By Vani Jain
When the Peterson family started funding mental health and wellness in 2017, it seemed only natural to them that substance use and harm reduction would be part of this work. Yet, over time, they realized there was a significant gap in private philanthropy supporting substance use health—despite a growing need in this area and the strong link between mental health and substance use.
Kathryn Peterson has been leading her family’s foundation as Executive Director since 2017. As a self-described “feeler” who was drawn to this work due to her strong desire to help others, seeing people suffer due to stigma and barriers while also seeing an absence of funders was disappointing. “It’s really unfortunate that people’s needs aren’t being met, and in this case, people are dying at a critical rate. It’s just really sad that there are still so few funders intentionally supporting the space.”
The Peterson Foundation aren’t the only ones who have taken on an underserved issue.
Like the Petersons, the Michael McCain family’s philanthropic work has been directed to gaps in mental health funding. Lauren Jones-Davies, Michael’s daughter and the Executive Chair of the Daymark Foundation, describes her family’s early exploratory efforts as an attempt to find an overlap between the “white space” in mental health funding and the areas that pulled on their heart strings. “Like all families, we have experienced our share of mental health challenges, and we know how difficult it is to access care. We chose to focus on women’s mental health and bipolar disorder because they are overlooked, under-researched and under-funded.”
Working on an underserved issue has a lot of benefits, according to Peterson and Jones-Davies. “It is hugely exciting to see the opportunity for real change in issue areas that we feel the impact of day in and day out,” says Jones-Davies. Indeed, whereas in some issue areas one might feel that their philanthropic contribution is a drop in the ocean, by focusing on “white space,” the Daymark Foundation is able to outsize their impact.
For Kathryn Peterson, the best thing about working on an overlooked issue is the opportunity to get meaningfully involved. “I like to roll up my sleeves and help out however I can—whatever that means to those in the substance—use space.” Without question, in these sparsely-funded areas, there is no dearth of roles that a funder could take on. Kathryn regularly checks in with grantees and tries to help them in large and small ways. She has also convened grantees and other stakeholders for conversations about system-level needs, with a commitment to funding these solutions.
Convening is a role that the Daymark Foundation has taken on as well, with great results. For example, in women’s mental health, Daymark has chosen to focus specifically on perinatal mental health—that is, the mental health of a mother during pregnancy and postpartum. As a lone funder in this space, Daymark has taken it upon itself to bring stakeholders together for learning, connection and brainstorming. “At our first Perinatal Mental Health Symposium in 2023, we were shocked to hear that this was the first time that many of the long-time players in this space had ever been together face-to-face,” says Jones-Davies. “The passion and excitement in the room were palpable, as was the commitment to working together to solve the problem.”
Of course, working in areas with limited philanthropic support comes with challenges as well.
For Kathryn, the lack of flexible philanthropic funding in the area of substance use and harm reduction is devastating and they alone, can only do so much. Kathryn recounts a metaphorical story she’d heard about a forest being on fire. Some people choose to escape, others look to the government to address the issue, and a small handful stay and fight the fire themselves. First, they use a bucket. Then when the bucket breaks, they’ll use a cup, and if the cups breaks, they use a teaspoon. “The worst thing about being a funder in an underserved space like substance use is feeling stuck with a teaspoon. But a teaspoon is better than nothing, right?”
For both the Peterson and Daymark Foundations, bringing other funders to the table is a key priority.
In the case of substance use and harm reduction, recent government policy changes and funding cuts have created a desperate need for private funding sources. In response, the Peterson Foundation is helping to convene a funding table made up of philanthropic funders and community leaders to inform how private funding could be deployed on this topic for maximum impact.
In addition to exploring government funding collaborations, the Daymark Foundation has also made a concerted effort to educate private funders about the value of working in this space. “A mother’s mental health is the leading determinant of a child’s mental and physical health throughout their life course. Addressing this earliest form of mental health challenges is the real answer to shifting broader population-level mental health outcomes.” These objective proof points have helped Daymark bring other funders into the fold, including those focused on women’s health, early child development, and youth mental health.
At the end of the day, both Peterson and Jones-Davies feel fortunate to be able to spend their time working on these issues. As Lauren puts it, “I grew up with the immense privilege of being surrounded by people who have a fire in their belly for social change. It’s been a huge honour to be able to play this role in our family’s ecosystem.”
When Kathryn’s youngest son started school, she was at first nervous about getting back into the working world. When her parents offered her the opportunity to lead their family’s philanthropy, she felt like she had found her calling. Kathryn had always been sensitive and empathetic—traits that contributed to her own experience with mental health and substance use challenges. She discovered that working in philanthropy soon became not just a selfless thing she wanted to do, but something that drew upon her character traits as strengths. “This is something I can do that’s impactful. It’s created a lot of meaning in my life.”
Looking to lend your support to one of the issues discussed in this article? Explore and learn more:
Substance Use & Harm Reduction:
- Thunderbird Partnership Foundation
- Moms Stop the Harm
- CAPSA (Community Addictions Peer Support Association)
- Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation (CDPE)
Perinatal Mental Health:
- Mino Care
- Life With a Baby
Bipolar Disorder:
- BD
- Relief
Vani Jain is the CEO of Catalyst Philanthropy, a social impact consultancy dedicated to maximizing philanthropic giving. Vani has had the good fortune of working with the Peterson Foundation as a client, and as the Founding Executive Director of the Daymark Foundation.
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