GOLD2022

Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust

Grants for low income Missourians living with a disability

aka Midwest Special Needs Trust   |   Columbia, MO   |  http://midwestspecialneedstrust.org/charitable-program/about/

Mission

The Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust provides financial assistance to impoverished Missourians who are living with a disability. Financial assistance can be used for medical and dental care, rehabilitative services or equipment, educational assistance, specialized transportation and other needs not covered by public benefits or available through other community programs.

Notes from the nonprofit

Because all overhead costs are covered by the supported organization, Missouri Family Trust doing business as Midwest Special Needs Trust, The Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust can commit 100% of all donations will be directly distributed as grants.

Ruling year info

1992

Executive Director

Dana Katherine Birkes

Associate Director

Bianca Farr

Main address

PO Box 7629

Columbia, MO 65205 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

43-1563823

NTEE code info

Human Services - Multipurpose and Other N.E.C. (P99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Many disabled Missourians live in poverty. The poverty rate for Missourians age 21-64 with disabilities is shockingly high. The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program focuses on addressing unmet needs not covered by public benefits or other community assistance. The MSNT Charitable grants are distributed in such a way as to never negatively impact public benefit/services eligibility.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust

Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust program provides small financial assistance grants to impoverished residents of Missouri with a Social Security verifiable disability.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program focuses on addressing unmet needs for the low income, disabled Missourian. Because the MSNT Charitable Trust Program follows the Social Security Administration determination of disability, grants are available to assist all physical, mental and developmental disabilities. All ages and stages of life are welcome to apply. Charitable grants are intended to improve the quality of life for the impoverished children and adults living in Missouri.

The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program reaches out to agencies providing services to persons with disabilities, present to self/parent groups, exhibit at social service/human service delivery conferences and participate in educational programs for case workers, social workers, case managers and other community support providers.
The Charitable grant application is online and available to individuals and representatives willing to assist in completing the application. A toll free number is available to further assist in answering questions or providing additional information.
The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program staff work with vendors and service providers to insure quality of service and to arrange payment directly.

The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program was established in state statute as a recipient of certain remainder balances from terminated special needs trusts. Contributions from donors can enhance the available resources for Charitable Grants. 100% of these contributions will be used to improve the lives of Missouri's disabled in need because of the Midwest Special Needs Trust infrastructure. Additionally, donors may establish a restricted account within the charitable trust and may determine, with the consent of the board of trustees, the class of individuals eligible to be recipients of funds from the restricted account, so long as the eligible recipients are individuals with disabilities as set forth in section 402.200.

The Midwest Special Needs Trust Charitable Trust Program has increased the amount of money available for grants, the number of grants awarded and the total amount of money awarded over time. Because of the nature of the need, this program will never be able to eradicate disabled Missourians living in poverty, but the Charitable Grant program can enhance its ability to respond to supplemental needs and improve the quality of lives one person at a time.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    The Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust provides financial assistance to impoverished Missourians who are living with a disability. Financial assistance can be used for medical and dental care, rehabilitative services or equipment, educational assistance, specialized transportation and other needs not covered by public benefits or available through other community programs.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    Based on fears that some service providers might not be able to continue services through the COVID-19 pandemic we created a special grant opportunity for agencies that serve low-income individuals living with a disability. The grant was for the purpose of aiding agencies negatively impacted by the COVID-19 to keep them solvent through the pandemic.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome

Financials

Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Charitable Trust of the Missouri Family Trust

Board of directors
as of 03/15/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Letitia Thomas


Board co-chair

Gerald Zafft

Gerald Zafft

Cathy Steele

Sarah Giboney

Donald Edinger

Letitia Thomas

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/22/2021
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

No data

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

No data

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/11/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.