Hellman Foundation Commits $12.5M to Park Equity Before 2034 Close

The Hellman Foundation has committed $12.5 million to transform parks and green spaces in Richmond, California, as part of an accelerating spend-down strategy that will see the San Francisco-based foundation close its doors by 2034.

Richmond's Park Equity Project Takes Shape

The multi-year investment, detailed in Grantmakers in Health's March 2026 report, supports the Richmond Park Equity Project (RichPEP), a collaborative that includes community organizations, parks advocates, private philanthropy, the City of Richmond, and technical experts.

RichPEP has channeled the funding into community engagement programs and community-led design processes at four key sites: Lucas Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Community Center, the Richmond Greenway, and Nicholl Park. The initiative also produces policy recommendations for long-term park maintenance and capital improvements — an acknowledgment that infrastructure grants mean little without sustained operational funding to back them up.

The Hellman Foundation's decision to spend down its endowment rather than exist in perpetuity reflects a growing trend in philanthropy. Several major foundations have adopted limited-life models in recent years, arguing that concentrating resources over a shorter period delivers greater impact than distributing smaller grants indefinitely. The Atlantic Philanthropies completed its spend-down in 2020, and others have since followed suit.

What Spend-Down Foundations Mean for Grant Seekers

For nonprofits and community organizations, spend-down foundations represent both a significant opportunity and a ticking clock. The Hellman Foundation's remaining eight years of grantmaking will likely feature larger, more strategic investments as the foundation works to deploy its assets before the 2034 deadline.

Organizations working in environmental justice, urban parks, and community development in the San Francisco Bay Area should pay close attention to the foundation's evolving priorities. The RichPEP model — with its emphasis on community-led design and policy development alongside capital improvements — offers a template for how organizations can position themselves for these larger, more ambitious grants.

Grant professionals can track foundation spend-down timelines and strategic shifts through philanthropy databases and platforms like grantedai.com to identify windows of opportunity before these funders close their books permanently.

For deeper analysis of how spend-down foundations are reshaping the philanthropy landscape, visit the Granted blog.