WCA Foundation: State’s Oldest Benevolent Nonprofit Still Relevant Today

Source: Giving Forum Fall 2011

In 1866, 20 women met to consider how to serve the growing boom town of Minneapolis, a city “experiencing serious and rapidly growing social problems.” They founded the Christian Aid Society of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s first benevolent organization, to “help the needy, irrespective of age and color.”

This purpose remains today. But over the years, the group has changed its name, its mission and gone from operating its own programs to grantmaking. Today WCA Foundation is a private independent foundation, run by female volunteers who disburse human services grants of more than $500,000 annually throughout Minnesota.

In 1873 the organization changed its name to the Woman’s Christian Association of Minneapolis, and in 1995 it changed it to WCA Foundation. (The organization is called WCA Foundation throughout this article.)

Clothing Freed Slaves to Housing Working Women

“The group’s first project was soliciting clothing for freed slaves,” says Karen Reamer, WCA Foundation’s executive director. “In the early years, members undertook many projects. They were resolute in their commitment and soon their influence was felt around the city.” Initially the group’s projects were financed by annual membership dues of $1 and additional funds raised by the women.

By the 1870s the group focused primarily on providing low-cost housing for women. This was during a time when it was considered unseemly for women to work for a living. Instead, women were to be taken care of by their fathers and then by their husbands.

“This was not reality, and many women had to support themselves,” stresses Reamer. Women came to Minneapolis from small towns and farms throughout the upper Midwest, and most had no money or acquaintances in the city when they arrived. “They worked for very low wages, and it was virtually impossible to locate decent lodging at an affordable price.”

In 1874 WCA opened Minnesota’s first women’s boarding house. Each of its eight sleeping rooms rented for $2 a week, and it was immediately filled to capacity. By the late 1890s WCA’s reputation and influence had grown, leading benefactors to entrust gifts of land and money to the organization.

In 1905, Kate (a WCA member) and William Dunwoody donated their mansion on 10th Street and LaSalle Avenue in Minneapolis. The gift came with a requirement that WCA build an annex to increase capacity to 100 residents. According to Reamer, the board was unsure if it should accept the gift. “They didn’t know if they could come up with the money.” Eventually they raised sufficient funds, built an addition and boosted building occupancy to 125.

Saw Need for Operating Funds

By the 1920s, WCA residences housed 1,000 of the city’s estimated 18,000 female boarders. Until 1970, their five women’s residences remained busy, housing an average of more than 600 women. But during the 1970s, with opportunities for young women increasing and apartments becoming more available and accepted, occupancy waned. The organization searched for new uses for the properties.

As WCA surveyed the human services landscape, they found no shortage of good programs in the state, but most needed operating funds. “WCA decided they could be more effective by using their assets to support existing programs than by running their own programs,” says Reamer. Properties were sold and proceeds were invested in endowment funds.

Today’s WCA Foundation has three grantmaking funds. Mabeth Paige Fund is named for Paige Hall, Dunwoody Fund is named for Kate Dunwoody Hall and Pillsbury Fund is named for the Mahala Fisk Pillsbury Club. Grants made by the Pillsbury and Dunwoody funds are legally limited to programs that help women achieve or sustain independence, and all WCA grants are limited to Minnesota human services programs and agencies.

Today, the foundation has 45 active female volunteers split into three “departments” named for each of the funds. Each volunteer helps review grant applications and makes at least two site visits annually. The 12-member WCA Foundation board of directors reviews funding recommendations from the volunteers.

Reamer notes, “All of our grants reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, and we look for organizations where a small grant has the potential to make a real impact.” WCA grants range in size from $5,000 to $15,000.

The foundation disburses more than $500,000 annually with two-thirds going to programs that help women achieve and sustain independence. From its first grant in 1989 through mid-2011, WCA has distributed more than $7 million in grants. And, in 2011 just like in 1866, members of the WCA Foundation strive to become “variously and extensively useful” through dedication to service to the community.

WCA Foundation supports a diverse group of nonprofit human service agencies and programs. Two-thirds of its grants help women achieve or sustain independence. www.wcafoundation.org