Focus Autism Inc.

Focus for Health (legal entity: Focus Autism Inc.) operates a trust-based grantmaking model that explicitly favors sustained relationships over competitive open calls. The foundation does not maintain a public application portal and is designated preselected only, meaning the path to funding runs through proactive relationship cultivation rather than online submission.

Founder Barry Segal built this organization after four decades leading Bradco Supply Corporation, bringing a business leader's sensibility to philanthropy: trust organizational leaders rather than micromanage through restricted grants. The foundation offers unrestricted funding — a deliberate and meaningful signal that it values grantee judgment and long-term organizational capacity over individual project deliverables. This model is rare among private foundations at this asset level and signals a funder genuinely committed to organizational autonomy.

First-time applicants must clear two hard gates before any conversation begins: annual operating budget below $1 million, and work that directly addresses at least one of four priority lanes — social determinants of health, racial/social justice, criminal justice reform, or institutional child sex abuse prevention. Direct service work alone is explicitly insufficient; the foundation looks for organizations pursuing systemic change beyond individual client outcomes. In practice this means advocacy, organizing, policy reform, and structural interventions.

The grantee roster reveals a clear archetype: lean-staffed, budget-constrained organizations with outsized advocacy impact at the intersection of racial equity and systems reform. Top recipients — Middle Project Inc. ($300,800 cumulative across 8 grants), Social Change ($200,500 across 7 grants), The Confess Project ($195,500 across 5 grants), Village of Wisdom ($170,500 across 4 grants) — all fit this profile precisely. Multi-year relationships are the norm, not the exception.

Despite its legal name, only roughly 4-5% of grantees by count work primarily on autism. Four autism-specific organizations appear in the dataset: Mygoal Inc.-Autism ($95,000 across 2 grants), ELS for Autism Foundation ($80,000 across 2 grants), Connect Autism Tanzania ($75,000 across 3 grants), and Akhil Autism Foundation ($68,750 across 4 grants). Organizations approaching this funder on autism programming must anchor their pitch in health equity and systemic barriers — not clinical service metrics. Autism framed as a health disparity issue, or connected to racial inequities in diagnosis and care access, will resonate far more than a therapeutic services pitch.

The best first step is a brief direct inquiry to info@focusforhealth.org or a call to (908) 279-7883. Attending virtual town halls and subscribing to the newsletter are low-barrier ways to build familiarity with the team before making a formal ask.

Focus for Health has scaled its grantmaking dramatically over twelve years. Total assets grew from $4.3 million (2012) to $23 million (2024), and annual giving climbed from $1.1 million (2012) to approximately $5.1 million in FY2024 charitable disbursements — a nearly 5x increase. The payout rate is exceptionally high: at approximately 22% of assets annually, the foundation far exceeds the IRS-required 5% minimum distribution for private foundations, reflecting a founder committed to deploying capital rather than preserving endowment.

The typical grant is modest by design. The stated range runs $1,659 to $90,000, with a median of $15,000 and an average of $21,817 across 97 sampled awards. Third-party data suggests occasional awards up to $110,800 for long-tenured relationships. First-time grantees should plan for an initial award in the $10,000–$25,000 range, with cumulative totals across multi-year relationships reaching $75,000–$300,000.

Top grantees illustrate the trajectory. Middle Project Inc. has received $300,800 across 8 grants, averaging $37,600 per award. Mid-tier partners such as Unchained At Last ($150,500 across 5 grants), Black Women's Blueprint ($135,500 across 5 grants), Fathers Uplift ($135,500 across 5 grants), and Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking ($135,000 across 4 grants) have each accumulated $125,000–$151,000, implying per-grant amounts growing from roughly $20,000–$25,000 initially to $30,000–$35,000 in later years. This escalation pattern rewards sustained engagement.

FY2023 recorded $3.3 million in direct grants paid and $4.85 million in total giving. FY2022 saw $3.1 million in grants paid and $5.2 million in total giving, driven by a major asset spike to $25.3 million from investment gains of $15.6 million. FY2024 marks the highest charitable disbursement total on record at approximately $5.1 million across 134 grants. The 10-year grants-paid trajectory: $394,976 (2014), $586,000 (2015), $1.6M (2019), $1.5M (2020), $2.1M (2021), $3.1M (2022), $3.3M (2023), ~$5.1M (2024 est.).

Geographically, New York leads with 62 recorded grants, followed by New Jersey (54), Illinois (48), Georgia (30), Florida (27), California (26), Pennsylvania (23), Massachusetts (19), Michigan (17), and Washington D.C. (15). The stated geographic focus is NJ, IL, and NY, but actual grantmaking is national and modestly international.

Thematically, racial justice and criminal justice reform account for an estimated 60-65% of grants by count. Child sex abuse prevention represents approximately 15-20%, and health disparities/SDOH make up the remainder. Autism-specific grants represent a legacy strand, declining as a share of total giving.

Focus for Health holds approximately $23 million in assets and distributes at an unusually high payout rate (~22% annually) compared to the 5% IRS minimum required of private foundations. The peers below are asset-size comparables within the same NTEE T20 (Philanthropy & Grantmaking) category; annual giving for peers is estimated at the 5% IRS minimum where confirmed figures are unavailable from public filings.

Focus for Health stands apart from its asset-size peers in two critical dimensions: payout rate and mission specificity. While foundations at the $23M asset level typically distribute $1.1–$1.5 million annually (5–7% of assets), Focus for Health distributes $5.1 million — more than four times the expected level for an endowment of this size. This extraordinary deployment rate reflects the founder's active-capital philosophy and signals that more money is genuinely available to grant seekers. The tradeoff is real: the higher payout is matched by a preselected-only access model gated by relationships rather than open competition. Applicants who invest in relationship-building before requesting funds will find this funder far more accessible than its quiet public profile suggests.

No press releases or public announcements specific to Focus Autism Inc. / Focus for Health were identified for 2025–2026. The foundation's trust-based philosophy extends to its communications strategy: it deliberately maintains a low public profile, consistent with its preference for direct relationship-building over broadcast outreach.

The most recent confirmed organizational news comes from FY2024 Form 990 data. Jennifer Shore serves as Executive Director at an annual compensation of $262,068, supported by Kiaya I. Conover (Associate, $90,725) and Passion Gladney (Associate, $68,150). This three-person professional team manages approximately $5.1 million in annual grantmaking across roughly 134 grants — an operationally lean structure that relies on trusted grantee relationships rather than intensive application review processes.

Barry Segal (founder, President) and co-founder Dolly Segal remain active in governance. Board members Martin Segal (Vice President), Richard Segal, Susan Davis, Sharon Harrison, Macdella Cooper, Robert Krakow, and Bea Pudelko round out the board — all serving without compensation, a hallmark of family foundation governance.

FY2024 charitable disbursements of approximately $5.1 million mark the highest annual total in the foundation's history, with revenue of $3.55 million sourced from dividends (33.3%), asset sales (55%), and contributions (11.7%). Net assets stand at approximately $16.9 million after disbursements.

The foundation's website maintains an active autism news and education category, indicating the original mission area remains editorially present. However, no major leadership changes, new programs, new strategic initiatives, or public grant announcements were identified in publicly available sources for 2025–2026.

The single most important thing to understand about Focus for Health: it is a preselected-only funder. There is no public grant portal, no posted RFP cycle, and no annual application deadline. The process begins with relationship-building, not document submission.

Entry points that work. Subscribe to the newsletter at focusforhealth.org and register for virtual town halls when announced on the website. These events are not purely informational — they are informal environments where foundation staff observe organizational culture and values alignment. After attending a town hall, follow up directly to info@focusforhealth.org within the week while the interaction is fresh.

Crafting your first contact. Your initial email should be 3–4 paragraphs, no attachments. Lead with: 1) your annual operating budget to confirm you are under $1 million, 2) which of the four priority areas your work addresses (SDOH, racial/social justice, criminal justice reform, or institutional CSAP), and 3) one concrete systemic outcome your organization has contributed to — a policy changed, a structural barrier removed, a system reformed. Do not summarize program statistics without connecting them to structural change.

Language that resonates. Use terms aligned with the foundation's vocabulary: systemic change, social determinants of health, structural barriers, community-led, trust-based, grassroots innovation. Avoid framing centered on individual client metrics or service delivery volumes without connecting to broader structural impact.

Common mistakes to avoid. Do not submit a full unsolicited proposal. Do not request restricted project funding — this funder gives unrestricted general operating support only. Do not lead with clinical or therapeutic outcomes if applying as an autism-focused organization; instead anchor in health disparities, diagnostic inequities, or systemic access barriers that your work addresses structurally.

Optimal timing. No public grant cycle is confirmed. Early fall (September–October) and spring (March–May) outreach may align with fiscal review periods based on the foundation's giving patterns and FY calendar, but these are informed estimates rather than confirmed windows.

Long-term relationship orientation. Top grantees have received 4–8 awards across multiple years. If an initial inquiry does not result in a grant, continue engaging via events and newsletter content. Patience and consistent mission alignment are the operative currency of this funder's trust-based model.

Contact. info@focusforhealth.org | (908) 279-7883 | 67 Mountain Blvd., Suite 201, Warren, NJ 07059.