Overview

The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust is currently focusing its resources on the three areas of activity discussed below. The trustees find that they can be most effective by limiting the range of programs supported in order to develop a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges within those targeted fields.

Each highlighted focus area includes specific examples of the Trust's grants to demonstrate the involvement and impact that can result from this focused approach.

The Accountability section of the website provides a list of the prior year's grants.

Downeast Maine

A series of meetings in 2000 with local community representatives (fishermen, educators, selectmen, health professionals, non-profit representatives) launched the Trust's involvement in the Downeast region of Maine from Schoodic Peninsula east to Eastport. Those discussions also set the course of the Trust's involvement by emphasizing efforts that engage the local citizenry in helping to shape the future of their communities. A series of discussions with local leaders in 2008 demonstrated the value of this approach and reinforced the importance of maintaining this involvement.

From three initial grants totaling $75,000, the level of grantmaking has grown to as much as $400,000 per year. Sustained support has been provided to some organizations to reinforce the nonprofit infrastructure in the region. Other grants have been one-time investments for special projects.

The Trust's regional approach to grantmaking has been recognized as a model in Maine for both its sustained involvement with the nonprofit organizations and its efforts to strengthen their management and programs through professional development opportunities. Since 2003, the Trust has been collaborating with the Maine Philanthropy Center and the Maine Community Foundation to convene Downeast nonprofit executives to explore common interests and organizational development needs. The Trust has provided grants to enable the nonprofit directors to attend statewide philanthropy and technical assistance conferences and to engage a coordinator for quarterly meetings of the Downeast Nonprofit Network where peer learning and resource sharing is the focus of each agenda.

Children's Mental Health

In 2002, the trustees decided to develop a focus on children's mental health in Massachusetts. They realized that few local private foundations were targeting this field. They also learned that the state child welfare agencies were exploring new approaches to delivering services. The court order resulting from the Rosie D case affecting Massachusetts children covered by Medicaid is now significantly altering how mental health services will be delivered. In addition, the passage in 2008 of the Children's Mental Health Act promotes early intervention, public agency coordination and school involvement.

With its limited staffing and financial resources, the Trust is not able to could not respond effectively to the large number and variety of organizations providing direct service. Instead, the Trust emphasizes an approach to system change that encourages innovation and family involvement. Grants are typically significant multi-year commitments toward the design and implementation of demonstration projects that include advocacy and evaluation components.

The trustees nevertheless looked for a niche where the Trust could also be involved in the delivery of service in a limited way. They discovered that the field of arts therapy offered such an opportunity. By focusing on arts programs that use a therapeutic approach with children, the Trust helps to sustain such activities while others may cut back on arts funding. It also helps to connect public policy and advocacy with the practical realities of delivering services.

The Trust currently commits up to $400,000 per year in Massachusetts to children's mental health and arts therapy programs that fall within the priorities outlined above.

Adams Family Legacy

The donor, Charles F. Adams, was a direct descendant of the two Adams Presidents. The family legacy is rich in terms of public service and a commitment to integrity, ethical behavior and innovation. The Trust seeks to embody those family values and to find opportunities to sustain the family heritage. The Trust has mainly focused on projects in which the donor had been directly engaged. The funding commitments are modest and are determined by the scope of the project under consideration.