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Down the hill from Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is the Caruth Homeplace. CFT and the Caruth family have had a close relationship for more than four decades.

In 1974, Will Caruth, Jr. established W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at CFT, which has distributed more than $110 million dollars to support public safety, education, and scientific and medical research in Dallas and beyond.

It was through the generosity of Will's wife, Mabel Peters Caruth (1914-2000), that CFT was able to restore the Caruth Homeplace, honoring a remarkable family and preserving an important part of Dallas history.

Shortly before her death in 2000, Mabel made it possible for CFT to acquire Caruth Homeplace, and she also provided the funds to build and endow CFT’s current headquarters at 5500 Caruth Haven Lane in Dallas.

In 2008, additional funds were given from her estate to CFT to permanently endow grantmaking by the foundation to meet the ongoing needs of the local community year after year.

Continuing the Legacy of Philanthropy

CFT’s renovation of Caruth Homeplace focused not only on restoring it to its 1938 condition, but enabling the adaptive re-use of the home so it could function as the headquarters for two major nonprofit organizations — the Hoblitzelle Foundation and the Summerlee Foundation.

The Hoblitzelle Foundation

The Hoblitzelle Foundation was established by Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle in 1942.

Grants made by the directors usually focus on specific, non-recurring needs of educational, social service, medical, cultural and civic organizations in Texas, particularly in the Dallas area.

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The Summerlee Foundation

Created in 1988 by Dallas philanthropist Annie Lee Roberts

The Summerlee Foundation is a private, nonprofit charitable foundation whose purposes are restricted to programs in animal protection and Texas history.

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Learn more about CFT's W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund

The Caruth Fund remains dedicated to investments in intersectional areas focused on pushing the boundaries on solutions to our most complex community issues, including emerging projects in early planning stages and mature projects dedicated to scaling up effective interventions and advocating for policy change. We know that today's solutions must cross single-issue areas because the factors that affect health, education and public safety are highly interconnected.

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