Ira W. DeCamp Foundation Grant

The Ira W. DeCamp Foundation Grant, established in 1970, supports health, social services, and education projects primarily in the New York metropolitan area. The foundation prioritizes community-based health care, foster care initiatives, and workforce development. Eligible organizations must be 501(c)(3) public charities, while ineligible recipients include individuals and private foundations. The foundation emphasizes capacity-building, project funding, and capital enhancements to strengthen community resources and support innovative programming for vulnerable populations.

The DeCamp Foundation was established in 1970 by Elizabeth DeCamp McInery in memory of her late husband Ira W. DeCamp. Over the past 20 years, the DeCamp Foundation’s grantmaking has supported a wide array of organizations within three major program areas: health, social services and education. Grants have been concentrated in the New York metropolitan area.
Funding Interests
The foundation’s grantmaking currently focuses on three areas:

• Community-Based Health Care
• Community Health grants will support community health centers and select primary care providers in the metropolitan area.
• Funding will be provided for:

capacity building (e.g., leadership development, staff training and improving fundraising or other key resources);organization improvement activities (e.g., strategic planning; markets, operations and systems analysis; performance measurement and process improvement); andcapital projects (e.g., renovations, new space acquisition and development, information technology and infrastructure enhancements).
Foster Care
The foundation’s Foster Care Grants Program seeks to support programs in the metropolitan area that address one or more of the following:
Programs designed to support service linkages and partnerships with different service providers within the child welfare community (e.g., substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health and housing). Training and strategies to recruit and retain qualified caseworkers and front-line staff at foster care agencies.
Recruitment, training, and support for caregivers, including foster parents and kinship caregivers.
Services for older and transition age youth, including education, job training, and independent living skills, with a focus on innovative and youth-driven programming.
Services for special populations such lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
Policy and advocacy efforts around issues such as (but not limited to) housing for youth in foster care, legal support for youth in care, updating the foster care rate-setting methodology and sustaining quality-assurance programs.
Workforce Development
Workforce Development grants will support workforce development organizations (including intermediaries) in the metropolitan area. Funding will be provided for:
Capacity building (infrastructure investments that enable the organization to expand, sustain and manage its services more effectively).Program development (investments in new aspects of the program that will enhance the training and placement experience.Research and evaluation (to understand the impact of job training programs and of public policy in this area).Note: preference will be given to job training organizations that offer hard skills and life skills training; have support services available to trainees; focus on placing adults in full-time competitive employment; provide post-placement support; and collect data about graduation, placement, starting salaries and retention.

Eligibility

Organizations must be classified by the Internal Revenue Service as public charities and tax-exempt under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Ineligibility

No grants are made to individuals, private foundations, or for matching gifts or loans. No grants are made to endowments, scholarships, or fellowships.