OVERVIEW: The Helmsley Charitable Trust awards grants related to chronic health conditions, such as Type 1 diabetes and Crohn’s disease. It also supports efforts to improve healthcare quality and access in New York City and the rural Upper Midwest. Its global development grantmaking supports food security, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, and neglected tropical diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as science research and healthcare in Israel.
IP TAKE: Helmsley takes a holistic approach to its funding and encourages risk taking through “bold thinking and new approaches.” Smaller global organizations will compete with the large NGOs that Helmsley tends to fund. However, the trust is committed to effectiveness, so grassroots organizations that can demonstrate a large impact at the local level may gain Helmsley’s notice. It is a supportive funder with very specific giving areas.
The trust no longer appears to fund conservation or IBD work.
PROFILE: The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Trust began its grantmaking in 2008, after the “Queen of Mean” real estate mogul Leona Helmsley passed away, leaving most of her estate to the trust. The Helmsley Trust is committed to taking a “rigorous and results-oriented approach” to “make a meaningful impact in our focus areas.” It awards grants in a wide variety of focus areas, including Crohn’s Disease, Israel, New York City, Rural Health Care, Type 1 Diabetes and Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Grants for Diseases and Science Research
Helmsley’s Type 1 Diabetes program awards grants to projects that work toward better understanding of the disease, development of innovative treatments, and improvement of care and access. The overall goal of its grantmaking, according to Helmsley, is to “improve health outcomes,” for people suffering Type 1 diabetes, and “strengthen the effort to someday eradicate this disease.”
Grants for Public Health
The Helmsley Charitable Trust supports public health in the United States through two of its program areas. Its Rural Health Care program focuses on “improving access to quality healthcare in the Upper Midwest and beyond.” The program’s current grantmaking areas include the expansion of telemedicine and behavioral health services, as well as improving access to “modern equipment and technology wherever it is needed.” Grantmaking goes to organizations operating in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, and Nevada, and the trust has expressed interest in expanding effective programs to other rural areas of the U.S. Recent grantees of the Rural Health Care program include Minnesota’s River’s Edge Hospital and Clinic and South Dakota’s Pennington County Health and Human Services.
Helmsley also conducts public health grantmaking through its New York City program, which invests in “closing gaps in care so that high-need patients can attain health stability and well-being.” It supports projects that build “health stability” for low-income and homeless residents, improving collaborations for care coordination and increasing city residents’ access to green spaces for health. Recent grants have gone to the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and the Fund for Public Health in New York.
Global Health and Development
Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa program, for now, maintains its geographic focus on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia. The program supports “holistic approaches and programs to help ensure the well-being of vulnerable children and their families in sub-Saharan Africa.” Its current priorities include healthcare access and “supporting the whole person through community strengthening.” Maternal and infant healthcare and the prevention and treatment of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases have been specific areas of interest for many years. Recent grants have gone to the Aquaya Institute, Stichting Pharmaccess International and Bridges to Prosperity, Inc.
Helmsley also supports global development through its Israel program, which is committed to “the continued development of Israel and the safety and security of its people.” One of the program’s three subinitiatives concerns the improvement of Israel’s health care services and preparedness. Grantees include the Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the Sheba Fund for Health Services and Research.
Important Grant Details:
The Helmsley Trust’s grants are substantial and typically range from around $150,000 to upwards of $4 million. Helmsley’s grants database offers a closer look at the types of organization it funds.
On rare occasions, the Helmsley Trust will announce a Request for Proposals. Otherwise, it only funds organizations it identifies on its own and does not accept unsolicited grant requests. General inquiries may be submitted via email or telephone at (212) 679-3600.
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