Page 41 - Southern Oregon Magazine Spring 2020

Kenneth and Hallie Ford gave about $575 million in gifts to start the five staff members went to school on Ford scholarships, and we love
foundation. Those funds are managed by an investment committee so hiring them.
we can make annual charitable distributions and continue for perpetu-
ity. In 25 years, The Ford Family Foundation has given away about $675 Q – WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF YOUR GRANTS THAT
million and yet our endowment is now worth over $950 million - the SUPPORT CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES?
funds having been managed well. We are the second largest foundation
in Oregon. I think that Kenneth and Hallie Ford would be pleased to ANNE – Our charitable giving totaled about $44 million in 2019,
see the size and the reach of the foundation today. with the Children, Youth and Families category representing about a
third of that. Those grants focus on early childhood and development
Q – WHAT ARE THE SPECIFICS OF THE FORD SCHOLARS of young people. That means children are healthy and prepared socially,
PROGRAM? emotionally, and academically to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

ANNE – The Ford Scholars program is a scholarship for Oregon and
Siskiyou County high school students who are going on to four-year
colleges. We accept 130 students per year into this scholarship. It’s
incredibly generous paying 90% of unmet needs for four years of col-
lege. It doesn’t pay 100% because both Kenneth and Hallie Ford felt
that students needed some “skin in the game.” You had to work, but
they also wanted to make it easier, especially for high-needs kids, to
attend college. The scholarships are not necessarily for the valedicto-
rian or the top graduate in the class. It’s for students who have shown
grit, who’ve worked hard, overcome difficulties, and still earned good
grades. It’s for those who’ve contributed to their family and to their
community. Ford Scholars graduate from college with little or no debt.

Q – DOES FORD FAMILY FOUNDATION HAVE ADDITIONAL
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS?

ANNE - Hallie Ford was very interested in helping women and par-
ticularly single moms. It came out of a time that she was hospitalized
and tended to by nurses, many who had career ambitions, but whose
options were limited because they were single moms. So, she created
The Ford Opportunity Program. Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay has a program called MOMS, which
stands for Management of Maternity Services. Every baby born at
We also operate Ford ReStart, which is for adults over the age of 25 the hospital gets pre- and postnatal home services. A nurse comes to
who maybe never attended college or now want to go back and retool help the mother learn about pregnancy and the birthing process, how
for a career. We still have specialized support for the sons and daugh- to reduce any risks she might have, and what to do if she encounters
ters of employees of Roseburg Forest Products. At any given time, issues. Postnatal visits support breastfeeding and care of their baby. We
Ford Family Foundation has about 1,000 students on one of our four supported the program and its evaluation so that it could become a
scholarship programs. model for training other hospitals throughout the state and country.
Seeing the decline of preterm births, increases in birth weights, and
Q – WHAT DO SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS TELL YOU doubling the rate of breastfeeding are all encouraging. These are key
ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE IN THEIR LIVES? building blocks for healthy child development.

ANNE – At a ceremony where incoming students get their scholar- We are committed to child abuse prevention and intervention.
ship awards, the graduating college seniors share incredibly moving In Douglas County, we support CASA (Court Appointed Special
stories about what the scholarships mean. Graduates tell us, “I never Advocates), Family Relief Nursery and Douglas CARES. We support
thought I was going to go to college.” “I wanted to go, but I had no the groundbreaking work of Southern Oregon Success to bring trauma-
idea how I was going to pay.” And, “My whole world has opened up.” It informed practices to the schools. Our board is very concerned about
brings tears to my eyes. Many of these students have overcome incred- child sexual abuse, and we developed a program called Protect Our
ible difficulties. There are stories of students who are homeless or who Children. Because child sexual abuse is such a dark subject, it’s difficult
come from very abusive situations. 72% of our scholarship recipients to talk about. We’ve been funding a two-hour training that helps com-
are the first people in their family to go to college. These scholarships munities increase awareness of the problem, become alert to its signs,
help them fulfill their dreams. Hallie Ford believed if parents go to and learn how to prevent it. Evidence shows that if you can train 5% of
college, it completely changes their trajectories and their children’s the population in childhood sexual abuse prevention, this becomes the
futures. We are seeing a multigenerational effect. Our board chair and tipping point for more open community discussions. Our goal was to

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