WHO WE SUPPORT

DFCF supports a wide range of organizations and projects, including a number of long-time partners that DFCF has been actively involved with, including Board participation and program development and sponsorship. Organizations and projects that DFCF has been privileged to support include:
Social Services • US (Massachusetts)
Lazarus House

Lazarus House Ministries works to break the cycle of poverty by providing food, clothing, work preparation and housing to those in need.  Based in Lawrence, MA and serving the Merrimack Valley, Lazarus House has programs for people who are homeless or who have low income by offering emergency shelter, food and clothing to people in crisis and then providing transitional housing, advocacy, education and work preparation.

DFCF has supported Lazarus House since 1997, including more than 10 years of active Board participation.

Social Justice • US and International
The Daily Source / Maximum Good

The Daily Source is a website dedicated to providing global social justice news. The mission of The Daily Source is to provide high quality news and information from leading sources across the Internet to help the public more effectively utilize their time, money and power to benefit themselves, our country and our world. The Maximum Good is a web-based platform / app to help nonprofits and their supporters raise awareness and raise money for the good work they do to improve the world.

The DFCF has been providing support to both Daily Source and Maximum Good since 2004.

US and International

Energy Access

Related to our mission of poverty alleviation, and also addressing the climate crisis, we have a specific focus on energy access and solutions to energy poverty, with an emphasis on lower income countries and less advantaged communities. Through DFCF and our impact investment vehicle (DF Impact Capital) we provide support to clean energy projects and companies through the combination of grants, concessionary loans, and mission related investments.

Click for more information and an overview of the organizations that we support.

Social Services / Service • International (Dominican Republic)
Mariposa DR Foundation

The Mariposa DR Foundation is a U.S. and Dominican not-for-profit organization that educates and empowers girls to create sustainable solutions to end generational poverty.  The Mariposa DR Foundation’s vision is to create a holistic girls’ education program that can be adopted around the world. Mariposa’s mission is to educate and empower girls to create sustainable solutions to end generational poverty.

DFCF is a founding funder of Mariposa and has been an active Board participant since 2009.

Education / Service • US and International
Lawrence Academy Endowment Fund for Service, Social Justice, and Global Awareness was created in 2005 by the Dunn family to support service and global awareness at Lawrence Academy (in Groton, MA), including the Greater Good award program which annually recognizes students and alumni who strive to use their education to benefit the greater good of humanity.
Social Services / Human Rights & Social Justice • International

Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan International strives for a just world, working together with children, young people, its supporters and partners.

The founders of DFCF have supported Plan International since 1966, and since 2010 DFCF has also provided project-specific support in Haiti, India, and Central America (Protected Passage).

Education / Service • US and International
Trinity Washington University

The DFCF has provided support to Trinity Washington University for scholarships, fellowships, internship opportunities, and infrastructure. In addition, in 2005 with the support of DFCF, Trinity established The Sower’s Seed Lecture Series to showcase the work of Trinity Washington University alumnae who have contributed to the greater good of the world. The Sower’s Seed speakers all in their own unique ways have confronted issues of injustice and drawn on the values of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to guide and inspire them to plant these seeds of social change.

Health & Medical • International (Ecuador)
Por Cristo

Por Cristo is a non-profit charitable medical service organization that has been involved in health care work for at-risk women and children in Latin America (primarily serving Ecuador) since 1979. Por Cristo’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of poor children and their families in Ecuador. Por Cristo carries out its mission in four distinct ways: a nutrition and health center, medical expertise/ technical assistance, collaboration on a community health project, and provision of medical equipment and supplies.

DFCF has supported Por Cristo including active Board participation since 2004.

Education / Service • US and International

Middlebury College – Cross-Cultural Community Engagement Fund

The Cross-Cultural Community Engagement Fund (CCCEF) supports international community service, advocacy, and activism. The fund was established by the DFCF in 2009 to support international service-learning and community-building internships and/or related volunteer service opportunities.

Through the support of the DFCF, the CCCEF has provided support for 600+ students for cross-cultural community service and community engagement in 74 countries and 17 states in the US.

 

 

Social Services / Human Rights & Social Justice • US (New York) and International
Girls Education & Mentoring Services

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services’ (GEMS) mission is to empower girls and young women, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and develop to their full potential. GEMS is committed to ending commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of children by changing individual lives, transforming public perception, and revolutionizing the systems and policies that impact sexually exploited youth.

DFCF has supported GEMS since 2008, and in 2017 provided GEMS a multi-year challenge grant to create a job-readiness and career pathways program.

Human Rights & Social Justice • International
OutRight Action International

OutRight is a leading international human rights organization dedicated to advancing human rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ people around the world by developing partnerships at global, regional, and national levels to build capacity, document human rights violations, advocate for inclusion and equality, and hold leaders accountable for protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people.

DFCF and its Trustees have supported OutRight since 1999 and in 2016 provided OutRight a multi-year challenge grant to launch a Global Research Action Task Force.

Arts & Culture • International (Cambodia)
Cambodian Living Arts

Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) was founded by musician, human rights activist and genocide survivor Arn Chorn-Pond with the goal of using culture and the arts to heal and transform Cambodia following the Khmer Rouge regime. Initially focusing on restoring and transmitting endangered performing art forms and rituals, as 90% of Cambodia’s artists did not survive the Khmer Rouge regime, CLA now works to be a catalyst in a vibrant arts sector, promoting creativity and innovation, increasing career and performance opportunities and expanding arts and culture education in Cambodian public schools.

In 1998, DFCF supported Arn Chorn-Pond as a founding funder in the creation of the Cambodian Masters Performers Program, which grew into Cambodian Living Arts. In addition to providing continued general operating support, DFCF and its Trustee have helped CLA launch a number of new initiatives and expand its work.

Other organizations that DFCF is proud to have supported or still support include:
Rostro de Cristo

Service / Social Services • International (Ecuador)
DFCF has supported Rostro de Cristo since 1999, including 10 years of active Board participation.

Village Help for South Sudan

Social Services • International (South Sudan)

Hope CommUnity Center

Social Services • US (Florida)

The CASA Project

Social Services • US (Massachusetts)

Hour Children

Social Services • US (New York)
DFCF has supported Hour Children since 2004, including 14 years of Board participation and volunteering.

Forefront Activists

Human Rights & Social Justice • International

FEATURED PROJECT

NDMV Bakery in La Savane, Haiti

The “Boulangerie Notre Dame” is a community bakery located in La Savane, a neighborhood of Les Cayes, Haiti that provides jobs, job training, skills development and leadership development for vulnerable families, with the goal to improve economic security for families and create pathways out of poverty.

DFCF was invited in 2016 to participate in the funding and development of the bakery project which was a collaboration between the community of La Savane and Notre Dame Mission Volunteers  and was designed and constructed in 2017, and started operations in 2018. The bakery project currently provides employment to almost 20 families and supports a scholarship program that in the last year was able to assist 42 children with tuition.

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