Where We Give
The Weinberg Foundation administers the majority of its funding in its priority communities.
The Foundation’s grantmaking primarily focuses on communities with ties to the lives and legacies of Harry and Jeanette Weinberg. These places, known as our priority communities, are Baltimore, Hawaiʻi, Israel, and Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Within each of these communities, the Foundation provides grants to nonprofits that help people achieve economic stability and well-being, focusing on the areas of Housing, Health, Jobs, Education, and Aging.
Baltimore: Our Hometown
The Greater Baltimore region has served as home to the Foundation’s headquarters since its founding by Harry and Jeanette Weinberg in 1959. The Foundation as we know it today has existed since 1990. Today, nearly 25 percent of the Foundation’s approximately $140 million in annual grantmaking supports direct service providers in Greater Baltimore, operating across all of the Foundation’s focus areas: Housing, Health, Jobs, Education, and Community Services (see How We Give).
Aging in Community Collaboratives
Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS) in Baltimore City and Baltimore County Age-friendly Upgrades for Seniors (BCAUSE) are collaborations of nonprofits, local government, and philanthropy to enable low-income older adult homeowners to remain independent by providing home modifications and repairs—including grab bars, electrical and plumbing repairs, and roof and furnace replacements—in addition to wraparound services. To date, the Foundation has invested $9.3 million in these initiatives, which serve more than 2,500 older adults.Deeply Affordable Housing
The Foundation has committed $8 million for programs in Maryland and Illinois to provide deeply affordable housing for people with disabilities. In partnership with state agencies, these programs create affordable apartments that enable eligible individuals to live independently and within their communities.Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project
The Foundation has committed $15 million to this multi-year, collaborative effort involving more than 30 community and government partners. The Library Project builds or transforms Baltimore City Public School libraries in neighborhoods where many students face academic and economic challenges. By 2024, the Library Project will serve nearly 9,000 students, as well as their families, through 19 new libraries (17 completed to date) and will have leveraged more than $30 million in additional federal, state, and local funds.Baltimore Summer Funding Collaborative
This more than $3 million annual partnership, which has grown to include nearly a dozen funders each year, has distributed more than $22 million in grants over the last six years, including nearly $8 million from the Weinberg Foundation. The SFC supports high-quality summer programs for children and youth. Programs address one or more of the following areas: literacy; STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math); youth employment; college and career readiness; environmental education; health and overcoming stress and trauma; and enrichment, including sports and arts programming.Wage Record Study for Maryland Grantees
The Weinberg Foundation, in partnership with the Abell Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation, is supporting a Wage Record Study through the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative (BWFC). The BWFC contracted with the Jacob France Institute to analyze pre- and post-training earnings for participants of Maryland’s workforce development programs, in order to better understand the long-term impact of workforce interventions.In 2019, the Foundation adopted a special focus on neighborhoods. For example, the Foundation has joined with Central Baltimore Partnership and others to enhance access to health care, healthy food, and youth opportunities for the residents of Midway, Barclay, and Greenmount West.
Hawaiʻi
Today, the Foundation invests approximately $12 million annually in nonprofit organizations operating in Hawai‘i that have a core focus on serving vulnerable individuals and families, particularly in rural areas of the islands. The Foundation provides program, operating, and capital grants across its focus areas: Housing, Health, Jobs, Education, and Community Services (see How We Give).
Native Hawaiian Community-Based Youth Initiatives
These collaborative efforts, most of them in rural communities, provide at-risk youth with leadership skills, strengthened connections to land and culture, career and college preparation, work-based learning opportunities, and improved health outcomes.Rural Community Health Centers
The Foundation supports Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across its priority communities in an effort to expand access to dental and behavioral health care. This initiative has been particularly important in Hawai‘i and rural areas where access is severely limited. Between 2015 and 2020, the Foundation granted more than $6.5 million for the renovation, expansion, and operational support of FQHC facilities, allowing them to serve a greater number of patients.Collaborative Solutions to End Homelessness
The Foundation is an active participant in Hawai‘i’s Continua of Care and provides grants along the pathway to housing stability from street outreach to the development of permanent, affordable housing with supportive services.Resilient Local Food Systems
To improve food security throughout Hawai‘i, the Foundation invests in networks of nonprofit organizations, local farmers and producers, and community health centers working together to rebuild community food systems.Hawai‘i Workforce Funders Collaborative
The Foundation is a founding member of this partnership of philanthropic organizations working to ensure all Hawai‘i residents have access to high-quality jobs that strengthen communities and families.Israel
Today, the Foundation invests approximately $18 million annually to nonprofits that provide direct services in the following three areas—Aging in Community, Jobs, and Women at Risk and Their Children. These areas are aligned with the Foundation’s funding priorities under the Housing, Health, and Jobs focus areas. For more information on these areas, please see the “Select Grants and Initiatives” section below.
Aging in Community
As in the United States, the Foundation supports projects that enable older adults to age independently, within their communities, and with maximum quality of life.
The following are examples of appropriate projects:
- Home modification programs that provide access to wraparound services and benefits
- Models that address older adults’ social determinants of health, with the goal of preventing hospitalization, readmission, and institutionalization
- Affordable housing that includes access to wraparound services and benefits
- Caregiver support programs that help with older adults’ daily personal care (bathing, dressing, walking, eating, etc.)
- The multisector Eshkolot or “Clusters” initiative led by the National Insurance Institute of Israel (NII) or, as it is known in Israel, Bituach L’Umi. Since 2017, the Foundation has provided 19 capital grants totaling just over $10 million. Projects include assisted living housing, as well as day care centers that provide a range of services for older adults enabling them to age independently and with maximum quality of life within their own homes.
Jobs
The Foundation supports nonacademic, technical training programs leading to economic independence. Projects may serve a range of populations, including but not limited to Israeli-Arab citizens, the Haredi or ultra-Orthodox population, Ethiopian Israelis, women at risk, older adults, and adults with disabilities.
Here are two examples of appropriate projects:
- Culturally sensitive employment programs that train vulnerable populations, including Israeli Arabs, the ultra-Orthodox population, and Ethiopians, for work in the technology sector
- Residential programs that include individualized employment training, counseling, and other wraparound services for low-income and vulnerable individuals
Women at Risk and Their Children
The Foundation supports organizations and programs that meet the needs of women at risk and their children in Israel, including those experiencing homelessness, escaping domestic violence and other forms of abuse, transitioning from sex work, or experiencing unstable employment. Projects should prioritize access to supportive services, as well as a path to economic independence.
Here are a few examples of appropriate projects:
- The renovation and construction of shelters that serve women and children escaping domestic abuse
- Programs focused on providing financial literacy training, comprehensive case management, and wraparound services that lead to greater economic independence for vulnerable women and their children
- Prevention programs that strive to reduce the effects of violence against women