The board of the Butler Family Fund is particularly interested in supporting organizations that are committed to systemic change, advocacy, policy reform, and innovative direct service programs. The Fund places a high value on creativity and risk-taking...
ISSUE AREASIn the area of homelessness, the Fund is interested in advocacy, direct service programs, and other programs that aim to prevent homelessness. In the area of advocacy, the Fund supports efforts to raise awareness in the community and among public policy makers about homelessness and the need for more publicly supported low-income housing. In the area of direct service, the Fund seeks comprehensive programs that address the development of skills and capacities that improve the ability of homeless people to maintain or regain independence and self-sufficiency. The Fund does not give money for “bricks and mortar,” and does not support freestanding shelters, food programs, or substance abuse or treatment programs.
In the area of criminal justice reform, the Fund is interested in advocacy and organizing programs that focus specifically on reforms in two areas: juvenile justice and the death penalty, within the following limits:
1. Death Penalty Reform. We will consider funding advocacy efforts aimed at improving the overall legal representation of death row prisoners, and at improving the fairness of the legal system regarding capital offenses and death row inmates. The Fund is particularly interested in supporting advocacy and public education efforts around suspending and repealing the death penalty. The Fund will NOT support legal representation of individual death row clients, except in test case litigation.
2. Juvenile Justice Reform. The primary focus of the Fund in this area is around ending the sentence of juvenile life without parole.
The Board will make one grant a year in the area of global warming, at its discretion.
The Butler Family Fund does NOT accept unsolicited proposals.