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CONFRONTING TODAY’S CHALLENGES
According to a report in Giving USA
2006, individuals, as well as foundations
and corporations, gave an estimated
$260 billion during 2005 for charity and philanthropic
purposes. Foundations gave $30 billion
to charities in 2005 or 11.5% of all private
giving in the USA, while corporations contributed
nearly $13.8 billion or 5.3%, and
bequests $17.5 billion or 6.7%. Significantly,
individuals donated $199 billion or 76.5%.
Since government gives approximately $90 billion
a year to many of the one million charities
across the country (excluding Medicaid,
Medicare and contracts), foundations account
for approximately 8.3% of all private foundation
and public funding. Grantmaking foundations
now number 68,000 nationwide.
An original, historic role of some foundations
was often to develop new models to
advance the state of the art and identify effective
solutions to America’s most pressing problems.
This strategy is reflected in many of the
projects and organizations funded by the Achelis
and Bodman Foundations. (A complete list
of our 2004-2005 Grants can be found here) Thus, it is within our interests to
address the following issues:
Charter Schools & Parental School Choice.
In cooperation with other funders, our grants
have accelerated the charter school movement
and started 25 charter schools in New York
City and northern New Jersey. Additionally, we
have funded associations, research, resource
centers, and public education groups to reinforce
the undertaking. We continue to fund
selective school reform projects in K-12 education,
including school vouchers, so children can
attend a public, religious, or private school of
their parents’ choice.
Disconnected Youth.
High school drop-outs,
especially disadvantaged and isolated youth
who are unemployed and lack job skills, are a
national tragedy. Of special concern is the high
rate of unemployment among young black
males. This issue is highlighted in the classic
America’s Disconnected Youth: Toward a Preventive
Strategy edited by Douglas J. Besharov
of the American Enterprise Institute, and a
recent report, “Chance of A Lifetime,” by the
Center for an Urban Future.
Reentry of Ex-Offenders.
Having served
their sentences, often for drug offenses, a
growing number of ex-offenders are now leaving
state prisons and city jails. To address this
development, we support a range of projects
focusing on employment of ex-prisoners with
support services and activities for community
integration. We also consider delinquency prevention
and early intervention programs for
troubled youth. Grantees include: Exodus
Transitional Community; Puppies Behind Bars;
Urban Youth Alliance; Friends of Island Academy;
Getting Out and Staying Out; a Witherspoon
Institute book, More God, Less Crime by
Byron Johnson; and a Manhattan Institute initiative,
Temporary Assistance to Needy
Parolees, involving America Works and Public/
Private Ventures.
Intellectual Diversity in Higher Education.
The lack of balance in learning and debate at
many colleges and universities today is seriously
affecting the integrity and quality of American
higher education. Grants to address
political correctness have been awarded to the
American Council of Trustees and Alumni,
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education,
National Association of Scholars, and a new
higher education affinity group at The Philanthropy
Roundtable.
New Ideas to Address Black Under-Achievement.
African-American leaders are embracing
new strategies to invigorate black neighborhoods
and curb persistent social problems. Our grants
in this area have gone to Star Parker of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education and John
McWhorter of the Manhattan Institute for his
recent book, Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis
in Black America.
Assimilation of Immigrants.
Immigrants, who have surged into New York City since
2000, combined with high birth rates, have elevated
the foreign-born and their children to
approximately 60 percent of the New York
City’s population, according to the latest 2005
American Community Survey as reported in
the New York Times on August 15, 2006.
Immigrants have played an important role in
the vitality and growth of America, especially
New York City. This has been reflected in our
support of settlement houses. It is crucial for
new immigrants to be integrated into the daily
life of the City, as well as become literate and
learn English, and to appreciate traditional
American values, institutions, and founding
documents, such as the Constitution, Declaration
of Independence, and Bill of Rights.
Advancing Welfare Reform.
Revisions of the
historic and highly successful 1996 welfare
reform legislation were passed by Congress in
February 2006. We support a number of projects
to shape the direction and implementation
of welfare reform. Of special interest now are
hard-to-place people with multiple problems in
welfare-to-work programs. Projects include:
Acton Institute (fostering faith-based social welfare
programs); June O’Neill (family support
issues); Lawrence Mead at New York University,
co-editor of Welfare Reform and Political Theory,
contrasting the old and new approaches;
Douglas Besharov at both the American Enterprise
Institute (Next Steps in Welfare Reform)
and the University of Maryland (Redefining the
U.S. Poverty Rate); and a Manhattan Institute
monograph, “Whither Welfare Reform: Lessons
from the Wisconsin Experience.”
Fatherhood & Institution of Marriage.
Our support in this area included an array of grants
when this movement was in its embryonic
stage. We continue to fund the National
Fatherhood Initiative, an umbrella association
which supports hundreds of local programs
across the country, and Rutgers University’s
National Marriage Project. One growing concern
is steady employment of disadvantaged
fathers with out-of-wedlock children. With our
support, David Blankenhorn at the Institute for
American Values is completing a new book on
The Future of Marriage.
Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy.
Traditionally a persistent problem, the rate of teen pregnancy
appears to be declining. Both
government and foundations have been supporting
programs for many years to curb this
tragedy, which often has devastating consequences
for the well-being of children who are
born out of wedlock. Our grantees include Best
Friends and the National Campaign to Prevent
Teen Pregnancy.
Health Care Reform.
A few important projects
add to the renewed discussion on health care
reform. These include: a forthcoming and timely
report on the uninsured by June O’Neill of
Baruch College; a new study of New York State
Medicaid by the National Center for Policy
Analysis; and a recent book by senior fellow
David Gratzer, M.D., of the Manhattan Institute
called The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save
American Health Care. We continue to support
consumer-driven health care, which includes
market-oriented strategies, such as tax credits,
managed competition, health savings accounts,
and portable and flexible insurance plans.
This joint Biennial Report of The Achelis
Foundation and The Bodman Foundation can
be found at the Foundation Center website, and
our IRS 990-PFs are on www.GuideStar.org.
The Foundations also have memberships in the
Association of Small Foundations, Philanthropy
Roundtable, and New York Regional Association
of Grantmakers. We are constantly searching
for innovative and creative projects in our
program areas. (Program Areas are described here and Grant
Application Guidelines are described here.)
We appreciate the guidance and vision of our
volunteer Trustees, as well as their generous
commitment of time to numerous nonprofit
charitable organizations. It is truly an honor for
me to be associated with them as we foster selfhelp,
inspire personal achievement, and
enhance human dignity for so many people.
October 2006
Joseph S. Dolan
Executive Director
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