Oberkotter Foundation: Grants for Pennsylvania
/OVERVIEW: The Oberkotter Foundation supports children who are deaf or hard of hearing in Pennsylvania and beyond.
FUNDING AREAS: Children and youth, hearing impairments, human services
IP TAKE: Although this foundation has national interests, program support grants often stay close to home in the Philadelphia area to support local children.
PROFILE: Established in 1985, the Oberkotter Foundation is a private foundation based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is the foundation of Paul and Louise Oberkotter. Paul Oberkotter was a long-time employee of the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the company’s president and CEO. The foundation aims to empower “children who are deaf or hard of hearing to reach their full potential by providing leadership and funding to organizations and initiatives focusing on listening and spoken language.” It funds local efforts for “families who have chosen listening and spoken language for their child and on opportunities for children learning listening and spoken language to develop their social, emotional, language and educational skills.”
The Oberkotter Foundation is a single-issue foundation that looks to improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. It does this through grants for access to programs, awareness about the issue, educational resources, making connections and collaborative efforts. Priorities of this foundation are reaching out to families of children with hearing impairments with information and also investing in listening and spoken language services as an early intervention measure. The funder makes program support grants twice per year. This was an important issue for the founding couple because they had a daughter who was deafened in infancy.
Grants range between about $20,000 and $350,000. Learn more about this funder’s local giving by examining its recent tax records. Grantmaking focuses on Pennsylvania and other areas of interest to the family. Past grantees include the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech and Listen and Talk.
This foundation accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry from nonprofits. There are spring and fall grant cycles each year, and the funder accepts LOIs through its online system. It invites selected nonprofits to submit full applications upon review of the LOIs. Direct general questions to the staff at info@oberkotterfoundation.org or 215-751-2601.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
