports the “In America: Remember” art exhibition that blanketed the National Mall with 660,000+ white flags, each honoring a person lost to COVID-19.

We were proud to welcome new and diverse leaders to our Board of Trustees, Advisory Boards, and staff.

• Sarah Moore Johnson, founding partner at Birchstone Moore, was elected to serve as a Trustee.

• Anna Behnam, Christopher J. Martin, and Ana Morales joined our Montgomery County Advisory Board, and Glenda Wilson joined the Prince George’s County Advisory Board. 

• Darcelle Wilson joined our staff as the new Senior Director for Prince George’s County.

This month, we are excited to release our new 10-year strategic vision with a sharpened focus on closing the racial wealth gap in our region's underinvested neighborhoods where racialized disparities are the greatest. As we begin this journey, our intent is to engage you and our entire community in conversation to inform our learning journey and align our understanding about the root causes and the most effective solutions for closing the racial wealth gap.

With the end of year approaching, our staff can assist with carrying out your philanthropic goals for 2021. Please be mindful of our December 17 deadline for your year-end grantmaking activities to ensure your nonprofit partners receive their funds by December 31.

Thank you for your continued partnership in serving our community’s needs today, and in building a better tomorrow for the Greater Washington region. 

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO

Emerging Leaders Impact Fund Awards Inaugural Grants to Combat Chronic Absenteeism

The Emerging Leaders Impact Fund (ELIF), a new giving circle for young philanthropists in Prince George’s County, recently completed its inaugural cohort and culminating grant round. ELIF members – 40 young professionals from area colleges, businesses, and civic organizations – selected 5 Prince George’s County nonprofits to receive $11,500 in micro-grants to provide a broad range of services that are designed to address chronic absenteeism and high truancy rates in Prince George’s County schools.

School absenteeism, a problem that leads to learning loss and other negative outcomes, has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis and the need for a transition to remote learning. Children who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are less likely to be proficient readers by third grade. By sixth grade, those who miss more than 10 percent of school are more likely to drop out altogether. Frequent school absenteeism has long-term negative effects on academic performance, income, and health. The ELIF has partnered with five nonprofit organizations to address this pressing issue:

• Jacob’s Ladder to support the Academic Enrichment Program that provides tutoring, basic literacy skills, one on one instructions, small group sessions, confidence building and mentoring to students that have low grades, high rates of truancy, absenteeism, suspensions, and behavioral issues.

• L.E.E.P. to College Foundation to support pilot learning pods to enrich student learning, increase student engagement, and provide mentoring and emotional well-being support.

• Mentoring Through Athletics to support tutoring services in mathematics, reading comprehension, and writing as well mentoring and physical activities.

• S.E.A.C., Inc. (Seaton Empowering Action in the Community) to support the Math Achievers Program that provides individualized and/or small group instruction, consistent relationships between instructors and students, parental involvement, and reinforcing that learning math can be fun. 

• Sisters4Sisters, Inc. to support the Daughters of Destiny mentoring program for girls which provides workshops focusing on leadership skills, career mentoring, developing self-esteem and avoiding peer pressure.

Jacob’s Ladder Founder and Executive Director Jarriel Jordan, Sr. talks about the organization’s mission and its Academic Enrichment Program.

L.E.E.P to College Foundation Founder and Executive Director Lisa Rowe talks about how ELIF funding will help create an academic enrichment program.

Mentoring Through Athletics supports kids and families on and off the field with mentoring, tutoring, food support, and athletic programming.

“School absenteeism and truancy threatens to undermine our children’s success. We’re pleased to be partnering with so many great organizations to address the issue. These grants will help ensure that every Prince Georgian has the opportunities necessary to reach their full potential,” said Davion Percy, Co-Chair, ELIF.

The strength of ELIF lies not just in how many grants it awards, but more importantly in its ability to bring a diverse group of people together to learn about issues affecting Prince George’s County residents and make investments in programs that can help transform our communities.

The ELIF enrollment period is now open to all emerging leaders (45 years of age and under) and others that support the County’s future leaders. If you’re interested in joining a diverse group of passionate people who use the power of philanthropy to make a positive difference in Prince George’s County, click here to learn more about ELIF and become a member today!

A Thankful Tribute: Uplifting Community Foundation Trustees

This fall, we welcomed Sarah Moore Johnson to our Board of Trustees and bid farewell to two long-standing members: Kenny Emson and Mary Pat Alcus. As a warm welcome and thankful tribute, we share their stories below – and celebrate what makes each one of them an invaluable part of The Community Foundation family.

Fueling the Power of Disruption

Sarah Moore Johnson, our newest Trustee, is a passionate champion for racial justice. As a tax and estate planning attorney, she leverages her positions of influence to advocate for racial equity and inclusion.

“I’ve been troubled by how under-represented Black and Latinx communities are in the wealth planning industry,” Sarah says, “and I see a connection between this and the racial wealth gap. Tax policy can be a means of restorative justice.”

As co-chair of The Community Foundation’s Professional Advisor Council, Sarah was inspired by the organization’s focus on racial equity - and knew she must get involved. She joined the Board of Trustees this fall, and hasn’t looked back since.

“I believe in the power of disruption,” Sarah says. “The Community Foundation is positioning itself as an innovation lab for ideas which disrupt the racial wealth gap. It’s exciting to collaborate with talented people who share the same goals.”

Sarah is a founding partner of the law firm Birchstone Moore LLC, and immediate past president of the Washington, DC Estate Planning Council, where she established its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. She’s also spoken out publicly in support of H.R. 40, the House Bill to study reparations for African Americans - and is working with Howard University’s law school to develop an externship program for underserved Black and Latinx communities.

We’re thrilled to welcome Sarah to the board, and look forward to partnering with her to advance racial justice in our community, and beyond.

A Legacy of Impact

“Proud, honored, and excited.” These are the words Kenny Emson, former Community Foundation Trustee and staff member, uses to describe his service.

Emson, who just concluded six years of service on the board, also worked on staff from 1990-2011. During his 20-year tenure as staff, he was Director of Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Development Officer, helping grow The Community Foundation’s assets from $15 million to $350 million.

Current staff member Silvana Straw, who joined the organization around the same time as Kenny, salutes his deep expertise and passion for the work:

“Kenny’s strong financial and development expertise, work ethic and people skills, along with his genuine care for the community, is a very important part of The Community Foundation’s success story. He gave so much through the decades, and worked hard and had fun doing it. He was truly mission-driven.”

Kenny will continue to support The Community Foundation through donor stewardship and cultivation. He hopes cultivating additional investments will help propel the organization’s new strategic focus on closing the racial wealth gap.

“My hope (and expectation) is we have just started to scratch the surface,” he says. “I believe The Community Foundation is well-positioned to achieve the growth required to help our community bridge the racial wealth gap.”

Thank you, Kenny, for your words of support and tireless years of service. We will miss you at The Community Foundation - but look forward to nurturing our continued friendship.

Kenny Emson (far left, back row) and Silvana Straw (far right, front row) joined The Community Foundation staff together in 1990.

Kenny Emson (right) pictured with our former CEO Bruce McNamer (center) at the 2019 Celebration of Philanthropy.

Head (and Heart) First

Mary Pat Alcus was first introduced to The Community Foundation in 2008 through the mother-daughter giving circle in Montgomery County. A friend invited her and her daughter Claire to join - an experience she says “opened a whole new world.”

Soon after, Mary Pat joined our Sharing Montgomery Grants Committee and the Montgomery County Advisory Board. In 2013, she became a Trustee, eventually chairing the Investment Committee and serving on the Professional Advisors Council, along with other special committees.

“We discovered when Mary Pat makes a commitment, she dives in head (and heart) first,” says Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for Montgomery County at the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

This fall, Mary Pat concluded eight years of board service, with 13 years of volunteering with the organization overall. For her, contributing a professional skill set as an investment advisor was especially meaningful - and helping directly impact the region by providing donors with strong investment results and more philanthropic funds.

“I hope I have demonstrated to my peers that the time, talent and treasure you put into The Community Foundation is deeply rewarding,” says Mary Pat. “I’ve learned so much about the community and its most pressing needs.”

We will be forever grateful to Mary Pat for all the ways she has advanced our mission and impact throughout the community. She truly is a champion of The Community Foundation.

Mother-Daughter Giving Circle donors Mary Pat Alcus (left) and Susan Freed worked with The Community Foundation to establish a legacy of giving–especially giving locally–in a new generation of young women.

Recap from our 2021 Annual Meeting!

Sponsored By

Thank you for joining us at the intersection as part of our 2021 Annual Meeting! It was an incredibly powerful and inspiring conversation -- from Michelle Singletary sharing her reflections and personal experiences with misperceptions about race and inequality, to the stories of impact from our community, to the exciting preview of our new strategic vision. Together, we will chart a path toward a just, equitable, and thriving region where everyone prospers and thrives. 

In lieu of providing lunch for the meeting, we invited participants to help us select a hunger relief nonprofit to receive a special grant. Thanks to a generous challenge match by several Community Foundation Trustees -- Dr. Charlene Dukes (who instigated the challenge), David and Peggy Shiffrin, and Sarah Moore Johnson -- we are able to award grants of $2,500 each to Bread for the City, Capital Area Food Bank, Manna Food Center, and United Communities Against Poverty. What an incredibly inspiring act of generosity!

In case you missed the discussion, or would like to revisit the conversation, you can now watch a recording of the event. You can also learn more about your investment options as a fundholder on our website.

And finally, we hope you will join us on Friday, October 29 at 9:00 a.m. for our next quarterly book group discussion of Michelle Singletary's 10-part series for the Washington Post. Click here to register to join us for this continuing conversation.

We appreciate that you have entrusted us as your charitable giving partner. Thank you for sharing your passion for philanthropy and service with us.

If you have any questions, you can reach us at 202-955-5890 or email [email protected].

We remain committed to working with you to strengthen and support our region now and for the future.

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO
Greater Washington Community Foundation

Innovation and Healing: How the Arts Survived COVID-19

Source Theatre doesn’t typically broadcast plays on its lobby windows. Like most DC theaters, though, the CulturalDC-owned and operated nonprofit needed to get creative during COVID-19. 

In partnership with Theater in Quarantine, an NYC-based digital performance lab, CulturalDC presented a 4-part video installation on Source Theatre’s storefront windows. DC residents could experience the movement-based projections from March 5-April 5, 2020, while socially distancing outside the theater.

“It was an incredible outpouring of creativity,” CulturalDC Trustee David Shiffrin says. 

Shiffrin, who also serves on the boards for The Community Foundation and Arena Stage, cites CulturalDC’s partnership with Theater in Quarantine as one of many creative pivots in DC’s arts community. To stay afloat, arts organizations innovated their art forms, he says. 

Healing Through the Arts

For Community Foundation Trustee Rachel Goslins, who directs the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, innovation in the arts is also a pathway to healing. 

“[The remote environment] forced us to consider how we could continue to provide value,” she says. “The arts have this special ability to help people heal and process their emotions. We need that now, more than ever.”

(In America: Remember art exhibition, photo credit Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

She cites “In America: Remember,” which runs through Oct. 3, as an especially poignant example of the arts as healing. The art exhibition—supported by America Remembers Fund, a component fund at The Community Foundation—blankets the National Mall with 660,000+ white flags, each honoring a person lost to Covid-19. Visitors are invited to personalize flags for lost loved ones. 

Conceptualized by local artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, “In America: Remember,” builds on the fall 2020 installation “In America: How Could This Happen.” Firstenberg’s fall exhibition also honored COVID-19 victims with small white flags, covering a four-acre site outside RFK stadium. 

“There’s just such poetry in that,” Goslins says. “The arts are so important to the well-being of communities.” 

Looking Toward the Future

At the Smithsonian, Goslins is busy preparing for a different type of exhibition. This winter , Smithsonian will open “FUTURES,” a part-exhibition, part-festival celebrating the institution’s 175th anniversary. The exhibition will showcase future-focused artwork, interactive displays, and technology spanning 32,000 square feet across the National Mall. 

Running Nov. 2021-July 2022, “FUTURES” is intended to inspire people to reflect and to dream—another healing mechanism of the Arts.

“In our society, we are constantly imagining what could go wrong. We need to be able to also imagine what could go right,” she says. “We hope ‘FUTURES’ will encourage visitors to think about the future they want, not just the future they fear.” 

“We wanted to use our anniversary to help people look ahead at this pivotal moment in time,” Goslins continues. “I hope this can just be one more step forward for our community, and the arts.”

The Power of Philanthropy 

As cultural organizations work toward post-pandemic recovery, groups face a critical period—one with “no magic formula for success,” says Shiffrin. With continued uncertainty around the Delta variant, arts organizations need support now more than ever.

As a steering committee member for Arts Forward Fund, a collaborative partnership with The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and other funders to help arts and cultural institutions survive and recover from the pandemic, Shiffrin has seen the impact investments can make. In total, the fund has made nearly $2.7 million in grants to 130+ organizations, 60% of which are BIPOC-led or BIPOC-serving. 

This summer, Arts Forward Fund was one of 289 equity-focused efforts nationwide to receive support from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Arts Forward received $1 million for 2021 grantmaking, allowing us to make investments in 89 local arts organizations to support COVID-19 recovery.

“MacKenzie Scott’s gift was truly transformative,” Shiffrin says. “The need is even greater this second round. Continued advocacy [will be] essential.”

Aspirations for the Arts

The current environment with COVID-19 makes it difficult to forecast the future, Shiffrin says, but he has many hopes for the arts sector. Post-pandemic, he hopes organizations can continue to innovate their work, and inspire personal transformation. 

He cites MacKenzie Scott’s recent quote as illustrative of his aspirations for impact beyond the pandemic:

"Arts and cultural institutions can strengthen communities…by transforming spaces, fostering empathy, reflecting community identity, advancing economic mobility, improving academic outcomes, lowering crime rates and improving mental health."

For Goslins, hope is the driving force.

“I’m very hopeful about the cultural sector and our ability to help people process what’s happened over the last year and a half,” she says. “It’s a testament to why the arts aren’t only valuable--they’re essential.”

Partnership in Action: Preventing Evictions in Ivy City

Since the start of the pandemic, housing stability for tenants has been a focus for the Partnership to End Homelessness and for many of our Leadership Council and nonprofit partners. David Roodberg, co-chair of the Leadership Council and CEO and President at Horning Brothers, recently launched an exciting partnership with one of our grantees, EmpowerDC, aimed at making sure that tenants can access critical rental assistance and remain stably housed. We spoke recently with both David and Parisa Norouzi, Executive Director of Empower DC, about their work together.

How did this partnership start?

David: “We recognized early on in the COVID-19 crisis that our tenants would need support. We invested in a new position on our staff – a housing stability specialist – whose role is to help our tenants connect to resources. Recently, that’s included helping tenants with their applications to the STAY DC program for rental assistance. We’ve had a lot of success with this new position, but there are some tenants who are reluctant to work with staff members hired by a landlord. We knew we needed to find another way to reach that group to ensure everyone got the assistance they needed.”

Parisa: “Empower DC has a longstanding commitment to Ivy City –one of DC’s most historic Black neighborhoods. Our goal at Empower is zero evictions in Ivy City. I’ve worked with David in the past on other tenant issues, and I wanted to make sure his tenants were accessing STAY DC. I decided to reach out to him to see what we could do to help.”

David: “Evictions aren’t good for anyone. STAY DC provides a win-win opportunity for landlords and tenants.”

Parisa: “This is a very clear time when landlords and organizers should also have the same goals. It is important to take advantage of those moments when we have more in common than not, and to leverage our collective ability to make something positive happen. It was great to see a landlord who had already invested their own resources in helping tenants, and who was willing to work with us to do more.”

Your partnership to help tenants apply for rental assistance is a collaboration between property management staff, the Horning Brothers’ housing stability specialist, and Empower DC staff and volunteers. What roles do each of you play?

Parisa: “We take the lead on outreach to the tenants. We also offered up our own space – our Ivy City Clubhouse -- close to the property to meet with tenants and work on applications. We set up appointments for tenants in our space, where they could meet one-on-one with the Horning staff person to complete their application”

David: “We had done everything you can think of to let tenants know about STAY DC – letters, emails, phone calls, door-knocking – but having a nonprofit community-based organization involved was key to reaching tenants who were hesitant.”

Parisa: “When you get a notice from a landlord, your first thought won’t be ‘This is to help me,’ so communication from a third party helps. By collaborating with the landlord, who was able to share information about who needed the assistance, we were able to target our follow up to those tenants who were behind on the rent. Management also understands more about the actual application process and could provide a lot of the necessary information for the applications. Their staff also did a training for our volunteers so they could understand how to help people submit applications for non-Horning tenants as well.”

David: “Spending time on education about the program was important. Some of our tenants thought they didn’t qualify for STAY DC, but they did. By investing in communication and education, we were able to help more tenants apply for and receive more assistance.”

What would you say to others who are interested in setting up a similar partnership?

David: “You also want to make it very easy for tenants to access the assistance. STAY DC is working. The money is getting out to people. This is a great opportunity for landlords and tenants to be on the same side.”

Parisa: “I’d say that it is important to approach potential partners first in the spirit of collaboration and with an interest in creating an equal partnership. If others are interested in working together, I hope that these partnerships can extend beyond STAY DC. We have opportunities to continue these relationships to ensure that there is quality housing for everyone in our city.”

---

Parisa Norouzi, Executive Director of Empower DC

Parisa Norouzi has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations and organizing communities.  Parisa co-founded the city-wide community organizing group Empower DC in 2003, an organization which works to build the confident self-advocacy and organized political power of low-moderate income DC residents with a focus on fighting the displacement of residents amid DC’s gentrification boom. 

David Roodberg, CEO and President of Horning Brothers

David Roodberg is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business including operations, development and strategic planning.

Our 2020 - 2021 Year in Review

Over the past 18 months, we have all been impacted in some way by COVID-19. Although our experiences may be different, our community came together -– as neighbors helping neighbors -– to support each other through this crisis.

Since March 2020, we have mobilized over $40 million in community support to help our neighbors facing hardship. Thanks to the incredible donors, nonprofit partners, and community leaders who stepped up to meet this challenge, our collective response demonstrated the power of what our community can accomplish by coming together. 

Our Annual Report features the impact that The Community Foundation, our donors, and partners have had on this region from April 2020 – March 2021, and beyond.

Read our Annual Report

Learn more

Deepening Our Impact: 8 Highlights from the Past Year

Along with the release of our annual report, we’re celebrating our most impactful stories from the past year--from helping launch the Black Voices for Black Justice DMV Fellowship, continuing our work to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, to advancing housing justice in partnership with Flock DC’s birdSEED Fund. Read on for stories of meaningful collaboration and coordination that helped make a difference in our community. 

Uniting for Change

We believe true change rises from strong alliances. We’re proud to share stories about how our community partnerships have helped make a difference.

Introducing the Black Voices for Black Justice DMV Fellows

Launched last fall (2020) in partnership with the DC-based nonprofit GOODProjects, and with seed funding from Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the Black Voices for Black Justice DMV Fellowship supports activists, organizers, and leaders who are on the front lines of advancing social justice and racial equity. Each Fellow received a $30,000 grant to support their racial justice work in our region, and beyond. Meet these inspiring change-makers, and learn what fuels their fight for justice.

DC Cares Program: $5M Undocumented Workers Relief Package

Thousands of immigrants in Greater Washington were excluded from federal stimulus efforts due to their documentation status. Together with our partners at Events DC and the Executive Office of the Mayor, we launched the DC Cares Program in summer 2020, disbursing a total of $5 million in direct cash assistance to excluded workers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. In January 2021, we launched Phase II of the program, providing over $8 million in relief funding.

$1 Million Arts Forward Fund

In partnership with the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and eight other funders, we launched Arts Forward Fund to provide critical support to local arts and culture organizations impacted by COVID-19. In October 2020, we awarded over $1 million in grants to 43 arts organizations. Currently, we’re reviewing a second round of proposals, supported by a generous $1 million gift from MacKenzie Scott.

Investing for Impact 

Learn about some of our most impactful investments this year.

Legacy Fund for Small Business Development

Seeded with a $1 million gift from a generous donor, the Legacy Fund for Small Business Development provides critically needed access to capital for small businesses in Prince George’s County. It’s part of our work in Prince George’s County’s to advance equity and economic mobility by eliminating social and economic disparities in the County. In November, we awarded relief funding to 173 small businesses in Prince George’s County to help minimize business closures and retain 650 jobs.

“Ninety-five percent of all businesses in [Prince George’s County] are small businesses and they contribute nearly half of all jobs in the county. Through the Legacy Fund, we hope to preserve the small business infrastructure, ensure job retention, drive economic development, and enable the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, leaving a lasting legacy for families and Prince George’s County.” --Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

Fund for Children, Youth, and Families Awards $1.99 Million

At the end of last year, the Fund for Children, Youth, and Families (FFCYF)awarded nearly $2 million in grants to 49 nonprofits serving disadvantaged children, youth, and families. Local WDVM covered the announcement, highlighting the investment’s focus on closing the achievement gap, supporting children in foster care, and helping families experiencing homelessness.

Jana-Lynn Louis, Community Foundation program officer for FFCYF, said:  “It’s all about supporting where our region needs help the most and trying to fill in those gaps that often fall by the wayside.”

Community Connections

Oftentimes, it's our staff and partners who say it best. These guest posts highlight different voices and perspectives in our community on the issues that matter most.

How to reconstruct an equitable future for our region

How can we reconstruct an equitable future for our region coming out of the COVID-19 crisis? In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, our CEO Tonia Wellons and Ursula Wright explore a new framework to respond to emerging needs, re-engage our community, and reconstruct and shape a new normal for this region.

Flock DC: Down payment Grants for a more just future

BirdSEED Fund, launched in partnership with local real estate firm Flock DC, helps advance housing justice by providing down payment grants for first-time Black and Brown home buyers. In her guest-authored blog, Flock DC founder and CEO Lisa Wise shares her passion for justice and why she believes it’s crucial we work together to reimagine a more equitable future.

Food for Montgomery: A Community-Wide Response to the Rise in Hunger

As our community’s need for food skyrocketed during 2020, our Montgomery County leaders, community stakeholders, and The Community Foundation teamed up to create Food for Montgomery. Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for Montgomery County, shares how this remarkable public-private partnership is helping prevent food insecurity in the County, and ensure no residents go hungry.

Hungry for other Community Foundation impact stories? Check out ‘A Year of Impact: Our Top 10 Stories of 2020,’ published as an annual wrap-up last December. 

Eviction Prevention: Working Across Sectors to Ensure an Equitable Recovery

By Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the long-standing housing crisis and inequities in our country, and even right here in DC. Thousands of tenants in the city are behind on rent and at imminent risk of eviction. Currently, both DC and the federal government have eviction moratoriums in place to protect tenants while they apply for available resources and supports. Unfortunately, those protections are already starting to phase out and evictions in DC are set to resume in October.

The Community Foundation has a long history of supporting housing justice and working to end homelessness in DC. Addressing inequities and supporting our community is at the center of our mission and housing justice is a key component of our work through the Partnership to End Homelessness.

In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis led us to take swift action to address the growing concern for tenants falling behind on rent and at risk of losing their housing in the middle of a global health pandemic.

Even with federal and local eviction moratoriums in place, tenants faced mounting back rent and the severity of the situation continued to threaten the lives and livelihoods of our neighbors. In DC, tens of thousands of households fell behind on rent and we knew that many would be at risk of homelessness if they were evicted.  

In order to prevent a large wave of evictions and increases in homelessness, we convened a group of key partners, including the DC Bar Foundation, for weekly discussions to identify strategic opportunities for private sector investments amid a rapidly changing environment. This group met regularly with our government partners and other nonprofit partners working on the ground to coordinate our learning and response strategies.

From the beginning, our work has focused on creating more equitable outcomes for our Black and Latinx neighbors disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the economic crisis, and the ongoing housing crisis in the city. Even before the pandemic, 87% of extremely low-income, severely rent-burdened households in DC were headed by a person of color. According to a 2021 report by the Urban Institute, the risk of evictions is greater for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx residents. Almost one in two Hispanic/Latinx renters and more than one in four Black renters were worried about paying next month’s rent.

Through our conversations with partners and by examining new research and data, we identified two key areas for private sector investment that would lead to more equitable access to rental assistance resources.

1. Support outreach to target communities most at risk of eviction. Using the Urban Institute Emergency Rental Assistance Prioritization Tool we identified areas of the city that had high risk of housing instability; high impact from COVID-19; and a high share of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx renters, extremely low-income renter households, households receiving public assistance, and people born outside of the US. 

2. Support trusted partners to answer questions and provide support. Many tenants have questions and need assistance to complete the rental assistance application for government resources. Our partners on the ground are critical to the effort to support tenants and share essential information about emergency rental assistance, legal services, and other available resources.

In response, we invested in Housing Counseling Services (HCS) to help tenants apply for rental assistance by meeting them where they live, learn, pray, and play. At these key locations, HCS is providing outreach and assistance to households behind on rent and most at risk of eviction and homelessness. HCS is also providing support in court to help tenants who face evictions apply for assistance.

We know that our resources are limited and that in order to address the eviction crisis and prevent homelessness, we need everyone working together to create long-term solutions. In June 2021, we were invited to participate in a White House Eviction Prevention Summit as the philanthropic representative from DC. At that summit, we heard Matthew Desmond talk about the devastating impact of evictions and successful diversion efforts across the country. We also heard from leaders in the federal government who were committed to working with communities to help prevent evictions. After meeting with the DC delegation and discussing local opportunities, we agreed to continue convening the group along with our partners at the DC Bar Foundation.

Since the White House Summit, the members of the DC delegation have been meeting weekly to discuss challenges and identify opportunities. This group is comprised of over 65 representatives from nonprofits, tenant advocates, local government agencies, the courts, landlords/housing providers, and philanthropy. Our immediate goal is to prevent evictions by increasing rental assistance to target at risk households and to strengthen legal supports, services, and mediation with the court system.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to support a more equitable recovery and to increase housing stability given the availability of federal resources and this strong partnership with federal government. We have the right people around the table and know that in addition to preventing the immediate eviction crisis, we also have an opportunity to create systems and policies that are more equitable and that ultimately lead to greater housing stability in DC.

If you are interested in this work, please contact Jennifer Olney at [email protected] or Silvana Straw at [email protected].

Food for Montgomery Partners with Feed the Fridge and Mary's Center to Fight Hunger

Food for Montgomery, a COVID-19 response initiative co-led by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, has partnered with Feed the Fridge to innovate another solution to solving hunger in the region with a new fridge at Mary’s Center. The new location partners with Jalapeño Mexican Grill from the community kitchen of Crossroads Community Food Network to provide meals for those in need.

Empowering Change: Investing in our LGBTQ+ Communities

By Benton Murphy, Senior Advisor, Impact

Benton Murphy

Pride Month presents an opportunity to celebrate how far we have come as a nation in fostering safer, more secure and welcoming communities for LGBTQ+ people. This was not the case when I came out in the 1990’s in rural Colorado. At the time, the murder of Matthew Shepard was still fresh in our minds, and we faced efforts like Colorado’s notorious Amendment 2, that would have barred the state from protecting gay and lesbian people from discriminations.

Like so many others in the LGBTQ+ community, it was hard for me to come out in the face of a hostile community. I came out in high school and faced a lot of bullying, violence and trauma, but I never looked back, because living out and proud is the only way I can be.

With the passage of the Marriage Equality Act and the wind-down of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, our country has made progress. In 1996 when the Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2, only 27% of Americans supported marriage equality. Today, more than 70% of Americans support it. But there is still much work to do, even in a place as diverse and open-minded as our region.

In Greater Washington, more than 10% of residents identify as LGBTQ+, with nearly 20% of youth self-identifying as LGBTQ+. Our 2020 VoicesDMV Community Insights survey found that nearly one in 10 LGBTQ+ Greater Washington residents experience discrimination on a daily basis, as compared to just 2% of non-LGBTQ+ residents. Over the past year, a total of 55% of LGBTQ+ residents said they felt discriminated against. 

These are just a few of many reasons why, this month, we are proud to announce new investments in the LGBTQ+ community. Despite the concentration of LGBTQ+ people in our region, Greater Washington’s nonprofit support network for the LGBTQ+ community has been perpetually underfunded. While this is a national issue (only 28 cents of every $100 granted by philanthropies nationally support LGBTQ+ issues), local nonprofits supporting LGBTQ+ communities also compete for donor attention, especially with national advocacy groups located here in Washington. Over time, we hope to offer even more funding opportunities for local groups supporting local LGBTQ+ communities, especially BIPOC individuals.

I’m excited to announce these new investments in LGBTQ+-led and serving organizations working to improve the lives of our LGBTQ+ community. 

Investments include:

• A $30,000 grant to SMYAL for leading a coalition of LGBTQ+ groups striving to ensure the District budget process sufficiently addresses and funds the community’s needs, including services for violence prevention, and housing for LGBTQ+ youth. Our grant is co-funded by our Partnership to End Homelessness in recognition of SMYAL’s advocacy efforts focused on housing and homelessness for youth.

• A $20,000 grant to the Wanda Alston Foundation to support 21 youths who are experiencing homelessness. Alston’s Place is a transitional housing program for youth ages 18-24. Funds will be used to support emergency needs of program participants who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, including updating legal documents, addressing physical and mental health needs, enrolling in continuing education programs, and securing steady employment. 

These investments were made using a participatory grantmaking approach. A majority BIPOC and entirely LGBTQ+ grants committee not only reviewed and scored applications, but also set our funding priorities. These are individuals who know the needs in our region well—and how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted our LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. In many places, the social safety net that helps LGBTQ+ people to access needed services, especially housing, is gone or severely disrupted.

I’m excited that The Community Foundation is prioritizing the opportunity to listen to the LGBTQ+ community, gain a better understanding of its needs, and make investments now and into the future! It’s both a professional and personal cause for me--one I’m excited and humbled to be part of helping lead. We’ve come a long way, and have a long way still to go. I hope you’ll join us.

Love and Activism: The Legacy of Diane Bernstein

Diane Bernstein was a champion for our community and a compassionate leader and activist. We were sad to hear of her passing on April 30, 2021.

A long-time member of The Community Foundation family, both as a board member and major donor, Diane began her decades-long relationship with us in the early ‘90s when she was invited to serve on the board by then Chair R. Robert Linowes. A deeply committed advocate for children for over 50 years, she chaired our grants and program committee, and supported the development of many youth and children-focused initiatives, including The Community Foundation’s first major initiative, The Circle of Hope. This violence prevention initiative focused on community organizing and advocacy, and increasing resources for youth and adults in the Barry Farms, Congress Heights, Columbia Heights and the Northwest One neighborhoods in Washington, DC.

In recent years, Diane and her family foundation, the Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation, have generously supported the Partnership to End Homelessness, enhancing our efforts to bring deeply affordable and supportive housing to every ward of DC. Her support and advocacy have helped the most marginalized in our region, and allowed people experiencing homelessness to access critical services and safe, stable housing.

In addition to her six children and 12 grandchildren, Diane touched the lives of countless others:

“Diane took me under her wing 28 years ago when I was a new program officer at The Community Foundation. She became a mentor, close friend and was like a second mother to me. She taught me to trust my instincts and speak truth to power —how to use my voice on behalf of those whose voices are not being listened to,” said Silvana Straw, Senior Community Investment Officer and Philanthropic Advisor at the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

“She loved life. She was a nurturer and supported my work as a program officer and as an artist,” Silvana continues. “She was wise and brave. She was fun and funny as hell. I am blessed to have had her in my life.” 

Diane Bernstein will be missed by our community. Though she is no longer with us, her legacy will certainly continue—at The Community Foundation, and beyond.

First Ladies of The Community Foundation

This month, in honor of Women’s History month, we are celebrating the remarkable women of The Community Foundation who’ve helped shape our history. Many were First Ladies to the President of the United States—a special, historical relationship we’ve nurtured through the years. Here are a few of their stories.

Rosalynn Carter’s Precedent of Support

In 1978, First Lady Rosalynn Carter left Camp David during President Jimmy Carter’s 13-day peace summit, which helped to broker the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Mrs. Carter went back to the White House to host a luncheon for business leaders to rally support for the Community Foundation of Greater Washington–then just five years old. She gained support of many corporate and philanthropic leaders, including the Ford Foundation, that set a precedent for our early organization to grow into a champion of thriving communities today. 

In 2019, Danielle Yates, our Managing Director of Marketing and Communications, got the chance to meet Mrs. Carter and former President Jimmy Carter at their church in Georgia (pictured left). 

Barbara Bush’s Literacy Legacy 

While former First Lady Barbara Bush had many passions, none was more personally identified with her than teaching children and their parents to read. Aware of The Community Foundation’s successful record of managing charitable funds for other national figures, in 1989, Mrs. Bush asked us to help establish her literacy organization.

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy aimed to establish literacy as a value in every family in America; and, help families understand that the home is the child’s first school, with the parent as the child’s first teacher and reading as their first subject. In total, the Foundation awarded more than $40 million in grants to support the development and expansion of more than 900 literacy programs in 50 states and the District of Columbia.  

While The Community Foundation is no longer home to the Barbara Bush Foundation (the Fund closed in 2011), Mrs. Bush’s legacy lives on. You can find more information at www.barbarabushlegacy.org. 

The Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries

In 2001, Laura Bush helped continue and expand the family’s literacy legacy by establishing the Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries at The Community Foundation. A former teacher and librarian, Mrs. Bush has long championed the importance of reading as the foundation of all learning.

The Foundation helps students in our nation’s neediest schools by awarding grants to school libraries in an effort to improve student achievement. Funds support these libraries in extending, updating, and diversifying their book and print collections. 

The Laura Bush Foundation transitioned to Dallas, Texas in 2014, where it is now managed as a restricted fund of the George W. Bush Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

In 2007, we celebrated Mrs. Bush as our Civic Spirit honoree, an award which recognizes a community member who embodies the spirit of philanthropy.