OVERVIEW: The van Beuren Charitable Foundation provides grants to the Newport and Aquidneck Island communities of Rhode Island in the areas of education, health, economic development and community development.
IP TAKE: Van Beuren is a stalwart supporter of community causes in its small geographic priority area of Newport County and Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island. Giving in such a small area, this funder has the bandwidth for even the smallest groups and community projects. Contact Kaila Acheson directly to get started.
PROFILE: Established in 1986, the van Beuren Charitable Foundation is the foundation ofJohn A. “Archie” and Hope H. “Happy” van Beuren. It is based in Newport, Rhode Island and gives locally to the communities here. The foundation aims to “invest in the quality of life and quality of place of Aquidneck Island and surrounding communities.” This funder names four grantmaking focus areas: Strong Starts, Healthy Lifestyles, Community Prosperity and Excellence in the Commons.
Grants for Early Childhood and K-12 Education
Van Beuren’s Strong Starts focus area supports local education and other efforts to give local children “a strong start in life.”
- Grantees include New Port Public Schools, the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental health, the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children and the Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families.
Grants for Public Health and Mental Health
The foundation priorities the health and well-being of local residents via its Healthy Lifestyles program. Priorities include expanding access to quality care and supporting “positive social and physical environments where residents can make healthy choices.”
- Past grants have supported the Newport Hospital Foundation, the Newport County Regional YMCA, Newport Mental Health and the Foundation for Integrated Care in Warwick.
Grants for Economic Development
Grants stemming from the Community Prosperity focus area support efforts to build and maintain a thriving local economy that presents opportunities for residents and local businesses. Areas of interest include workforce and business development, especially those that contribute to “a sense of place” in the region.
- Community Prosperity recipients include the Newport County Development Council, the East Bay Community Action Program, Grow Smart Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner.
Grants for Community Development
The foundation’s Excellence in the Commons program focuses on the “common spaces and institutions make our communities desirable places to live, work, and play.” Grantmaking targets projects to renovate, restore or maintain landscapes and buildings that contribute to the area’s vitality and local economy.
- Recent grantees include the Preservation society of Newport county, the Newport Historical Society, the Newport Art Museum and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center of Newport.
Important Grant Details:
In 2023, van Beuren gave $3 million to the University of Rhode Island to fund the creation of a new Ocean Engineering Complex on the URI Narragansett Bay Campus.
Important Grant Details:
Foundation grants range from $1,000 to $2.3 million. The average grant size is about $15,000, and the foundation made close to $12 million in grants in a recent year.
- Grantseekers can view a partial list of past grants on the Grants page of the foundation’s website.
- This foundation mainly gives in Newport County and Aquidneck in Rhode Island, but tax filings indicate occasional grants to national organizations or nonprofits in nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut.
- Van Beuren accepts applications for program, project, capacity building, planning, design and implementation grants, although application due dates vary by grant type.
- All applicants should contact Kaila Acheson via email at support@vbcfoundation.org prior to submitting an application. The foundation’s phone number is (401) 619-5910.
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