In 2004, Andrew L. Bell, III, penned a letter to fundholders as president of The Community Foundation. In it, he explained how the Foundation would create a new source of funding for grantmaking through the generosity of local donors.
“Discretionary funds are at the heart of what makes The Community Foundation unique as a community resource.”
Bell continued: “To help all donors participate in our core work, we are instituting a 1% levy on contributions to donor advised funds, which will be added to our unrestricted endowment, the income from which our board can use as grants to better our community in any field of enterprise, now and forever.”
More than two decades later, the Community Endowment Fund has grown into a significant, steady source of support for Foundation grantmaking focused on critical needs and opportunities identified by the Board of Trustees during strategic planning.
For the last ten years, the focus has been Supporting Neighborhoods, an initiative to strengthen communities through strategic grantmaking and impact investing. Since 2016, the Foundation has awarded 121 grants totaling $2 million supporting three areas of focus: affordable housing, economic opportunity, and neighborhood leadership.
In addition, the Foundation has invested or committed more than $7 million in impact investments from the Local Capital Pool, designed to expand affordable housing and economic opportunity. These investments are focused on important populations: veterans experiencing homelessness, educators in need of affordable housing, minority-owned small businesses, and more.
Through the Supporting Neighborhoods initiative, grants targeted support in several areas of the urban core in Duval County—the Historic Eastside, Northwest Jacksonville, Arlington, New Town, and North Riverside—as well as in the Northeast Florida region, spanning Nassau, St. Johns, Baker, and Clay.
FOR JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE IMPACT OF THIS SUPPORT, TAKE THE CASE OF THE HISTORIC EASTSIDE.
The Community Foundation was an early philanthropic investor in the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) more than 25 years ago and has continued providing annual operating support through discretionary funds. Through the EPIC initiative in 2012-2015, LISC developed a quality of life plan for the Historic Eastside community, identifying the need for a community development corporation. As the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation was formed, The Community Foundation was again an early investor—as it was with LIFT Jax, Florida Avenue Main Street, and the Melanin Market—all focused on supporting the neighborhood’s vision for its own revitalization.
Together, these investments helped create the conditions for the Community Benefits Agreement between the City of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is poised to bring significant additional funding to the neighborhood adjacent to EverBank Stadium.
“The Foundation has helped build the infrastructure for neighborhoods to lead in their own revitalization. The progress we see today wouldn’t have been possible without the Foundation’s support.” – Dr. Irvin “PeDro” Cohen, Executive Director, LISC
This article was originally published in our 2025 Annual Report to the Community. Read the full report.