June 28, 2009|By Jacques Kelly | Jacques Kelly,jacques.kelly@baltsun.com
The Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, a Baltimore-based philanthropic organization that for years aided high-profile causes in Israel and cultural institutions in the United States, has turned its focus to a problem closer to home: Baltimore's struggling middle class.
The organization's disbursements - currently at $5 million a year - will soon pay for better computer access at public libraries, improvements at city parks and college tuition for students from families with good jobs.
"The year 2009 is the one where we reset the clock," said Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein, the funds' executive vice president and newly named director. "The needs of the middle class is an area that most funders don't think about."
The change in direction comes as the leadership of the organization passes to a new generation of heirs. Rubenstein's grandfather, Joseph Meyerhoff, who made a fortune in real estate development, established a gift-giving fund more than 50 years ago. Her father, Harvey "Bud" Meyerhoff, succeeded him and created additional foundations. He recently retired and handed the funds' direction to his four children, prompting the rethinking of the organization's priorities, Rubenstein said.
Among the causes the $100 million group of funds has supported in the past are the Holocaust Museum in Washington, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Baltimore's symphony hall, which bears the family's name.
Rubenstein said her new goal to keep working families in Baltimore. "We think it's terribly important to keep middle-class families living in Baltimore," she said. "Communities are fragile. There needs to be enough of a 'there' there."
Groups expected to reap the benefit of the funds' change of direction include those working to improve schools, parks and neighborhoods.
"It's a bold move," said Trude Jacobson, with the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Associations. "She is saying something that a lot of people have been talking about. We are now recognizing that the middle class [is] its own distressed community."
Jacobson also praised what she called the Meyerhoff generational change.
"Terry saw a real opportunity - how can we make a difference in these times. She had the strength of conviction to realize the successes her family fund had and to say that instead of looking more globally, maybe it's better to look more locally."
Timothy D. Armbruster, president of the Goldseker Foundation, another Baltimore philanthropic fund, also praised the shift in the funds' emphasis. "The best thing that could happen for Baltimore would be to attract and keep 100,000 middle-class people of all races and religions," he said.
Rubenstein said the rethinking of the grants has been prompted in part by the recession, which has reduced the funds' worth by 25 percent.
"Because of the economy and the dip in our assets, we have decided to take a much more strategic approach," she said. "The middle class in Baltimore is sort of neglected."
Although the funds are earning less money because of the stock market ills, they still produce about $5 million annually for grant-making, she said, an amount equal to 5 percent of the philanthropy's assets.
Rubenstein said one cause she will be looking to aid is tuition help for middle-class students and their families.
"It is not uncommon to have children graduating from college with $100,000 of debt," she said.
To this end, the Meyerhoff Funds will assist students whose parents make $75,000 to $150,000, she said.
Another beneficiary will be the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where the nonprofit will help pay to upgrade public computer access.
Friends of Patterson Park, which Rubenstein said represents a "phenomenal success story," is also expected to benefit. The group keeps the park clean and safe, organizes free summer sports and cultural arts for children, musical events and assists a children's swim team.
"However the middle class is defined in Baltimore, we are working to keep it here," said Tim Almaguer, the Friends executive director.
Rubenstein also praised the work of Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance, a group of professionals with children who reside in the older parts of the city who want to remain in Baltimore as their children enter school.
"The families of downtown - Canton to Bolton Hill - are a neglected constituency," said Judy O'Brien, the group's president. "And, yet, you can't really sustain a Baltimore renaissance on empty-nesters and single bachelors."
Along with the new efforts will be funding for some of the Meyerhoffs' longtime favorite projects, including Druid Hill Park. "It is a magnificent piece of land," Rubenstein said. "We have tried for years to find someone or some group who could make the park become the treasure it could be."
