Foundation reels in $1M anti-poverty grant

from the Billings Gazette

By The Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - The Northwest Area Foundation has given $1 million to the Montana Community Foundation to create a permanent endowment to fight poverty in the state.

Linda Reed, Montana Community Foundation president and chief executive officer, said she requested the grant to target early childhood education and public policy changes aimed at lifting women out of poverty.

She cited a growing body of evidence from studies that show that early childhood education, particularly literacy, contributes to economic vitality.

Reed said the correlation between early childhood literacy and juvenile and early adult crime is well-established.

"Indeed, some states can predict incarceration rates based on the literacy level of fourth-graders," she said.

Reed said the foundation has successfully tested this theory with grants to two Head Start literacy programs involving parents as well as students and teachers.

The two literacy programs started with foundation grants have been incorporated permanently into the Head Start curriculum.

Through one of its component endowment funds, the Women's Foundation of Montana, the Montana Community Foundation is evaluating which public policy changes would help women become economically self-sufficient.

The earnings of Montana women are the lowest in the nation, Reed said, and more than one-third of single Montana women live in poverty.

The Women's Foundation advocates changes in policies to improve pay equity, regulate payday lenders and provide access to quality, affordable education, child care and health care.

Through earnings on its endowments, the Women's Foundation supports programs in financial and technological literacy, providing math tutoring, lowering teen pregnancy rates and building self-esteem among disadvantaged and high-risk teen girls.

"These are the programs we'd like to get behind because when women and girls prosper, communities flourish," Reed said.

She said the Montana Community Foundation's primary role is to create permanent wealth to enable Montanans to address such community issues in perpetuity.

"We are thrilled to receive this vote of confidence from a major Northwest philanthropic organization that shares our vision of building capacity for rural vitality," Reed said.

The Montana Community Foundation manages more than 500 endowment funds and total assets exceeding $60 million. People wishing to make a gift to its newest endowment or to the Women's Foundation may call 443-8313, ext. 101.