Foundations
PhUanthn^y Journal (rf North Candma
A North Carolina legacy
The late Joseph Bryan Sr. funded
groundbreaking research into
Alzheimer’s disease as well as a Triad-
based family foundation.
July i995
From the grassroots up
Progressive foundation supports “alternatives”
Leaders of the Fund for Southern Communities include (from left)
Jock Beckford, Joan Garner, John Bell and Carrie Friess
Photo courtesy of Fund
The Fund for Southern
Communities is as distinctly pro
gressive today as it was 15 years
ago when a ^oup of civil rights
activists created it to serve
groups in the South that tend to
be outside the loop of traditional
funding.
By Susan Gray
There was a time when the Center
for Community Self-Help in Durham
was only a sparkle in young Martin
Bakes’ eye.
In the early 1980s, Bakes made
rounds through the Southeast in an
old Volkswagon Beetle, trying to drum
up support for his vision of a credit
union that would loan money to low-
income people.
Bakes and a handful of colleagues
craved the backing of a foundation for
crucial funds, as well as legitimacy.
But many foundations hesitated.
Bxtending credit to poor people?
Many bankers counseled that it would
GRANTMAKlh^G
be pouring money down a drain.
As a last ditch effort. Bakes wrote
to the Fund for Southern
Communities in Atlanta. The commu
nity foundation, which serves Georgia
and the Carolinas, makes a habit of
giving money to new nonprofits con
sidered too new, too small or too con
troversial by more traditional founda
tions.
“We support groups that are con
sidered risl^,” says John Bell, North
Carolina coordinator for the Fund.
“We help them get a proven track
record.”
In 1983, leaders of the Fund saw
possibilities in Bakes’ idea. They
quickly sent Self-Help a check for
$2,500 to help start the credit union,
followed by a check for $2,550 in 1984.
Those grants made all the differ
ence in the world, says Thad Moore,
an original Self-Help employee.
“I can’t think of a grant that was
more important to us,” says Moore,
who is vice president of Self-Help’s
Credit Union, which has been recog
nized by President Clinton as a model
community development bank. “I just
remember that grant so well in my
mind. They could see our vision. They
understood it at a time when we were
vulnerable, when we weren’t sure
we’d make it.”
Other grantees of the Fund tor
Southern Communities echo this
story.
Mary Uebelgunne, executive direc
tor of Home Street Home - a Raleigh-
based advocacy group for homeless
people - says the Fund gave her
money when other funders wouldn’t
return her phone calls.
“They were wonderful,” she says of
the Fund’s staff, which inciudes Beli;
Bxecutive Director Joan Garner;
Program Officer Jack Beckford; and
Development Associate Carrie Friess.
“They’d come and interview us on
site - ciear from Atlanta - and talk to
Look for FUND, page?
A lifetime of commitment
Bishop Robert EstiU honored for social ministry
His efforts to link Episcopal
churches with projects helping
the poor and disenfranchised
has won The Rev. Robert EstiU
recognition from the Jessie BaU
duPont Fund in Florida.
By Vida Foubister
Raleigh
Sixty-seven years ago. The Right
Rev. Robert Bstill’s baptismal vows
challenged him to strive for Justice
and peace and to respect the dignity
of human beings.
During his 11-year tenure as bish
op, a position from which he retired
May 1994, Bstill has fulfilled this
charge through his work to expand
the outreach ministry of the
Bpiscopal Diocese of North Carolina.
The diocese covers the central por
tion of the state.
“I think that’s what being a
Christian is about - that you have to
be concerned about the needs of oth
ers,” he says.
Bstill’s leadership, which flows
from a lifetime commitment to help
ing disenfranchised people, recently
was recognized by the trustees of the
Jessie Ball duPont Fund in
Jacksonville, Fla. On May 20, Bstill
was presented with the foundation’s
Lifetime Achievement Award.
RELIGION
Sherry Magiil, executive director
of the fund, says Bstill was given the
award to highlight his efforts to
establish a partnership between the
church and people who struggle eco
nomically and socially. This partner
ship has been aided by more than
$970,000 in grants to the diocese
from the duPont Fund while Bstill
was bishop.
“He was chosen because he’s
shown creativi
ty, persever
ance and com
passion for
those less for
tunate,” Magiil
says.
Bobby
Bstill, one of
Bstill’s three
children who is
a sports anchor
on WLFL-TV in
Raleigh, shares
in the admira
tion of his father and his work.
“I’ve only had one hero in my
life,” he says. “And that’s my father.”
Bstill was bom in Lexington, Ky.,
in 1927 and attended Bpiscopal Hi^
School in Alexandria, Va. He pre
pared for the ministry at the
Robert Estill
Bpiscopal Divinity School in
Cambridge, Mass., and has advanced
degrees from the University of the
South and Vanderbilt University.
The award from the duPont Fund
includes a $40,000 grant to the dio
cese, which will be shared by five
social outreach programs, and a
$10,000 discretionary grant to
Bishop Bstill.
Although Bstill is free to spend
the discretionary grant on himself,
he says he has other plans for the
money.
“l^at I’d really like to do with
that is to look and see if there’s
something that needs starting,” he
says.
The projects the diocese chose to
pursue under Bstill’s leadership
were challenging and, at times, con
troversial, says The Rev. Jim Lewis,
who served as the director of
Christian social ministry for seven
years during Bstill’s tenure.
For example, the diocese’s efforts
to establish a home for people living
with AIDS was fou^t by residents of
the Raleigh neighborhood for which
it was planned. Despite this opposi
tion, Hustead House was successful
ly established about five years ago
and is now well integrated and
received in the neighborhood.
Bstill also supported projects that
attempted to go beyond basic chari
ty, by working to teach people how to
help themselves, Lewis says.
Helping Hands, for example, is an
ongoing effort to help poultry work
ers organize, address concerns
about safety and get adequate med
ical coverage.
Because North Carolina is a right
to work state that makes union mem
bership voluntary, this effort also has
faced challenges, Lewis says.
Look for ESTILL, page?
Bishop Robert Estill
Birth: Sept. ?, 192?; Lexington, Ky.
Education: Bachelor of Arts, University of Kentucky; Bachelor of
Divinity, Episcopal Divinity School; Master of Sacred Theology,
University of the South; Doctor of Ministry, Vanderbilt University and
the University of the South.
Experience: Instructor, Divinity School, Duke University, since 1991;
Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina, Raleigh (1983-94); Rector, St.
Michael and All Angels Church, Dallas, Texas (1976-80); Director,
Center for Continuing Education, Virginia Theological Seminary,
Alexandria, Va. (1973-76); Adjunct Professor of Liturgies, Virginia
Theological Seminary (1969-76); Rector, St. Alban's Church,
Washington, D.C. (1969-73); Dean, Christ Church Cathedral,
Louisville, Ky. (1963-69); Rector, Christ Church, Lexington, Ky. (1955-
63); Rector, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Middlesboro, Ky. (1952-55).
Military service: Served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
(Asiatic-Pacific Theater).
Volunteer work: President, Province IV of the Episcopal Church
(1991-94); President, North Carolina Council of Churches (1990-91);
Board Chairman, Thompson Children's Home (1983-94); Board
Chairman, Penick Home and Conference Center of the Diocese of
North Carolina (1983-94); Member, General Board of Examining
Chaplains of the Episcopal Church (1973-78); Member, Standing
Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Church (1967-79); Member,
Chair, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights (1955-63).
Family: Married Joyce Haynes in 1950. Three children and six grand
daughters.
BRIEFLY
Foundation tours
Smart Start
Representatives of the
Carnegie Corp. in New York
toured several Smart Start
programs and met with state
legislators and community
leaders last month to gather
background information on
the initiative. Foundation
officials say they want Smart
Start to submit a proposal
this fall for "catalyst grants."
Foundations support
nonprofit initiative
The W.K. Kellogg
Foundation and the Ford
Foundation have provided
support for the first phase of
a six-year nonprofit research
initiative. The Association for
Research on Nonprofit
Organizations and Voluntary
Action aims to strengthen
research through collabora
tions between academic and
' professional orgariizations.
Foundation issues call for health-care proposals
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation in New Jersey
has issued a call for propos
als under its Local Initiative
Funding Partners and Service
Credit Banking in Managed
Care programs. The Initiative
program offers matching
grants to dgencies that are
seeking to meet unmet
health-care needs. The
deadline for proposals is
Dec. 7. The Service Credit
program recruits volunteers
to provide non-medical ser
vices such as transportation
or housekeeping that allow
ailing elderly residents to
remain in their homes.
Proposals are due June 30.
For information, call (609)
452-8701.
Trust funds statewide
health initiative
The Kate B. Reynolds
Charitable Trust in Winston-
Salem has approved funding
to expand a health-care pro
gram for low-income, elderly
and disabled adults. Grants
totalling $869,000 have
been approved to put into
effect the Medicaid
Community Alternatives
Program for Disabled Adults
in 12 counties.
Foundation awards
incentive scholarships
The Foundation for the
Carolines will give 22 high
school seniors the 1995
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
School Scholarship Incentive
Program Award. The award
is sponsored by the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools and funded through
a $1 million anonymous gift
to the foundation.