As The Health Foundation enters 2010, we are at a milestone - our first decade of service in improving the health of those who live or work in Central Massachusetts.  The Foundation was officially created in 1999 with assets from the 1995 sale of Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc., a physician-initiated, not-for-profit HMO.  Staff were hired late in 1999 and our grantmaking began in 2000 and totaled $18.4 million by the close of 2009. 

In the Foundation’s brief history, we have experienced wide ranging changes in our assets due to fluctuations in the economy and investment market volatility.  Initially, $42 million from the sales proceeds were set aside for the Foundation’s corpus, and that corpus was invested and grew to $60 million, until the final approvals were granted in 1999 to start the Foundation.  Since that time, the Foundation’s assets have tracked the roller coaster markets, cycling four times between the $60 million range and the low $40 million range.  The most dramatic volatility occurred in 2009 when the Foundation’s assets declined to a $43 million low, before recovering to end the year at $57 million.

Thus, after being closed to new applications in 2009, the Foundation begins 2010 in a position to be able to re-open our grant opportunities.  We are pleased to be able to provide additional grant resources to assist the region’s nonprofits in serving vulnerable populations as the economy continues a slow recovery.  The Board’s strategic planning last year culminated in a reaffirmation of our grant making avenues, and we are pleased to call now for letters of intent to both the Activation Fund and the Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative.   

As we welcome 2010 and the new applications and grant opportunities, we do so with the inevitable change in our Board membership.  Our bylaws limit Directors to serving three, three-year terms, and so with deep appreciation for their dedicated volunteer service, we bid farewell to:  Rev. Paul D. Kennedy, Dr. Susan M. Willoughby, and Mr. Carlton A. Watson, who also served as Chairman of the Board for the past two years.

We look forward to furthering the Foundation’s legacy of supporting community-driven efforts to create sustainable solutions that will improve health in Central Massachusetts.

Sincerely,                       

George Abraham, M.D., M.P.H.                                     Janice B. Yost, Ed.D. Chairman                                                                        President & CEO