Hopestar Foundation
Hopestar Foundation is a private foundation based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Its 2024 filing reports 24 grants totaling $121,883 to organizations working in areas including health, early childhood, education, and community services; those areas describe the listed grantees and grants, not a stated foundation mission. Its 2025 filing, the latest on this page, reports 11 grants totaling $60,373.
Hopestar Foundation at a glance
In short: Hopestar Foundation gave $60K across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $5K), mostly in North Carolina. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $60,373
- -50.5% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- -54.2% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $5,488
- +8.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $1,000
- Total assets
- $296,495
- +44.9% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- North Carolina (65% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated November 2026.
How to apply to Hopestar Foundation
- How to Apply
-
The filing lists Elizabeth H Star as the contact and says to submit a letter. It lists no award restrictions. The foundation’s stated policy is not to restrict giving to preselected organizations.
- Review Cycle
- None listed on the 2024 filing.
- Deadline
- None listed on the 2024 filing.
- Contact
Application contact: Elizabeth H Star
Mailing address: 428 East 4Th Street Suite 408, Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: (704) 333-0568
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Hopestar Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Healthconnect One ($20K). Together the top 10 received $60K.
Grant Size Distribution
38 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 36 grants of 38 (95%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2024 filing reports that grant dollars went primarily to recipients in Illinois (62%) and North Carolina (31%), followed by South Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts (2% each). The listed grants also include a $1,000 award to the National WIC Association in Washington, DC.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
Cities
How Hopestar Foundation gives
- 0% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving fell 43% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out well above its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $32K (2023) to $317K (2019). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $60K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Healthconnect One Chicago, IL | To Support Workforce Expansion for Doulas in NC | $20,000 |
| North Carolina Alliance for Health Durham, NC | To Support Keeping Medicaid Strong | $20,000 |
| Duke University Durham, NC | Amelia Thorn Bolch Trauma Informed Courts Leadership | $14,500 |
| Sampson County Government Clinton, NC | To Support the Veterans Service Office | $2,000 |
| Teen Health Connection Charlotte, NC | To improve the health of adolescents through medicine, behavioral health services, education, leadership development, etc | $1,010 |
| NC Child Raleigh, NC | NC Child 2025 State of the Child Summit | $1,000 |
| Third Sector New England Inc Boston, MA | To support people and organizations that improve communities and create social change | $513 |
| Familial Dysautonomia Foundation Inc New York, NY | To raise awareness of and educate the medical community about familial dysautonomia | $500 |
| Foundation NC A&T State University Greensboro, NC | 2025 uplifting black and brown lactation success (UBBLS) conference | $500 |
| Build for Good Blowing Rock, NC | To support communities in need, especially with disaster relief | $250 |
Ready to take the next step with Hopestar Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $296,495 | $637,396 | $461,132 | $60,373 | 11 | $458,336 | $185,569 | $6,235 |
| 2024 | $204,666 | $371,872 | $324,678 | $121,883 | 24 | $319,300 | $137,072 | $15,743 |
| 2023 | $445,503 | $429,950 | $150,440 | $32,495 | 1 | $32,495 | — | $17,878 |
| 2022 | $88,920 | $135,417 | $169,615 | $106,641 | 1 | $106,641 | — | $3,962 |
| 2021 | $121,608 | $95,327 | $112,639 | $38,445 | 1 | $38,445 | $71,047 | $3,999 |
| 2020 | $154,786 | $282,116 | $331,194 | $267,072 | 1 | — | $106,093 | $4,957 |
| 2019 | $187,540 | $284,554 | $384,047 | $316,948 | 1 | — | $65,792 | $6,086 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Hopestar Foundation reported a distributable amount of $6K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No foundation mission is stated in the available information. Its 2024 grants included support for organizations whose own missions include advancing community-based support for pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and early parenting; reducing health disparities for Native communities; and expanding nutrition services for mothers and young children. Other recipients’ stated work includes early childhood policy, child care, education, scholarships, and community wellness.
Grantmaking
In 2024, the foundation gave $121,883 through 24 grants. Grants ranged from $84 to $51,500, with a median of $559. The largest awards included $51,500 to Nurture NC and $23,500 to HealthConnect One (Nurture NC), both in Chicago; $10,000 to the NC Philanthropy Liaison in Raleigh; and $10,000 to The Center for Native Health in Whittier, North Carolina. Its 2025 filing, the latest on this page, reports 11 grants totaling $60,373.
The 2024 filing also lists $5,000 for East Carolina University, $4,800 for Yancy County DA Trauma Informed Space, and $4,350 for the Stanly Community College Foundation. Other listed awards include $2,500 each for Carolinas Collaborative, Child Care Aware of America Symposium, and The Hackett Center Policy Academy, and $1,000 for the National WIC Association.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2024 filing lists Elizabeth H Star, Julia R Winer, and Benjamin D Winer as trustees.
Hopestar Foundation's 2025 filing lists 3 officers; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Benjamin D. Winer
Trustee
On filings since 2022
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Julia R. Winer
Trustee
On filings since 2022
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Elizabeth H. Star
Trustee
On filings since 2024
40 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (2)
- Former: Elizabeth H Star-Winer (2019–2023) — Trustee
- Former: Bradley D. Winer (2019–2022) — Trustee
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Hopestar Foundation
How much does Hopestar Foundation give each year?
Hopestar Foundation gave $60K across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $122K across 24 grants.
What is Hopestar Foundation's typical grant size?
Hopestar Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $1,000, and its average grant was $5,488, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Where does Hopestar Foundation give grants?
Hopestar Foundation gives mostly in North Carolina: 65% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was Illinois (33%). The most frequent recipient cities were Durham, NC (2 grants).
Does Hopestar Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 11 grants with a stated purpose on Hopestar Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support.
Who are Hopestar Foundation's largest grantees?
Hopestar Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Healthconnect One ($20,000), North Carolina Alliance for Health ($20,000) and Duke University ($14,500), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 90% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Hopestar Foundation?
Hopestar Foundation reported $296K in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $458K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $6K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Hopestar Foundation fund?
No foundation mission is stated in the available information. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Hopestar Foundation?
The filing lists Elizabeth H Star as the contact and says to submit a letter. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Hopestar Foundation's EIN?
Hopestar Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 80-6198680. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated November 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(3)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS August 26, 2020)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS September 3, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Live grants for the work Hopestar Foundation funds
Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Hopestar Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Hopestar Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/hopestar-foundation-morg_79e318d0f7524cc687f3dffcffeb4332
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_806198680_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Hopestar Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/hopestar-foundation-morg_79e318d0f7524cc687f3dffcffeb4332},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-04. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Hopestar Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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