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Grantee Spotlight: Market Street Mission

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate 63 years of continuous partnership with Market Street Mission, a cornerstone institution of the Morristown community. Founded in 1889, the Mission has been serving the homeless, hungry, and those struggling with addiction in northern New Jersey for more than 135 years, guided by the belief that every person deserves to be…

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America’s Oldest Habit: Volunteerism as a Pillar of Civic Heritage

By Dave Cucchiara  Communications & Program Associate Before there were philanthropic foundations, strategic plans, nonprofit Boards, and “grassroots” community groups, there were neighbors. People who simply showed up — to raise a barn, attend to the sick, teach a child to read, or care for the less fortunate. Volunteerism did not emerge from a policy white paper. It grew the way most enduring things do: stubbornly, gradually, out of need, rooted in the conviction that a community is only as strong as the sum of its…

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Grantee Spotlight: Hospital for Special Surgery

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate nearly 40 years of partnership with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. Founded in 1863 and headquartered in New York City, HSS is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States and has been consistently ranked among the nation’s top hospitals…

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Grantee Spotlight: Hill Learning Center

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to support Hill Learning Center, a Durham, N.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming students with learning differences into confident, independent learners. Founded in 1977 and named in honor of founder George Watts Hill, Hill Learning Center began as a program of Durham Academy before becoming an independent nonprofit in 1998. Hill supports students, educators,…

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History in Motion: America250 Grantee Field Guide

By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate On July 4, 2026, the United States will mark an extraordinary democratic milestone. Two hundred and fifty years since a group of young delegates, bound by their collective and unwavering conviction, signed their names to a piece of parchment that would ultimately change the world. The ideals of freedom, liberty, and equality were…

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Grantee Spotlight: American Enterprise Institute

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate nearly 50 years supporting the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., AEI brings together leading scholars and researchers whose work advances ideas rooted in democracy,…

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Building Understanding, Building Homes: Why Better Data Is Essential to Solving New Jersey’s Housing Crisis

By Dave Cucchiara  Communications & Program Associate New Jersey’s housing landscape can often be a jigsaw puzzle of complicated policy, municipal regulations, and competing environmental priorities. Demand for new housing continues to rise, production continues to lag, and the cost of both renting and owning has climbed sharply over the last five years. To meet this moment, New Jersey, unquestionably, needs not…

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From the President’s Desk: “What If?” The Two Words at the Heart of Art and Innovation

By Justin Kiczek  President  What if I dripped paint onto a canvas on the floor? What if I tried to write the way people actually think? What if we played this song, but electric? These are not idle questions. They are the questions that gave us Jackson Pollock, stream-of-consciousness literature, and rock and roll. “What if” is the question artists have always asked…

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Bringing Essential Services Under One Roof: A Conversation with Morris County Prevention is Key

By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate In one of New Jersey’s wealthiest counties, where the median household income tops $134,000, a troubling reality persists: homelessness increased by 34% between 2022 and 2023, with 351 individuals identified as homeless by year’s end. Morris County Prevention is Key (PIK) has been awarded a $300,000 Innovation Engine grant from the F. M.…

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