Our Heart Foundation

Our Heart Foundation is one of the newest and most financially significant philanthropic institutions in Michigan, having received its IRS 501(c)(3) determination in May 2025. Headquartered in Grand Blanc, MI — just south of Flint in Genesee County — the foundation enters the philanthropic landscape with approximately $60.2 million in assets, a substantial endowment that signals serious, long-term grantmaking ambition for a region historically underserved by capital at this scale.

The foundation's mission is explicitly anchored in the HEART framework: Health, Education, Access, Resources, and Tools. This model was developed and operationalized by Community Care Plan (CCP), a Florida-based Medicaid PSN (Provider Service Network) established in 2000 as a collaboration between Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System, serving over 100,000 members. CCP's HEART Community Resource Centers deliver free nutrition and maternity classes, job training, behavioral health support, resume building, senior fitness, and community food distribution — accessible to the public regardless of health plan membership. Our Heart Foundation appears to be the Michigan philanthropic vehicle formally extending this mission, likely pursuing replication of the HEART community infrastructure model in Genesee County.

Because the foundation is company-sponsored (IRS foundation code 04) and carries zero staff on record, it operates with a lean administrative structure. Prospective applicants should not expect a formal grants management portal, published RFP cycles, or a staffed program officer accessible by email. The foundation is almost certainly still in its organizational formation phase — identifying community partners, establishing grantmaking criteria, and building relationships with Michigan-based nonprofits aligned with the HEART pillars.

A relationship-first approach is essential. The sole identified point of contact is a postal address (PO Box 25, Grand Blanc, MI 48480), and the foundation's primary supporter is identified as John Rheinhardt per the Cause IQ nonprofit directory. First-time applicants who send a thoughtful, concise letter of inquiry — one that connects organizational work to HEART pillars and demonstrates roots in Genesee County or Southwest Michigan — are best positioned to enter the pipeline before formal guidelines are published. The statutory 5% minimum payout on $60.2 million (~$3 million/year) means the foundation is already obligated to be distributing meaningful dollars, making the timing for relationship-building acute.

As of May 2026, Our Heart Foundation has no documented grantmaking history in the public record. The foundation received its IRS determination in May 2025 and its current asset base stands at $60,230,636, with income of $60,237,744 — figures that suggest the initial capitalization came in as a lump endowment rather than accumulated over years. This makes Our Heart Foundation the largest foundation by assets in the greater Flint metropolitan area, according to the Cause IQ nonprofit directory, surpassing long-established regional peers such as the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

With $60.2 million in assets, the foundation's mandatory minimum annual distribution under IRS private foundation rules is approximately $3.01 million per year (5% of investment assets). In practice, first-year distributions from newly endowed company-sponsored foundations often range from $3–8 million depending on investment income and operational ambition. No median grant size, range data, or program-area budget allocations are yet publicly available.

The HEART framework provides the clearest proxy for expected funding categories: - Health: Direct community health services, preventive care, health literacy, chronic disease management — likely the primary allocation category, consistent with the foundation's Medicaid health plan roots - Education: Workforce training, adult basic education, parenting programs, GED support - Access: Insurance navigation, transportation support, language access for non-English speakers - Resources: Food security, housing stability, community food distribution - Tools: Mental and behavioral health, digital literacy, technology access

For context, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund — the state's largest health-focused funder — typically awards grants averaging $250,000–$500,000 for community health programs, with multi-year commitments for capacity-building work. Given Our Heart Foundation's scale and the HEART model's emphasis on comprehensive, replicable community support infrastructure, initial grant awards in the $50,000–$250,000 range appear plausible for early cycles, though this is an inference from comparable funders, not confirmed policy. First 990-PF filings — expected in late 2026 or early 2027 for fiscal year 2025 — will provide the first confirmed data on actual grant amounts, grantees, and board composition.

Our Heart Foundation occupies an unusual position among its $60 million asset-tier peers: it is the only company-sponsored entity in its cohort, with a defined programmatic model (HEART) drawn from an operating health plan rather than a family wealth transfer. All five peer foundations identified by asset similarity are categorized under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T), but their giving philosophies differ materially.

Among these peers, Our Heart Foundation is distinguished by its mission specificity: rather than general philanthropy, it is anchored in a defined community health framework with an operational precedent in Florida. This likely means tighter grant criteria and a narrower but deeper funding focus than family-foundation peers. The Biswas Family Foundation is the only peer with a fully public-facing website and open application process (biswasfamilyfoundation.org), making it the most accessible comparison point for grant seekers pursuing similar-scale funders simultaneously. Most peers in this tier operate by invitation only, which underscores how Our Heart Foundation's still-forming process may represent an open window.

Our Heart Foundation's public footprint is intentionally sparse: as of May 2026, the foundation has existed as a recognized 501(c)(3) for approximately one year, and no press releases, board announcements, grant award notices, or RFP publications have been indexed in public sources as of this research.

The foundation's sole publicly identified supporter is John Rheinhardt, per the Cause IQ nonprofit directory's listing for the Grand Blanc, MI entity. No additional board members, officers, or program staff appear in the IRS Business Master File record. The zero-employee designation is consistent with a company-sponsored foundation managed through its parent organization (Community Care Plan) rather than an independent operation.

The most instructive proxy for recent programmatic activity is CCP's HEART Community Resource Center, which opened its Lauderdale Lakes, FL location and expanded its free community programming in 2025. The Florida HEART centers serve the public with nutrition and maternity classes, job training workshops, behavioral health support, resume building, senior fitness programs, community food distribution, and on-demand multilingual content (English, Spanish, Haitian Creole). This operational track record in Florida — built across 130+ community organization partnerships — is the direct antecedent to what Our Heart Foundation is positioned to support in Michigan.

The first Form 990-PF filing for fiscal year 2025 is expected to become publicly accessible through ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer and the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool in late 2026 or early 2027. That filing will be the first authoritative source of confirmed grant recipients, board composition, officer compensation, and investment allocations. Grant seekers should set monitoring alerts on these databases.

Applying to Our Heart Foundation requires a proactive, relationship-building approach given the complete absence of any published portal, deadlines, or guidelines as of May 2026. The following guidance is specific to this foundation's known structure and likely priorities:

Lead with HEART pillar language. Every proposal narrative, LOI, and follow-up communication should explicitly map your work to at least one of the five HEART pillars — Health, Education, Access, Resources, Tools. Use this exact terminology. It is the foundation's declared organizing framework, and alignment language signals that you have done the work to understand the funder's model.

Anchor in Genesee County health equity data. Grand Blanc is in Genesee County, MI — a region with some of the state's highest rates of poverty, chronic disease, and the documented long-term health consequences of the Flint water crisis. Proposals that cite specific local health outcome data, serve Medicaid beneficiaries or uninsured residents, and name existing Genesee County partner organizations will resonate strongly with a foundation rooted in this geography.

Use an LOI as your entry point. With no formal portal, a cold full proposal is premature. A concise two-page Letter of Inquiry mailed to Our Heart Foundation, PO Box 25, Grand Blanc, MI 48480 is the right initial step. Structure: one paragraph on organizational overview and community rootedness; one paragraph on explicit HEART alignment; one paragraph on proposed program with measurable outcomes; one paragraph on budget summary and requested amount.

Show ecosystem integration. The HEART model is built on 130+ community partnerships. Demonstrate that your organization is already embedded in a network of complementary service providers — health systems, workforce agencies, food banks, social services — rather than operating in isolation.

Use Medicaid-fluent outcome language. Since CCP is a Medicaid health plan, the foundation's leadership understands risk stratification, SDOH screening, quality metrics (HEDIS, CAHPS), and health utilization data. Quantify your population by insurance status, income level, and health conditions served. This language is native to the funder.

Avoid these errors: Do not submit without first establishing contact. Do not propose activities unrelated to HEART pillars without a compelling explicit bridge. Do not use generic statewide data without Genesee County or Michigan-specific figures.

Timing: The foundation's first active grant cycles are almost certainly underway in 2025–2026. Reaching out now, before formal processes are announced, is the highest-leverage moment.