Learn what’s happening at the Foundation and in the communities where we work. Hear from staff and partners about their accomplishments and lessons learned along the way.
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Last week, I attended Mental Health Advocates of Western New York annual fundraising event. It was a milestone occasion in many ways. It was MHA’s 60th anniversary; and for many in the room, it was the first event they had been to in two years. Ironically, this event was also the last event many of … Continued
This year, the Tower Advisory Team heads in an exciting new direction. In 2022, a dozen or more advisors will come together to launch and execute a grantmaking initiative of their own making. The young people that make up the advisory team (target age is 18-30) represent a mix of the communities where we fund … Continued
Last week, I shared our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals. This week, I’ve asked three of our Trustees, Cindy Doyle, Jim Weiss, and Dave Welbourn, to join me in sharing reflections on this milestone. Each of these Trustees have championed the effort to bring an equity perspective to our work and were instrumental … Continued
For the last year and a half, the Tower Foundation has focused on bringing an equity perspective to our work. Today I am excited to share new goals we have adopted. At the Tower Foundation, we believe that young people with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental illness, and substance use disorders should have the chance … Continued
After three cycles and over $1.6 million dollars awarded to 120 agencies, we are sunsetting our COVID-19 grants. Even though the pandemic is not yet over, a new day is dawning for nonprofits that requires our funding to change too. We are moving on from our COVID-19 funding category and embedding the lessons learned throughout our … Continued
Blog posts in this space have traced the evolution of the Tower Foundation Advisory Team in some detail. In the fall of 2019, we told you about the initial formation of a seven-member advisory team, made up of young Western New Yorkers with intellectual disabilities. This fun and dynamic group helped us review applications in … Continued
Our 2021 funding cycles are now closed* and we know many of you are wondering what our 2022 grantmaking will look like. We’re still working on our 2022 grant guidelines and a finalized grantmaking calendar. Here’s what we can share now: We’ll be increasing the number of opportunities to apply for Strengthening Partner Capacity grants … Continued
One of the aspirational goals for our mental health grantmaking at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation is pretty simple: Stigma related to mental illness is eliminated. The recently launched TowerDATA Dashboard looks at community data that may be able to tell us if the counties where we fund are seeing movement towards a reduction … Continued
A community coming together to face the growing challenges of substance use by Mary Korba, Martha’s Vineyard Substance Use Disorder Coalition — On Island Subcommittee This is the next in our series of blogs by guest authors. This blog tells the story of a drug and alcohol prevention campaign on Martha’s Vineyard. Contrary to popular … Continued
For the past couple of years, the Tower Foundation has been exploring ways to bring one of our values to life: diverse voices. The Foundation describes what valuing diverse voices looks like as: We listen to and learn from those with different points of view and perspectives. More than that, we seek to be proximate … Continued
