The Foundation had $13.7 million in assets as of June 30, 2014


By William K. Alcorn

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Western Reserve Health Foundation, which replaced the fundraising arm of the former Western Reserve Care System (Forum Health), is in full grant-awarding mode.

In its first round of funding in May, the WRHF awarded three grants: $25,000 to the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic and $10,000 each to the American Red Cross and Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries.

Moving forward, WRHF is expected to award nearly $200,000 in grants in January.

Coming out of Forum Health’s bankruptcy, the court allowed the lion’s share of the money in its foundation, which supported Tod Children’s Hospital and Northside Medical Center, to remain for use by nonprofit organizations for health care purposes and causes in Mahoning County.

As of June 30, the end of its last fiscal year, WRHF had assets of $13.7 million, said the organization’s chairman, Phillip B. Dennison, principal at Packer Thomas & Co. in Canfield.

Dennison, a certified public accountant who was chairman of the Forum Health board during the bankruptcy process and sale of the hospital system to Community Health System, said WRHF has the potential to award up to $500,000 in grants at any one time.

The board’s decisions are based on the quality of proposals submitted, he said.

“We don’t have an absolute limit of the amount we can award; but as of now, the target is 3 percent to 5 percent of the foundation’s value per year. We can put all of our money in one program or spread it out,” Dennison said.

The WRHF, a supporting organization of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, has its own board of trustees and decides on and makes its own grant awards, Dennison said.

The WRHF, a 501(c)(3) organization, has no employees and relies on CFMV to help screen and evaluate grant applications, Dennison said.

“The needs are enormous, but we are fortunate to have many quality organizations working to address them,” he said.

The WRHF’s mission is to provide funds for general health, health care and health education through county nonprofit organizations.

For example, Dennison said, WRHF might look at organizations trying to help people find health insurance; reducing the area’s high infant-mortality rate by educating people on how to care for themselves and their children; or dealing with breaking the cycle of drug addiction.

“We’ll monitor the programs we fund to see if they are working. If they don’t, we’ll move on and fund something else. You have to have something that people believe in and that will work,” he said.

Organizations interested in receiving grants may submit a letter of interest, the form for which can be downloaded from the foundation’s section of the CFMV website, www.cfmv.org.

After screening by CFMV and WRHF, those meeting the criteria will be invited to submit full proposals.

Dennison, who is semi-retired, said the WRHF has become “somewhat of a passion” for him.

“We are very fortunate to have the foundation which gives us the opportunity to make a difference in Mahoning County. We have the freedom to join with other organizations in funding projects; something we didn’t have in the past. That excites me,” Dennison said.

Dennison grew up in North Jackson and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from Youngstown State University.

The other WRHF board members are Dr. David Ritchie; Jeff Heintz; Susan Stricklin; Dr. Keisha Robinson, PhD.; and Dr. Michael Miladore.

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