Chasdrew Fund | Past Work
For the first four years of its existence, Chasdrew operated as a traditional private foundation, making grants to nonprofit organizations that serve youth and provide youth development opportunities. During this time, representative investments included The Washington Middle School for Girls and Everybody Wins! in Washington, DC, the Pathfinder Center in Massachusetts, the Dyslexia Tutoring Center in Baltimore, MD, Youth Communication in New York City, and the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, VT.
In addition, in the course of five years, the Fund invested over $160,000 in children’s programming and materials in nine libraries in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. We also supported the establishment of a bookmobile to serve the region.
After transitioning to an operating foundation, we have engaged in numerous projects in Washington, DC and Vermont. The following are two projects of which we are the most proud.
YouthLinks Vermont
From 2001 through 2007, the Fund operated a youth philanthropy project, YouthLinks Vermont. YouthLinks was developed to provide leadership and civic engagement opportunities for young people in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, and make investments in projects that benefited youth and the community as a whole. YouthLinks was comprised of a teen board which researched and reviewed proposals and made funding determinations. YouthLinks invested almost $63,00 in programs in the region. In 2004, one of the teen board members presented the work of YouthLinks at the Council on Foundations annual meeting in Chicago.
The Campaign For Youth Justice
In 2004, the Fund began a comprehensive capacity building project to develop the Campaign for Youth Justice, a nationwide organization dedicated to ending the practice of trying and incarcerating 16- and 17-year-old youths in adult facilities. For four years, Fund staff and select consultants worked intensively with Campaign staff to find office space, create and execute a development plan, recruit and develop a Board of Directors and National Advisory Board, hire and train staff, and numerous other activities necessary for establishing a strong organization. The Campaign has had numerous successes, including legislation in Connecticut that removed 16- and 17-year-olds from the adult justice and penal systems.
