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2021 Summary of Grants



A Letter from The President



Anniversaries often are occasions for reflection; sometimes nostalgic, sometimes inspiring, sometimes sad, but thankfully often joyful. The end of 2021 marked our 15th anniversary as a foundation and my 15th year with the Rees-Jones family. Reflecting back on those years has produced all of the mentioned emotions, but most often by far, joy.

We have been on a journey up a steep learning curve and the journey continues. We have met and been taught by so many partners, we have observed how God has been at work in our world, even in the midst of conflict and division, and we have experienced his presence in our midst on a daily basis. We have enjoyed our journey and do not want to see it plateau. There is still so much to learn and so many opportunities to reach others in the areas where we serve.

These annual summaries over the years have highlighted some of our experiences and amazing partners who continue to inspire us. The following pages will highlight more of those partners we supported in 2021, some old, some new. Their work goes on, even with an endless COVID-19 overhang, and people in need continue to be served. Thanks to them one and all.

Anniversaries also can be times for renewal, affirmation of vision and re-dedication to mission. We take stock of where we have been, how we have been prepared and resourced, and what opportunities remain in front of us. As people of faith, we have always felt God’s providential hand on our shoulders directing and encouraging us, challenging us, and sometimes re-directing and correcting us. We are at our best when we allow him to be foremost in our vision and action.

And so it is that at the end of 15 years, with our past experiences still fresh in mind, we now look forward to the challenges that lie ahead, still guided by our Lord’s command to love him with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are resolved to do the former by pursuing the latter.

When we as a grant-making foundation seek to love our neighbors, we find a common characteristic in almost all of our partners and those they serve. To one degree or another, they are or are willing to be vulnerable. There is risk in vulnerability, and for that reason we often seek to avoid it. It may come with pain or loss or disappointment or rejection. And yet it is central to the mission of loving our neighbors. To be willing to become vulnerable in this context is to be willing to expose what we have to achieve a particular end; the end in this case of advancing the welfare of our neighbors.

Our neighbors themselves are vulnerable in another way. They often live day to day in a state of risk or exposure to loss, most often unwillingly or without ability to change the state of risk or exposure. Our partners see their vulnerability and choose to expose themselves, their time and their resources to address the needs of their constituents. They choose to be vulnerable.

This affirmative choice is inspiring to us. It has challenged us too to be vulnerable, to take what we have and risk it for the benefit of those around us.

Two things we have discovered. The exposure of our resources to directly or indirectly lift up our neighbors brings us and hopefully them a sense of joy, a sense that things can be made right, a mutual flourishing. And it also brings us into deeper relationship with our partners as together we seek to advance God’s kingdom here on earth. We discover a unity of purpose and spirit when we allow ourselves to be led by the model of our Lord who himself became vulnerable that we might flourish in his kingdom.

I am grateful to and inspired by Andy Crouch who in his book Strong and Weak (Inter Varsity Press 2016) opened my eyes to how exposing our resources to meaningful risk (in so doing becoming vulnerable) for the benefit of those who are without such resources (vulnerable as they are) can indeed bring harmony and flourishing to us all. This is what we hope for, what we dream about as we look forward to the next 15 years.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped; but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!”
-Philippians 2:5-8




Thornton Hardie, Foundation President
$47.6

million awarded

$34.8

million paid

146

grants

136

organizations

2021 Grant Making

Lifetime Grant Making

$512.3

million awarded

$501.9

million paid

2,318

grants

551

organizations

what we fund



The Foundation works to defend the welfare of children suffering from abuse or neglect, afford relief to those facing mental health challenges, provide youth with opportunities for enrichment and character development, encourage healthy families and communities, enhance the quality of life of children, youth, and families with disabilities, and promote the humane treatment of companion animals.

Animal Welfare

Child Protection

Child Substitute Care

Community Benefit

Healthy Families

International

Disability Inclusion

Youth Formation

Youth Mental Health

Animal Welfare


the goal

To promote the ethical and humane treatment of companion animals

Funding Priorities

  • Reduce animal cruelty
  • Make Dallas a no-kill city for companion animals
  • Promote adoption of stray and surrendered companion animals
3

grants awarded in 2021


$2,095,000

amount awarded in 2021


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Child Protection


the goal

To alleviate conditions that are harmful to families or place children at risk of abuse or neglect

Funding Priorities

  • Increase access to home visiting programs
  • Prevent child abuse or neglect within families
8

grants awarded in 2021


$736,000

amount awarded in 2021


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Child Substitute Care


the goal

To provide opportunities for children and youth heal and thrive

Funding Priorities

  • Build community capacity to care for youth who have been abused or neglected
  • Provide youth in substitute care with therapeutic placements and service
13

grants awarded in 2021


$5,625,000

amount awarded in 2021


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Community Benefit


the goal

To increase the quality of life for the North Texas community

Funding Priorities

  • Improve the community through philanthropy and volunteerism
21

grants awarded in 2021


$263,200

amount awarded in 2021


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Healthy Families


the goal

To support a strong community where families can thrive

Funding Priorities

  • Build support systems and community engagement while reducing exposure to trauma
  • Provide access to high-quality child care that promotes child development
28

grants awarded in 2021


$4,493,000

amount awarded in 2021


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International


the goal

To serve youth with disabilities, provide families with vital resources and safe water, and free those trapped in modern slavery

Funding Priorities

  • Rehabilitative services for youth with disabilities
  • Initiatives that free individuals from bonded labor and slavery
  • Long-term solutions for accessing safe water
  • Services that support family thriving through economic and social resilience
16

grants awarded in 2021


$23,195,000

amount awarded in 2021


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Disability Inclusion


the goal

To support youth adversely affected by disabilities

Funding Priorities

  • Increase access to ECI programs
  • Increase access to specialty care, education and opportunities
  • Increase animal-assisted therapy
20

grants awarded in 2021


$1,720,000

amount awarded in 2021


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Youth Formation


the goal

To increase opportunities for youth to grow in faith and character

Funding Priorities

  • Increase Christian and adaptive camperships
  • Increase Christian and adaptive after-school placements
  • Increase Christian and adaptive enrichment experiences
26

grants awarded in 2021


$3,832,000

dollars awarded in 2021


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Youth Mental Health


the goal

To expand access to mental health services for children and youth

Funding Priorities

  • Increase on-site screenings in schools
  • Increase access to therapeutic mental health services
  • Increase the availability of rehabilitation services
11

grants awarded in 2021


$5,725,000

amount awarded in 2021


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The Foundation also supports organizations who focus on Community Benefit and Healthy Families. Child Welfare consists of Child Protection and Child Substitute Care.
Featured Stories

Youth Mental Health
The Center for Integrative Counseling & Psychology

Julie* is an elementary-school-aged child and the youngest of three. Through a partnership with The Center, Julie…

Youth Formation
Project Transformation

Project Transformation North Texas Through both the after-school and summer programs, Project Transformation North Texas (PTNT) provides…

Disability Inclusion
Notre Dame School

Ken Ken attended the same charter school as his siblings. Ken had a positive experience at school…

International
World Hope

Good quality antenatal and child health services in Sierra Leone, West Africa, are scarce and often unaffordable….

Healthy Families
Rivertree Academy

Ja’Niyah Multiplication-loving Ja’Niyah has been a Rivertree student for three years, and is now in 5th grade….

Healthy Families
West Dallas Community School

Lyric Sakina was at her wit’s end when it came to choosing a school for her granddaughter…

2021

Grant making in review


19%

of grants awarded in 2021 were for Healthy Families

49%

of amount awarded in 2021 was for International grants

$50,000

median grant size in 2021

19%

of amount awarded was for international anti-trafficking services

GRANTS AWARDED

Download the full 2021 Report


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OUR HISTORY

about jan & trevor


Jan and Trevor established The Rees-Jones Foundation in 2006 out of proceeds from an entrepreneurial business enterprise and a conviction that God had blessed them as custodians of His resources. For Jan and Trevor the premise of the Foundation is straight forward: serve God by serving others, and in the process enable others to experience the love of Christ in very tangible ways.

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