May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

OVERVIEW: The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust funds employment, training, housing and other supportive initiatives for people in vulnerable and underserved demographics. It also awards mental health grants to support foster youth and veterans.

IP TAKE: The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust makes grants in a crowded space and a limited number of states. Its human and social services grantmaking prioritizes disabled and elderly people, as well as foster youth, military and veterans. The trust recently ended its policy of accepting and reviewing letters of inquiry from new grantseekers, making it even more difficult to get on its radar. Networking with staff or past grantees may present an opportunity here.

PROFILE: The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust was established by May Smith (née Wong) in 1977 in honor of her late husband, Stanley Smith, an Australian businessman and World War II intelligence operative who made his fortune from investing in mining operations in British Malaya (now Singapore and parts of Malaysia). The trust’s mission is to support “organizations that offer opportunities to individuals that enrich the quality of life, promote self-sufficiency, and assist them in achieving their highest potential.” These populations include Adults and Transitioning Youth with Disabilities, Elders, Foster Youth and Veterans & Military Families.

Grants for Economic Development and Opportunity

The Smith Trust funds programs related to work and opportunity grants through several of its focus areas:

  • Grants for Adults and Transitioning Youth with Disabilities help “adults and youth transitioning to adulthood (ages 15 and up) who have either an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) or a physical disability.” In terms of employment, it works to “address the needs of both adults with disabilities and prospective employers” and “support employers to improve their capacity to hire, retain, and promote employees with disabilities.” 

  • Grants for Foster Youth support “children and youth who are currently, or have been, in the foster care system,” “children and youth who…live with relatives or other caregivers,” “homeless youth,” and “unaccompanied immigrant youth.” Grants related to independence and self-sufficiency support “foster youth in transitioning from high school or college to employment” and help them “gain financial management and independent living skills.”

  • Grants for Veterans & Military Families provide “access to education, training, information, guidance, and other assistance to facilitate the employment of veterans and military/veteran spouses in fulfilling living wage jobs.”

Recent grantees include Becoming Independent, New Door Ventures and NextOp, Inc.

Grants for Housing and Community Development

The Smith Trust funds programs related to housing through each of the below focus areas:

  • Grants for Adults and Transitioning Youth with Disabilities help “adults and youth transitioning to adulthood (ages 15 and up) who have either an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) or a physical disability” by supporting “independent living, employment, community inclusion, and support for caregivers.” 

  • Grants for Elders support programs that “allow elders to age in place whenever possible, provide support for caregivers, and offer long-term care that promotes a good quality of life.” 

  • Grants for Foster Youth support programs related to “stable homes, physical and mental health, education, and preparation for independence” for “children and youth who are currently, or have been, in the foster care system,” “children and youth who…live with relatives or other caregivers,” “homeless youth,” and “unaccompanied immigrant youth.”

  • Grants for Veterans & Military Families address issues of “mental and behavioral health and wellness; education, training, and employment; housing stability; and community integration.”

Grantees involved with housing include California’s Noah Homes, Funders Together to End Homelessness and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Grants for Mental Health

The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust supports mental health grantmaking through its Foster Youth and Veterans programs. The Smith Charitable Trust’s Foster Youth program awards grants to organizations that provide direct services to children and young people who are currently or formerly in the foster care system, as well as those working with kids whose parents can no longer care for them. The trust’s grantmaking interests are relatively broad here. One of this program’s major grantmaking goals is to support groups that address the mental health needs of children and young people involved with the foster care system.

The trust’s Veterans program awards grants to organizations that promote overall well-being of military service members, veterans, and their families. The trust takes a holistic approach to its grantmaking here, but it states that its first goal is to improve the mental health status of military veterans. This includes supporting groups working to reduce prejudice around mental health, remove obstacles to treatment, increase the number of mental health care providers, and increase access to programs to improve overall well-being.

Grantees include A Home Within, Beyond Emancipation, California Youth Connection, Center for Youth Wellness and Foster Youth in Action.

Grants for Public Health

The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust’s support of health and wellness flows through two focus areas: Elders and People with Disabilities. The trust’s grantmaking for the elderly (defined as age 60 and up) supports programs that “allow elders to age in place whenever possible, provide support for caregivers, and offer long-term care that promotes a good quality of life.” It focuses on community engagement, safe independent living, and community connectivity for those in institutional, long-term care. It promotes the ability to “age in place,” as opposed to in nursing homes, by ensuring that the elderly in America have access to high quality health care and facilities.

The trust’s People with Disabilities works to help “adults and youth transitioning to adulthood (ages 15 and up) who have either an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) or a physical disability” by supporting “independent living, employment, community inclusion, and support for caregivers.” It is particularly focused on independent living, employment, and social integration. The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust provides a rigorous assessment of the needs of both of these populations, and therefore the trust’s goals in each area—as well as discussions of what a successful program would therefore look like.

Grantees include Affordable Living for the Aging, Diverse Elders Coalition, ElderHelp, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Amplify Life, Freedom Service Dogs and the National Ability Center.

Grants for Military and Veterans

The May and Stanley Smith Trust’s grants for Veterans and Military Families work to “strengthen programs and services that support veterans, service members, and their families in the transition to successful new lives and careers.” It primarily focuses on mental health, education and job training, employment, housing stability and community integration. Priority populations include veterans of minority groups and those who suffer mental illnesses. It supports groups working to reduce prejudice around mental health, remove obstacles to treatment, increase the number of mental health care providers, and increase access to programs to improve overall well-being. It supports education and job training initiatives that help military personnel transition to civilian careers, starting both before and after leaving the force. It also supports programs that help struggling veterans reintegrate with their communities and families and avoid homelessness or housing instability.

Past grantees in this area include Operation Homefront, Blue Star Families, the Code of Support Foundation, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Homeward Bound and the National Military Families Association. 

Important Grant Details

Grants generally range from $40,000 to $400,000.

  • The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust explicitly directs its giving to the Western U.S., though its definition of the West is broad, defining it as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (For the record, the trust also gives to British Columbia, Canada.)

  • While the executed work must be done in these states, the trust’s giving history shows that the organization itself can potentially be based elsewhere (with work that is then targeted in the trust’s focused states).

  • This funder no longer accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry but refers grantseekers here for additional information about its grantmaking process.

  • The list of the foundation’s recent grantees is provided on the website.

Submit general inquiries to the foundation via email at grants@smithct.org or telephone at (415) 332-0166.

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