Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
Featured Stories
Where Did Capitalism Really Begin?
DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 2 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Where Did Capitalism Really Begin?
Merchants' mundane activities led to qualitatively new, emergent abilities.
By Sven Beckert
It is impossible to pinpoint an exact place or moment when capitalism began. Capitalism is a process, not a discrete historical event with a beginning and an end, and it did not drop fully formed into a particular location. Even today, no society is organised along fully capitalist lines, and some have argued that a fully capitalist world is a theoretical impossibility.
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DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 2 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Where Did Capitalism Really Begin?
Merchants' mundane activities led to qualitatively new, emergent abilities.
By Sven Beckert
It is impossible to pinpoint an exact place or moment when capitalism began. Capitalism is a process, not a discrete historical event with a beginning and an end, and it did not drop fully formed into a particular location. Even today, no society is organised along fully capitalist lines, and some have argued that a fully capitalist world is a theoretical impossibility.Efforts to isolate one patch of soil as capitalism's place of originFlorence, Barbados, Amsterdam, Baghdad, the southern English countryside, or Manchester, for examplehave all proved insufficient. That is because the capitalist revolution had always been a process that drew energy from myriad sources. The first springs fed into rivulets that over time became meandering and ever more powerful streams. As these streams moved through time and space, they encountered a world often hostile to their further developmentrivulets dried out; brooks met sandbanks and evaporated; and even the mightiest streams encountered mountain ranges that stopped their flow and forced them to take on new contours. Shape-shifting through the centuries, and against all odds, this novel logic of economic lifeone that centred less on markets as such and more on the growth of capital, that is, money and goods dedicated to the production of more money and thus more capitalgained power.
Given capitalism's winding course, one reasonable place to start is with the first capitalistsmerchantswho played a critical role in propelling capital's revolutionary recasting of economic life on Earth and personified its logic. While we do not know precisely when and where merchants of this particular bent emerged first, there surely was an unusually vibrant and early community of traders who, in the twelfth century, plied their business in the port of Aden, a port that became, according to its most important historian, Roxani Margariti, the heart of Indian Ocean trade. Capitalism did not "break out" in Aden in 1150, but the city was one among a number of notable places that linked together to form the stream that became the river and ultimately the flood.
Its merchants sent ships to distant ports across dangerous oceans, brought the riches of Asia, Africa, Arabia and Europe back to their storage sheds, then distributed them to the far reaches of the known world, buying low and selling dear, providing shipping services, exchanging currencies, offering credit and sometimes financing and even organising the production of agricultural commodities and manufactured goods.
Linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean (and beyond) by sea and land, Aden was a world city constructed by people whose mundane activities, majestic in their sheer scale, included assembling cargoes, inspecting wares, haggling over prices, supervising the construction of ships, observing remote markets, gathering information and, not least, raising capital. As unlikely as it may seem, these banal activities, performed intensively, showed qualitatively new, emergent abilitiesearly, scattered sparks of the revolution to come.
This is an edited extract from Sven Beckert's new book Capitalism: A Global History, published by Penguin.
This article originally appeared at CapX.
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Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University, where he teaches the history of the United States in the nineteenth century, and global history.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/where-did-capitalism-really-begin/
OMRF receives $3.4 million to explore genetic links to lupus
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Jan. 2 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF receives $3.4 million to explore genetic links to lupus
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An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist has received $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate genetic changes believed to be catalysts for the autoimmune disease lupus.
With the four-year federal grant, scientist Swapan Nath, Ph.D., hopes to identify DNA errors that disrupt a routine biological clean-up process called autophagy. In this continual process, cells recycle old parts
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Jan. 2 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF receives $3.4 million to explore genetic links to lupus
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An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist has received $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate genetic changes believed to be catalysts for the autoimmune disease lupus.
With the four-year federal grant, scientist Swapan Nath, Ph.D., hopes to identify DNA errors that disrupt a routine biological clean-up process called autophagy. In this continual process, cells recycle old partsand discard faulty parts.
"Problems with autophagy in immune cells and kidney cells seem to be closely linked to lupus," said Nath, who holds the William H. & Rita Bell Chair in Biomedical Research at OMRF. "Our lab and others have found that when autophagy goes wrong, immune cells release too many inflammatory signals, and kidney cells become damaged and leak protein, which ultimately can lead to kidney failure."
Nath has spent his career trying to identify specific genetic changes, or variants, associated with lupus - a challenging task since the body has more than 3 million genetic variants spread across about 20,000 different genes.
Lupus is a chronic illness that can cause widespread inflammation and organ damage. It affects more than 200,000 Americans, about 90% of whom are female. Existing treatments mainly focus on managing symptoms and preventing flares of the disease. There is no cure.
Scientists have long known lupus has a strong genetic component, but environmental triggers like sunlight, cigarette smoke, stress and viruses are also necessary to activate the disease.
Through previous work, Nath's lab analyzed large genetic datasets to identify regions of the genome associated with lupus risk. The data came from samples housed at OMRF and donated by thousands of lupus patients and healthy controls through the Lupus Family Registry and Repository and the Oklahoma Cohort of Rheumatic Diseases.
"The challenge is narrowing down which specific genetic variants are causing the problem and which gene they affect," Nath said. "We do this through statistical analysis and then testing in the lab."
With this grant, Nath's lab hopes to further narrow the list of potential genes associated with lupus by looking specifically for variants in genes of kidney cells. Ultimately, his work could help lupus scientists and physicians better understand the biological mechanism that links genetic disease risk to cell dysfunction and organ damage.
"This could lead to new drug targets, better risk prediction, and perhaps even cell-based therapies in the future," said OMRF Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Judith James, M.D., Ph.D. "That would be a huge advancement, as it could mean earlier intervention and the prevention of organ damage for our patients."
Nath's grant, No. R01AI191517-01A1, was awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH. He previously received funding from the Presbyterian Health Foundation and from the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research, part of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, for preliminary research.
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/2026/01/02/omrf-receives-3-4-million-to-explore-genetic-links-to-lupus/
Wisconsin Funeral Home Workers Win Freedom from Teamsters Local 344
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 31 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Wisconsin Funeral Home Workers Win Freedom from Teamsters Local 344
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Teamsters abandon legal effort to block worker-backed union removal petition
Milwaukee, WI (December 31, 2025) - Employees of Krause Funeral Home & Cremation Services have freed themselves from the unwanted "representation" of Teamsters Local 344 union officials. The workers' victory comes after Krause management withdrew recognition of the Teamsters based on an employee-backed petition showing that
... Show Full Article
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 31 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Wisconsin Funeral Home Workers Win Freedom from Teamsters Local 344
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Teamsters abandon legal effort to block worker-backed union removal petition
Milwaukee, WI (December 31, 2025) - Employees of Krause Funeral Home & Cremation Services have freed themselves from the unwanted "representation" of Teamsters Local 344 union officials. The workers' victory comes after Krause management withdrew recognition of the Teamsters based on an employee-backed petition showing thatthe union had lost majority support.
While Teamsters union bosses initially tried to block the ouster, claiming Krause committed an unfair labor practice by withdrawing recognition, union officials quickly backed down after National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys filed a Motion to Intervene with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of Krause employee Noah Watry.
In October, Watry submitted a "decertification petition" to the NLRB, in which he and his coworkers requested that the NLRB hold a vote to remove the Teamsters union. That petition contained more than enough signatures from employees in his work unit (which includes funeral directors, embalmers, and apprentices at Krause's facilities in Milwaukee, Brookfield, and New Berlin) to trigger a decertification election under NLRB rules.
Watry shared a copy of this employee petition with Krause officials, who, following the NLRB's Levitz Furn iture Co. precedent, withdrew recognition from the union after seeing that the petition signers also requested that their employer withdraw recognition.
Teamsters union agents sought to block the employee petition and the employer's withdrawal by filing unfair labor practice charges against Krause with the NLRB, alleging that it had withdrawn recognition illicitly. Even though Krause had followed NLRB case law in withdrawing, an NLRB Regional Office issued a complaint against the funeral home company. Watry defended the withdrawal that he and his coworkers had requested by filing a Motion to Intervene.
NLRB Region 18 eventually referred the case to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), which set the stage for a hearing on the union's legal claims. However, before the ALJ could move forward with the proceedings, Teamsters lawyers withdrew all charges against Krause, likely knowing that a hearing would reveal the meritless nature of union officials' unfair labor practice charges. This effectively laid to rest the Teamsters presence in Krause's facilities.
Wisconsin is one of 26 states with Right to Work safeguards that protect workers by making union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary. Yet, even in Right to Work states, union officials can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers in a workplace, even those who oppose the union.
"This case illustrates clearly the lengths that union officials will go in order to hold on to power in a workplace where workers would prefer to be independent," commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. "The Foundation is pleased to have been able to aid Mr. Watry and his colleagues in navigating the convoluted federal labor bureaucracy that places hardworking Americans like them at a disadvantage whenever they seek to exercise their rights.
"While this case worked out in Mr. Watry's favor, it's important to remember that he and his coworkers have the benefit of Right to Work and could not be forced to subsidize the same Teamsters union that was trying to trap them," Mix added. "That is why every American deserves Right to Work protections, and even in states where Right to Work exists, it must be defended."
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
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Original text here: https://www.nrtw.org/news/krause-workers-remove-teamsters-12312025/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Texas - On Its Way to Ending Property Tax?
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 30 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Texas: On Its Way to Ending Property Tax?
A sales tax would be a much more equitable, efficient form of taxation.
By Christopher Baecker and Crystal Keen
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his reelection bid in November by saying he wants to abolish school property taxes. Naturally there have been objections, and we'd like to add our own feedback: it doesn't go far enough.
He also proposed limiting appraisals to once every five years. That would ideally lead to a reduction of payrolls
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 30 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Texas: On Its Way to Ending Property Tax?
A sales tax would be a much more equitable, efficient form of taxation.
By Christopher Baecker and Crystal Keen
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his reelection bid in November by saying he wants to abolish school property taxes. Naturally there have been objections, and we'd like to add our own feedback: it doesn't go far enough.
He also proposed limiting appraisals to once every five years. That would ideally lead to a reduction of payrollsas well, realizing additional savings for taxpayers. Lowering the appraisal cap from 10% to 3% is another point in his plan.
Both of those, however, carry their own risks, as do most government fixes per se. The ideal solution is simply to lift the entire burden, across all taxing jurisdictions. There are countless reasons why.
For one, taxing property undercuts home ownership.
It gives the distinct impression that those who have paid off their mortgages don't really own their homes since they still have a bill to pay. That is of little concern to policymakers when the expense is hidden in the rents they would then pay in an apartment.
It's a vicious cycle when you factor in that politicians' remedy for this, debt-financed "affordable" housing projects, is sometimes paid for with property taxes.
Taxing homes also fulfills on a local level something national politicians have been trying to do: tax unrealized capital gains. The value of your home may have risen, but that doesn't automatically translate into dollars in your pocket.
Even when the house is sold, the value of the proceeds is not "real" in an economic sense thanks to inflation.
When investors look for a safe haven in times of dollar depreciation or volatility, only gold is a more popular option than real estate. Their increased demand pushes up home values, and subsequently appraisals.
And local officials have shown little reluctance converting what their national brethren have created into increased tax revenue. It affords them the opportunity to "provide incentives" to nominally non-government organizations to carry out public programs.
This breeds cronyism, which oftentimes leads to outright corruption.
In terms of education, taxing property contributes to academic imbalances and unequal outcomes. Wealthier communities can afford more tools, assistance, etc. Rather than attacking the root problem, politicians and bureaucrats try to fix this at the surface.
See the Robin Hood plan here in Texas.
There is an alternative, more equitable form of taxation, which also happens to be the most efficient: the sales tax. Opposition is so strong, though, that it gets mislabeled as regressive. It's not; it's proportional. Everyone pays the same rate on purchases.
Opponents muddy the waters by discussing the sales tax in terms of income. That's apples and oranges. It's misguided at best, deceptive at worst.
Additionally, government-based revenue forecasts routinely overestimate revenue losses from any sort of tax simplification, or reduction. Failure to learn this lesson leads to erroneous estimates of tax rates needed to make up for such perceived shortfalls.
This time is no different.
It's been reported that, to make up for the loss of property tax revenue, the sales tax rate would have to "more than double," or close to triple. The JFK tax cuts of the 1960s, and Reagan's in the 1980s, suggest otherwise.
Revenue to the treasury increased after both.
While taxes on property and those on income are not the same, they're closer cousins than either are to sales taxes. When the tax penalty on work and savings/investment is reduced, prosperity grows, and consequently so do tax receipts.
To the extent deficits rose in the aforementioned eras, they were the result of increased spending. Similar reservations of "expand(ed) budgets" have been echoed in our debate here. One way for school districts to rein those in is by adopting zero-based budgeting.
Several ISDs here in Texas use it, while some pay lip service to it, and others simply don't. Ironically enough, not only do the latter not use it, but they have a tendency to push bond packages on voters in the face of declining enrollment.
Coupled with calls to increase the "basic allotment" for public schools, which is essentially fun money for districts, something is amiss. The only surefire way to enforce fiscal discipline is to tighten the revenue streams.
The press casually mentions that proponents of property tax reform see the taxes as " illegitimate." They're not wrong. If this involuntary tax is not paid, homeowners can face penalties, including the loss of their home.
How is this not a "moral" issue?
Like Oklahoma, Florida, et al., we seem to have learned a lesson from the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution. Lawmakers in Austin have submitted, and voters approved, walling off labor, savings, and investment income from taxation.
The lesson the political establishment should heed is that we need to do the right thing first, and then budget accordingly.
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Christopher E. Baecker is Vice President of the Bexar County Taxpayer Association and is an adjunct lecturer of economics at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio.
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Crystal Keen is Secretary of the Bexar County Taxpayer Association. She works in the real estate and medical industries, and is an education advocate.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/texas-on-its-way-to-ending-property-tax/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Systems of Trust
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 30 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Systems of Trust
What sheepdogs teach us about liberty.
By Benjamin BH Ko
On the Isle of Lewis, crofters still work the old way: one man, two dogs, a flock and the Atlantic wind. Watching Leslie and his collies, Bruce and Jude, round up sheep across the moor, I was struck by how little command was needed. After a whistle and a word, Bruce and Jude's instincts took care of the rest. It was order without control, and freedom within purpose. This is liberty properly understood.
Lewis
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DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 30 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Systems of Trust
What sheepdogs teach us about liberty.
By Benjamin BH Ko
On the Isle of Lewis, crofters still work the old way: one man, two dogs, a flock and the Atlantic wind. Watching Leslie and his collies, Bruce and Jude, round up sheep across the moor, I was struck by how little command was needed. After a whistle and a word, Bruce and Jude's instincts took care of the rest. It was order without control, and freedom within purpose. This is liberty properly understood.
Lewisis home to many traditional industries: crofting, tweed weaving and fishing. It is a place where life still depends on skill, community and respect for the elements. When Leslie led his dogs up the slope, the scene felt timeless - as if little had changed in hundreds of years. Yet what struck me most was not nostalgia, but what this simple working relationship revealed about freedom, trust and the limits of control.
Bruce and Jude know exactly what to do when faced with a stubborn or stray sheep. Leslie doesn't bark a dozen new commands; he trusts their judgement. They read the terrain, sense the flock's movement, and decide how best to bring order. It's a partnership built on mutual understanding. The dogs aren't free in the sense of doing whatever they please. Instead, they're free within the bounds of purpose and discipline. Their obedience doesn't crush their independence; it makes their independence possible.
That relationship holds a lesson far beyond the croft. Today, governments too often resemble over-anxious shepherds, issuing endless directives in an attempt to control every variable. If Leslie tried to script each move Bruce and Jude made, chaos would follow. They'd be confused, hesitant and paralysed by instruction. The croft would fall apart under the weight of micromanagement. The same is true in governance: when the state presumes it must command every detail of life, initiative disappears, trust erodes and competence declines.
The partnership between crofter and dog is a vivid example of order emerging from freedom, not imposed from above but grown from within. The dogs act through local knowledge: they understand their environment, the flock and the subtle cues of their master. They don't need constant direction because the system they're part of already carries shared norms and mutual trust. That is how real cooperation happens, not through regulation, but through relationship.
Liberty isn't lawlessness. Bruce and Jude don't dash off into the heather the moment Leslie's whistle falls silent. Their freedom is earnedrooted in discipline, skill and trust. The same kind of freedom sustains the island itself. Across Lewis, you'll find honesty boxes beside country roads, where locals leave fresh eggs, freshly baked goods and even second-hand tweed clothing with only a tin for payment. There's no CCTV or bureaucracy, just trust that people will do the right thing. In addition, if a crofter falls ill, a neighbour will tend their flock. Responsibility here is personal, not outsourced to an agency or committee.
Life on the island runs on initiative and mutual respect, not official instruction. No one decreed that honesty boxes must exist, or that crofters must help one another. These customs endure because it worked in the past and still does now. That's what gives Lewis its quiet strength: a sense that freedom is not a problem to be solved, but a condition to be sustained.
Compare that with the modern political impulse to regulate everything from speech to stove tops. Too often, policymakers assume that order must come from above - from central planners in Whitehall or Holyrood. Yet on the boggy hills of Lewis, order arises naturally from trust and shared purpose. The dogs don't need a policy paper to know what to do. They need training, trust and space to act. The same is true for free people.
Freedom doesn't mean chaos; it means responsibility and room to exercise it. The moors of Lewis quietly remind us that systems built on trust work better than those built on control. The more power that drifts upward to the state, the weaker those local bonds become. Freedom, once replaced by bureaucracy, rarely returns.
Watching Leslie, Bruce and Jude herd sheep against the Atlantic wind, it was easy to see why this relationship has endured for centuries. It's efficient, humane and rooted in mutual understanding; a living metaphor for liberty. The crofter doesn't need to dominate his dogs. Instead, he trusts them to do their work. That trust, once earned, becomes the foundation of order. And whether on the hillside or in society at large, that's what freedom really should be: not the absence of structure, but the presence of trust.
This article originally ran at CapX.
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Benjamin BH Ko
Benjamin B.H. Ko is a Masters student at the University of St Andrews and an intern at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/systems-of-trust/
"What I had was an awareness": Allan Houston on early detection and a family fight against prostate cancer
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Dec. 30 -- The Prevent Cancer Foundation issued the following news:
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"What I had was an awareness": Allan Houston on early detection and a family fight against prostate cancer
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Allan Houston understands the power of early detection on a deeply personal level. The former New York Knicks standout, two-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist watched his father fight and survive cancerand then faced the very same diagnosis 13 years later.
Wade Houston, the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, the first African American head coach in
... Show Full Article
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Dec. 30 -- The Prevent Cancer Foundation issued the following news:
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"What I had was an awareness": Allan Houston on early detection and a family fight against prostate cancer
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Allan Houston understands the power of early detection on a deeply personal level. The former New York Knicks standout, two-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist watched his father fight and survive cancerand then faced the very same diagnosis 13 years later.
Wade Houston, the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, the first African American head coach inthe SEC and father to Allan Houston, beat his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2010.
Prostate cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Black men in the United Statesand Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to white men. Black men and men who have a first-degree relativesuch as a parent, child or siblingwho has been diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65 also have a higher risk of developing it. Allan fits into both of these categories.
Read more: How genetics affects your cancer riskand what you can do about it
Competing for their health
Since his son faced a significantly higher cancer risk, Wade understood that sharing his experience with him wasn't just helpful, it was essentialand that made all the difference for Allen.
"What I had was an awareness," Allan said. "I knew that it had been running through my familymy father had gone through itso the minute he had gone through it, I was already on alert, and I was already going twice a year to get checked."
He began screening through prostate-specific antigen testing (PSA), a test that measures the level of PSA protein in the blood. (Higher PSA levels can potentially indicate cancer.) In 2023, Allen was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
As a lifelong athlete, Allan is familiar with competition, but cancer brought a different kind of challengeone that tested him mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Throughout his own journey, Allan reflected on his father's determination to stay healthy for his family, which he now carries forward for his own seven children.
"I have to be there for them, and take that competitive spirit to [my] health," Allan said.
Talking about it
Allan highlighted how many men remain hesitant to speak openly about their experiences, especially with prostate cancer, but that his father was different in this regard.
"He was very open and willing to do whatever it took," Allan said. Wade was determined to do everything possible to remain present for his family and support their legacy.
That same determination now resonates with Allan. Fortunately, Allan was already aware of his cancer risk early on because of his father's diagnosis.
Though a family history of prostate cancer can increase your risk, it's important to know that only approximately 10% of cancer cases are hereditary. Most cancers are diagnosed in people with no family history of the disease, which is why it's important for everyone to get their routine cancer screenings.
Prostate cancer doesn't typically present with symptoms in the early stages, so those routine screenings can be critical in detecting it early for better health outcomes.
Read also: Should I get screened for prostate cancer?
Current screening guidelines recommend talking to your health care provider about prostate cancer screening if you are age 40+ and have a strong family history, age 45+ and are Black OR have a family history, and age 50+ if you're at average risk. You and your provider can discuss the pros and cons of screening to make the best decision for you.
Allan's cancer prevention message
Allan committed fully to doing whatever was necessary to become cancer-free and has since become an advocate for men's health and early detection.
"We're protectors, we're providers and we're survivors, and I think you have to take that same mindset into preventive care," Allan said on his message to men.
He attended the NBA Total Health Fair in Las Vegas, Nevada, presented by Evernorth health services in December 2025. The fair was hosted in partnership with the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Nevada Cancer Coalition, Goodr and the Bill & Lillie Heinrich YMCA. He also serves on the board of directors for ZERO Prostate Cancer.
"You just have to eliminate the temporary discomfort of fear for what's going to be better in the long term," Allan said.
For more information on prostate cancer screenings, what they entail and who they're for, visit preventcancer.org/prostate.
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Original text here: https://preventcancer.org/article/what-i-had-was-an-awareness-allan-houston-on-early-detection-and-a-family-fight-against-prostate-cancer/
Unity Fund Awards More Than $3 Million in Final 2025 Grants to Strengthen San Diego's Safety Net
SAN DIEGO, California, Dec. 29 -- The San Diego Foundation posted the following news release:
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Unity Fund Awards More Than $3 Million in Final 2025 Grants to Strengthen San Diego's Safety Net
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December 29, 2025 - San Diego, CA San Diego Foundation today announced more than $3 million in Unity Fund grants in the final funding round of 2025, supporting local nonprofits working to strengthen San Diego's food, housing and healthcare safety net amid ongoing federal cutbacks. Since launching the San Diego Unity Fund, San Diego Foundation has raised more than $32 million and granted and committed
... Show Full Article
SAN DIEGO, California, Dec. 29 -- The San Diego Foundation posted the following news release:
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Unity Fund Awards More Than $3 Million in Final 2025 Grants to Strengthen San Diego's Safety Net
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December 29, 2025 - San Diego, CA San Diego Foundation today announced more than $3 million in Unity Fund grants in the final funding round of 2025, supporting local nonprofits working to strengthen San Diego's food, housing and healthcare safety net amid ongoing federal cutbacks. Since launching the San Diego Unity Fund, San Diego Foundation has raised more than $32 million and granted and committednearly $20 million to support dozens of local nonprofits responding to urgent needs across the region.
These grants will help keep essential services in place as public funding declines, including emergency rent and utility assistance to prevent homelessness, fresh food distribution through schools and neighborhood markets, and trauma-informed healthcare and mental health support for families and individuals facing crisis.
The announcement comes as San Diego County braces for the loss of more than $300 million a year in government funding that helps keep people fed, housed and healthy. More than 400,000 residents are at risk of losing access to basic support, including nearly 100,000 who may lose food assistance.
"These final grants of 2025 reflect the strength of San Diego coming together in a moment of real challenge," said Mark Stuart, President and CEO of San Diego Foundation. "As we close out the year, this funding helps stabilize essential services now and positions our community to move forward stronger in the year ahead."
Union of Pan Asian Communities is among the grantees, awarded $175,000 from the San Diego Unity Fund to sustain its Community Violence Response Team while transitioning to a Medi Cal billing model amid federal funding reductions.
"We are profoundly grateful to be a recipient of the San Diego Unity Fund at San Diego Foundation," said Wendy Urushima-Conn, president and CEO of the Union of Pan Asian Communities. "In light of recent funding cuts, this bridge support arrives at a pivotal moment for our Community Violence Response Team. It ensures we can continue standing with families in their most challenging moments by providing trauma intervention, strengthened case management and housing navigation services. We appreciate the Foundation's ongoing commitment to anticipating and responding to the evolving needs of our community."
Sherman Heights Development Corporation is also among the grantees, awarded $175,000 from the San Diego Unity Fund to help stabilize housing and strengthen community-based services in one of San Diego's most historically underserved neighborhoods.
"This funding will have an immediate and meaningful impact for families in our community, allowing us to meet them where they are during a time of real uncertainty," said Alexis Villanueva, CEO of City Heights CDC. "The San Diego Unity Fund support allows us to expand Feeding City Heights at a critical moment, ensuring families can access culturally relevant meals, grocery support and emergency food assistance with dignity. At the same time, it strengthens our partnerships with local businesses, helping stabilize both households and the neighborhood economy."
Nearly $3 million in San Diego Unity Fund grants will support more than two dozen organizations working across food security, housing stability and healthcare access. The grants will help prevent homelessness, keep nutritious food accessible through trusted community sites and sustain healthcare and mental health services facing public funding gaps.
Grantees include Alabaster Jar Project, Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest San Diego, BrightSide, Brighter Bites San Diego, California Rural Legal Assistance Inc., Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego, Center for Community Solutions, City Heights Community Development Corporation, Crisis House, Foundation for Women Warriors, Global Communities, Interfaith Shelter Network of San Diego, JIREH Providers, License to Freedom, Majdal Arab Community Center of San Diego, Operation HOPE North County, ProduceGood, Promises 2Kids, Rise and Thrive Program Inc., San Diego Hunger Coalition, San Diego LGBT Community Center, Shoreline Community Services, Survivors of Torture International, TrueCare, Union of Pan Asian Communities and Urban Street Angels.
Created in response to federal funding reductions impacting food, housing and healthcare programs, the San Diego Unity Fund is San Diego Foundation's rapid response fund for local nonprofits. To learn more and donate see here.
About San Diego Foundation
San Diego Foundation believes in just, equitable and resilient communities where every San Diegan can prosper, thrive and feel like they belong. We partner with donors, nonprofits and regional leaders to co-create solutions that respond to community needs and strengthen San Diego. Since our founding in 1975, our community foundation has granted $1.8 billion to nonprofits to improve quality of life in San Diego County and beyond. Join us in commemorating 50 years of impact and looking toward the next 50 by learning more at SDFoundation.org.
Media Contact
Hiram Soto, Director of Marketing & Communications
Email: hsoto@sdfoundation.org
Phone: 858-349-7940
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Original text here: https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/unity-fund-awards-more-than-3-million-in-final-2025-grants-to-strengthen-san-diegos-safety-net/
