Charter Oak Foundation reflects and continues the legacy and lifework of Mary D. Gould, Founder and President of Charter Oak Hospital. This highly successful residential mental-health facility, located on ten rural acres outside of Los Angeles, California, provided adolescent girls in crisis with enhanced life skills, positive options, and realistic pathways for turning their lives around.

Charter Oak Foundation strives to support children and teens who are most impacted by mental health and other consequences of historical marginalization, injustices, and inequities. The Foundation accomplishes this mission by making fairly modest grants to non-profit organizations serving this same population.

The Foundation prefers to make grants to small, relatively new foundations that have not yet secured major funding from other sources. Please note that all grant recipients must demonstrate 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

PLEASE NOTE: Our Board of Directors is small and made up of volunteers, and the number of grant requests we receive has skyrocketed. In a necessary effort to make the most effective use of our time and funding, groups that cannot answer all five questions (below) in the affirmative will not be considered for grants and, in most cases, will not be contacted by the foundation.