Message From The President

Several years ago the then Dade Community Foundation held a planning session to determine its role in this community. Grass roots, civic, business and political leaders worked with us to fashion a mission with a focus on building community and meeting the emerging needs of Greater Miami. An integral part of this mission included the establishment of a permanent endowment - our community savings account - and a process of effective grant making.

The goal of each grant we have funded through the years has been to strengthen relationships between and among the diverse residents of this community. We consider all grant proposals from nonprofit agencies in the context of this commitment. Grants are made in the full sweep of education, arts and culture, environment, economic development, social justice, religion, health and human resources. With assistance from national foundations we have initiated special grant making programs, all with the overarching goal of bringing our diverse ethnic and social groups together in constructive relationships.

As this community continually seeks ways to work together, ways to understand the passion that swells in every conversation, I applaud the mediating influence of the nonprofit agencies and the work they do every day in bringing the residents of our community closer together.

Building an endowment to support the great work of the local nonprofit sector is the primary business of the Foundation. Dade Community Foundaiton is committed to the values of inclusiveness, diversity, equal opportunity, equity and community development. As an agent of civil society and the public good, this is an institution whose permanent concern is Miami-Dade County, but we know that happens across the globe, across the country and across the street has direct implications for each of us.

Dade Community Foundation offers our knowledge of the community to all who are interested in helping others who have been working at building our community through the years - our nonprofit organizations. We do not need to create anything new. We do need to support the agencies that provide the safety net for those in need and enrich all our lives. How fortunate we are to have these organizations in place. Since our establishment in 1967, this foundation has been funding good people, their leadership and good ideas.

President, Ruth Shack