Collections : [IUPUI Philanthropic Studies Archives]

TRI-CAP (Tri-County Community Action Program) is founded by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as part of the War on poverty and has served the low-income population in Dubois, Pike, and Warrick counties, Indiana since 1966. This group provides health, housing, education and volunteer programs including Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). This collection consists of two scrapbooks. Each scrapbook contains mainly newspaper clippings from 1974 to 2005 and occasionally includes letters, postcards, and photographs.

Vivian B. Allen (VBA) Foundation was created in 1938 in New York State by Vivian Beaumont Allen with the stated purpose, "to promote the well-being of mankind in the United States of America and elsewhere in the world, including as a means to that end research, publication, the establishment and maintenance of charitable, benevolent, religious and educational activities, agencies and institutions already established." Upon Mrs. Allen's death in 1962, VBA Foundation began to liquidate itself and was dissolved in 1971. The records consist of correspondence between VBA Foundation and grant applicants, including notification of awards or rejections, and descriptions of projects under consideration for grants; and administrative records and correspondence of the Board of Directors, including Board meeting agenda and minutes, and Memoranda distributed to the Board Members. The collection contains records dating back to 1946.

Volunteer Center at the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Fort Wayne - Allen County was the first RSVP group in Indiana and started on August 1st, 1972. It began with the Older Americans Act and was funded by the federal volunteer agency, Agency for Volunteer Service (ACTION). The group committed to provide individuals with opportunities for meaningful volunteer experiences that benefit the community. Their program included not only volunteer works such as helping school children, rolling bandages for the hospital burn units and having community events, but also educationals opportunities like a presentation by the Police Department about identification theft and social activities like field trips and picnics.

Waldemar A. Nielsen (1917-2005) was widely recognized for his expertise in and analysis of charitable foundations. Nielsen worked in government and the nonprofit sector before establishing a consulting agency, Waldemar A. Nielsen, Incorporated, which focused on corporate social policy. Nielsen is best known for his writing on the biggest foundations within the American philanthropic world. Through publications like The Big Foundations (1972) and The Golden Donors (1985), Nielsen examined the foundations' methods and their effectiveness. The Waldemar A. Nielsen Papers consists of Nielsen's research, notes, and drafts for the books and articles published over the course of his career. The collection also contains correspondence, reports, and publications from Nielsen's time working for the government, the Ford Foundation, the African-American Institute, and from his years as a consultant.

Wheeler Mission Ministries is a charitable organization serving the material and spiritual needs of poor individuals and families in Indianapolis, Indiana through Christian evangelism and conversion. Begun in 1893 as a home for unwed mothers by the Meridian Union of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, it was expanded by William Vincent Wheeler later that year to include a Rescue Mission. Coupling its charitable work with programs to develop a sense of self-sufficiency among the poor, Wheeler Mission was among the city's first charitable operations of its kind and continues to serve the needy of Indianapolis. The records, 1904-1992, consist of the administrative files which contain the correspondence and subject files of superintendents Herbert E. Eberhardt and Leonard C. Hunt, financial files, documentation of Wheeler Mission Associated Groups, printed materials, some research materials from the Door of Hope publication, photographs and audio/visual materials.

William Vincent Wheeler, founder of Wheeler Mission Ministries of Indianapolis, Indiana, was born in 1845 in Ohio and in 1853, his family moved to Indiana. After serving in the Civil War, Wheeler moved to Indianapolis where he was employed by Layman-Carey Hardware Company beginning as a delivery driver and eventually becoming head of the sales department. In 1868, Wheeler experienced a religious conversion and became active in the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church as well as becoming a lay-preacher. In 1893, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) opened a home for unwed mothers. Wheeler volunteered his help and suggested the range of services offered be broadened to include men, women and children in the form of a rescue mission. He became part-time superintendent of the mission and in 1895, resigned from the hardware company to become a full-time salaried superintendent of the mission, one of the first charitable operations of its kind in Indianapolis. He remained in this position until his death in 1908. The papers consist of correspondence of members of the Wheeler family, family photographs, Wheeler's civil war diary and family history materials.