A $ 15 Million Gift to Educate a Community

Nov. 20, 2015

It’s not often that a single gift continues to touch countless lives for an untold number of years. However, that was the goal of Central Lake native Cleo Purdy when she left nearly $15 million to the children of the small, financially challenged northern Michigan village. Entrusted to The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (GTRCF), the posthumous donation has been used to create the Cleo M. Purdy Endowment for Education and Families.

“Her purpose in that was to create a gift that would last in perpetuity… to benefit early childhood [development] and families in Central Lake,” said Phil Ellis, GTRCF executive director.

Together with partners like the Great Start Collaborative, The Charlevoix-Emmet ISD and Central Lake Schools, the endowment is creating playgroups, educational outings and activities, parent and childcareprovider training, and numerous other programs. Most are offered at little or no cost to local residents.

“All these programs and events have had great turnouts,” said local parent Lee Kurt. “[Purdy] must have been so sharp and smart and had such a strong understanding to know what [her donation] would do.”

Kurt explained that as newcomers — her family recently moved to Central Lake from downtown Traverse City — being welcomed into the community via programs created and financed by the endowment has considerably improved their transition.

“At these programs, you’re sitting with each other, really able to get to know one another,” said Kurt. “That’s been hugely beneficial for us.”

Kurt extolled the community-building virtues of several of the newly created programs and said that, through them, she has been able to collaborate with other parents on everything from education to nutrition to finance.

“It goes so far beyond just the child development from 0 to 5,” said Kurt. “It really is making a difference in the community.”

A GIVING HISTORY

Purdy was born in 1933, raised on her family’s Central Lake farm, and died Jan. 9, 2013. During her 80 years on earth, she lived a life dedicated to service.

Purdy studied nursing before joining the Army in the 1950s. She later received a teaching degree and taught special education in California. Using GI financing and funds from her parents’ estate, Purdy began purchasing real estate. She continued to acquire property and invest, eventually amassing a considerable estate of her own. With no children to receive her hard won wealth, Purdy’s final selfless act was to pass on 10 percent of her estate to the Santa Barbara Foundation and the remainder to The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.

According to the GTRCF, Purdy’s gift is the single largest contribution the foundation has ever received.

“Even though she made her home eventually in California, she never forgot her roots,” said Ellis.

EXPANDING AN ENDOWMENT ACROSS A COMMUNITY

In order to fulfill Purdy’s wishes to expand early childhood education in Central Lake, the GTRCF had to first educate itself. In 2014, the organization hired an early childhood development consultant to “help us identify what are characteristics of a high quality early childhood program,” said Alison Metiva, GTRCF director of community relations.

The resulting plan included an objective look at the resources available in Central Lake, information from other successful early education models and community input.

“That really created for us a plan and a road map going forward,” said Metiva.

Through this plan, new programs, activities and services can be evaluated for quality, interconnectivity and best practices.

The foundation also hired Jenny Shooks, a lifelong Central Lake resident, parent and educator, as a family community navigator. Her role is to connect families to available resources and to collect community feedback about existing programs.

“It’s an amazing blessing to the community and the impacts will continue forever,” said Shooks. She explained that she and her husband are already seeing the “positive impacts it’s having on us as parents, which will, in turn, positively impact how [our children] parent their children. That cycle will just continue on and on.”

Shooks also spoke about the importance of offering parent training programs in Central Lake. She said local courses help people avoid the cost of driving to Traverse City or Petoskey — both nearly 45 minutes away — paying for additional child care and potentially taking more time off work.

“[Parents] can get out, they can be exposed to great information, they can connect with other families in the area,” she said. “It’s right in their own community and it’s free; it’s just win-win all around.”

Beyond early childhood education, others like Ellis also see the economic possibilities created by the endowment.

“If I’m a parent of a young child and I learn that there is this community that’s being funded to have this wonderful… inhome types of engagements, family training, free preschool, why not move there?” said Ellis. “And if I’m a business owner, why not create a business there? It’s a real potential for an economic driver for that community.”

FUTURE PLANS FOR A PERPETUAL GIFT

Ellis explained that not everyone is familiar with how an endowment functions.

“There’s a small portion of [this endowment] that’s available each year, but the whole gift itself is not available,” he explained.

The endowment’s principal will be managed by a closely regulated process of investing a portion of the funds, said Ellis. He expects the foundation to grant approximately 4 percent of the total endowment annually.

What’s on the horizon for Central Lake families thanks to the endowment and its custodians?

“One of the things Central Lake does not have as a community, they do not have licensed child care,” said Ellis. “And one of the things we know is that, if you’re a young parent, young family, striving to make it… one of your big expenses, if you can find it, is good quality child care.”

Later this month, the foundation will be partnering with the Central Lake Preschool to create new childcare options that extend past preschool hours, which are Monday through Thursday 8am to 3pm. Currently, families have to arrange for transportation and care in the afternoons and on Friday, said Metiva.

“Rather than trying to piece something together, or their preschooler is going to a different place every week, they can come to school that day and continue receiving that high quality experience they get Monday through Thursday,” she explained.

There will also be an afterschool program for elementary students.

“It was something that the community said they needed and wanted, and so we’re working with our partners to try and make that available,” said Metiva.

Metiva indicated creating more licensed, quality childcare options will become a priority in the coming year. She said more opportunities for new and veteran parents to meet, collaborate and share their experience will be another priority, as well as early reading programs and access to books in Central Lake.

And beyond that? “What’s going to be available five years from now, we don’t know,” said Ellis excitedly. “Twenty-five years from now, 100 years from now?” Perhaps the biggest impact of Purdy’s gift is the example it sets for future philanthropists across northern Michigan.

“What we do [in Central Lake] will shine a light on that value of early childhood education and early childhood experience,” said Ellis. “This will be an inspiration to other donors who think about their community and the impact they can have there.”