Providing opportunities for underserved communities has run in the Blaustein family blood for generations. And it?s no different for the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, one of seven Baltimore-based private foundations under the Blaustein Philanthropic Group umbrella.
Founded in December 1988, the nonprofit foundation was inspired and created by the charitable legacy of Louis and Henrietta Blaustein. Louis Blaustein, with his son, Jacob, were the founders of the American Oil Co.
“Louis had three children … and each of his children at one point in their lives started foundations that bore their names as a way of giving back to the community and supporting the issues, causes and organizations they felt were most compelling,” Betsy Ringel, the foundation?s executive director, said. “In turn, some of their children also started foundations. Morton was Jacob?s son.”
Ringel said that the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation?s work focuses on three areas locally, nationally and internationally: improving access to quality educational opportunities, particularly for underserved children; improving health and mental health care for underprivileged citizens; and providing funding for human rights and social justice causes in the United States and overseas. Last year, the foundation contributed more than $3.8 million to a variety of organizations and causes.
“In all the areas that the foundation works, there are so many needs,” Ringel said. “If you look at the urban school systems or even the state of health care delivery in urban areas, there is a lot going on, but there is a whole segment of the population that is left out. The foundation is really looking to make a difference in the lives of people who don?t have access to the best educational opportunities or the best health care.”
Tanya Herbick, the foundation?s program officer, said that locally, some of the foundation?s major funding initiatives include the Middle Grades Partnership, a program designed to bring the city?s public and private schools together to provide educational opportunities to academically promising youth; the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust that helps African-American children in Baltimore gain access to private school education; and a high school reform initiative designed to restructure the city?s neighborhood high schools.
