To improve public safety by restoring former offenders to productive roles in society through training, counseling and education programs that remove the barriers to meaningful employment and that teach skills for today's workforce.
Bernard Madoff returns to his Manhattan apartment after making a court appearance Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Any hope among charities for a grant from the JEHT Foundation went up in smoke this week with the Madoff debacle. The New York City based foundation, which gave away over $25 million last year to justice related projects, announced Monday that it has stopped all grant making and will close its doors at the end of January. Jeanne and Kenneth Levy-Church, the foundation's sole benefactors, reportedly had their entire fortune invested with Madoff.
"We consciously chose areas where there was need and not a lot of support," says Robert Crane, JEHT's president and CEO. Since 2002 the foundation gave away more than $100 million, with $45 million in the hopper for 2009. The strategy of spending its charitable income directly allowed the foundation to achieve rapid results but left no cushion for rainy days.
One organization with a history of JEHT grants is Chattanooga Endeavors. The organization, which helps released prisoner find jobs that lead to a livable wage, was courting the foundation for a grant to expand operations. "Our strategy is unique in using a staffing model to create an alternative path to work for released prisoners," says Tim Dempsey, CEO. "We appreciate the foundation's past support and had hoped that JEHT would help us expand to Tennessee's other major cities."
Criminal justice projects compete for just a penny on the dollar in charitable giving. "So when a champion like JEHT vanishes from the giving community," Dempsey says, "everyone in the field feels it."
This paucity of support is a persistent concern for Chattanooga Endeavors which struggles every year to raise its $400,000 budget. Charities get squeezed especially hard during bad economic times, as donations go down and demand for services goes up. "The issues JEHT addressed received very limited philanthropic support," according to Crane, "and the loss of the foundation’s funding and leadership will cause significant pain and disruption of the work for many dedicated people and organizations."
