The Bartko Foundation is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to invest in the self-sufficiency projects of single minority mothers. Our purpose is to assist these mothers with achieving goals they have set for themselves and to help them continue positive progress in their life’s journey. We generally focus our financial support in the areas of education, transportation, housing and employment. We believe these areas have the most profound impact in the lives of these mothers and, therefore, maximize our investments.

Desiring not to duplicate efforts of other agencies, the Bartko Foundation partners with others to find and fund eligible applicants. Our partners are called sponsoring agencies. The sponsoring agency is any organization or person who is guiding, assisting, supporting or has knowledge of the self-sufficiency project that is described in the application. There is no special requirement to be considered a sponsoring agency except willingness. The sponsoring agency should be willing to communicate with the Bartko Foundation on behalf of the applicant about the self-sufficiency project.

We also accept self-referrals for funding consideration by the Bartko Foundation.

The Bartko Foundation was established to assist to single minority women with children who are striving to achieve self-sufficiency.

Applicants must be a single minority mother (head of household) with at least one dependent child living with her. The applicant MUST fully complete the application, explaining in detail the current actions, steps and activities she is taking to achieve the self-sufficiency project for which she is requesting funds. The applicant MUST attach documentation to the application that verifies the cost of the self-sufficiency project. This document must include the name of the company or organization where the applicant wishes to purchase the service or product along with the address, and telephone number. In addition, the price of the service or product must be clearly listed.

The sponsoring agencies should provide: 1) general information about their agency, 2) the name and telephone number of a contact person, and 3) a cover letter that verifies the applicant as a single minority mother and describes the services they provided to assist the applicant with the self-sufficiency goal as outlined in the application. The cover letter and application must clearly demonstrate the applicant’s effort to become self-sufficient. Sponsoring agencies should also make sure that if an applicant has previously received funds from the Foundation, she indicates this in her current application.

If an application is considered incomplete and/or additional information is needed, the sponsoring agency will be contacted to obtain the necessary clarifications or information. Completed grant applications are reviewed, summarized and submitted to the Board of Directors for discussion and determination of funding. Applications may be declined for, but not limited to the following reasons: requests that do not address the self-sufficiency goal listed in the application, requests that cannot be verified by an in invoice or estimate on official letterhead, lack of response to a request for additional information, requests for which no other funds or services have been sought or secured, or lack of availability of funds. If an application is approved, a letter of approval along with a service agreement will be mailed to the sponsoring agency for review and signature. Once the signed service agreement has been returned to the Foundation, a check, on behalf of the applicant is issued to vendor(s) identified in the application. The check(s) are then sent to the sponsoring agency for distribution.

For applications that are considered complete, the period for processing and final funding determination is approximately four weeks.

The Bartko Foundation does not make investments in self-sufficiency projects that require the repayment of outstanding debt. This includes but is not limited to loans, credit cards, fines, rent, mortgage or other bills.

Because the Foundation does not offer direct case management, all interactions regarding the application will occur between the Executive Director of the Bartko Foundation and the contact person from the sponsoring agency.

Should you require additional information about the Bartko Foundation, please contact us a 412-371-1142 or bartkofoundation@aol.com. We are most willing to come to you and share with you how we support single minority mothers in advancing their own self-sufficiency.

Carl Ellis Perkins
Executive Director