History
HistoryThe Brookline Community Foundation is a charitable foundation for the Town of Brookline. Established in 1984 as an operating division of the 120 year-old Brookline Friendly Society, the Brookline Community Fund was created to manage the Society’s philanthropic activities, and to support and improve the health, welfare and quality of life of the citizens of Brookline. In 1999, the Brookline Friendly Society was reorganized and became the Brookline Community Fund in both name and purpose. In 2005, the Brookline Community Fund officially became the Brookline Community Foundation. The Friendly Society: Women active in the temperance movement, who had observed the health and social consequences of alcoholism, founded the Friendly Society in 1878. The Friendly Society built a settlement house at the corner of Walnut and High Streets, organized educational programs and cooperative purchases of food and coal, and provided relief to the needy. Over time, the Friendly Society evolved into a combination of health and social services for Brookline residents. In 1901, a cooperative effort between the Friendly Society and another philanthropic organization in Brookline, the Overseers of the Poor, to share the cost of a full-time District Nurse became the forerunner of the Friendly Society’s former operating division, the Brookline Visiting Nurse Service. In 1998, triggered by recent changes in Medicare regulations, the Brookline VNS ceased operations and entered into an affiliation with the VNA of Boston, an agency with an equally long and strong tradition in home health care. This action ended the Friendly Society’s role as a provider of health care services and made it possible to focus its full resources on philanthropy. Building on a tradition of public service: The Brookline Community Foundation continues to build on the tradition of public service by providing grants and support to a wide range of educational, health, environmental, social service and cultural programs. The Community Foundation offers The Brookline Safety Net, an emergency assistance program for families and individuals in financial crisis, and is the local administrator for federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program funds. The Community Foundation also provides technical assistance to non-profit community organizations, and provides in-kind grants for space to non-profits in its building at 40 Webster Place. |
