When James W. Rouse founded The Columbia Foundation more than 35 years ago, Howard County didn’t have any safe houses for victims of abuse or shelters for people who were homeless. There was no community orchestra or African art museum. Then, the hospice concept was in its infancy, and there was no need for organizations like FIRN (Foreign-Born Information and Referral Network).
But over the years, the county’s needs and demographics have changed. Today, all of those services are part of the very fabric of our lives. And it’s The Columbia Foundation that helps make them possible.
Jim Rouse’s idea was to create a philanthropic foundation governed by a volunteer board of concerned and knowledgeable citizens to help launch the human services and cultural and civic organizations necessary to support city life. Many of the fledgling groups funded by The Columbia Foundation then are county institutions today. Since we made our first grants in 1970, the Foundation has awarded millions of dollars to civic, cultural, human service and educational programs designed to enhance community life in Howard County.
As the years have passed, we’ve continued to nurture the groups we funded in our early years by assisting with the operating funds they need to stay true to their missions. We’re one of the few regional grant-makers awarding these “no strings attached” grants and the only one not limited to just human services or just the arts.
Of course, we also continue to assist with the launch of new community organizations. Because as the county’s population continues to change and grow, its needs change, too.
What is a Community Foundation?
A community foundation is all about neighbors helping neighbors and making it possible for people to give back to the communities where they live and work. These nonprofit organizations, like The Columbia Foundation, are established to meet the current and future needs of their own communities and leave the funding of national causes to someone else.
We use Howard County’s “charitable capital” to enhance the quality of life in Howard County. And our funds exist in perpetuity, so we’ll always be here to help when our community needs us. Because we have such strong connections to the community, we not only know and understand those needs, we care deeply about meeting them.
Ours is a history of change – the Foundation’s and the County’s.