The Hackerman Foundation

Engaged in an Ever-Changing World

The Hackerman Foundation is a private Maryland-based philanthropy that helps facilitate significant advancement for underrepresented groups who need additional funding to create impactful economic and social change.

  • boy with glasses seated at a school desk engaged in drawing

    Arts and Education

  • female physician checking a patient's blood pressure

    Health

  • row of colorful townhouses along a street

    Housing

  • women holding books smiling at the camera

    Economic Empowerment

Our Areas
of Focus

Share Your
Initiative

We partner with Maryland-based nonprofit organizations to make meaningful contributions that honor our legacy and resonate with our foundation’s mission. Our main areas of focus currently live within underserved populations including arts and education, health, housing, and economic empowerment.

There is no set formula when it comes to gifts and grants from our foundation. If we connect with a cause, we will proudly partner to help create real outcomes. By staying open to opportunities that resonate with us, as well as employing an expedient approval process, we can react more effectively—since time is often of the essence.

Impact
Spotlight

The Foundation believes strongly in its ability to make a meaningful change through its giving efforts. Here are a few cases of notable impact in and around our communities.

Child's bedroom

Neighborhood Care Pathway

The Foundation invested $4 million over three years to establish the Neighborhood Care Pathway, a transformative initiative designed to help 900 seniors age safely in their community of Johnston Square. Launching in 2025, the program will begin with home visits to 600 senior residents, providing personalized support tailored to their needs. With plans to expand into Oliver and Greenmount West, this initiative will strengthen community-based workforce capacity in collaboration with PHI. By piloting a new approach to service delivery, the pathway ensures that each individual receives the right care and resources to thrive at home.

close-up of a hand using a calculator and pen for calculations

Affordable Housing & Eviction Prevention

Increased housing costs have created a greater need than ever for housing support in Baltimore City. In 2024, the Hackerman Foundation’s three eviction prevention partners, Samaritan Center, Samaritan Community and Southeast Community Development Corporation provided direct support and stability to 164 families. The Foundation also made grants to Habitat for Humanity, Rebuild Metro and Black Women Build to support creation of more affordable housing units in Baltimore.

doctors having conversation

Women’s Health

In 2024, The Hackerman Foundation was a catalyst in opening the Safe House for Children Survivors in Anne Arundel County, serving teenage girls who have survived human trafficking. The Hackerman Foundation’s challenge grant was quickly matched by another family foundation, closing the financial gap and allowing the project to move forward. The Safe House was licensed on September 21, 2024 and quickly accepted its first girls. It is a model program for the country.

A Legacy of Giving

The Hackerman Foundation comes from a long line of generational giving that began with a vision from husband and wife team, Willard Hackerman and Lillian Patz Hackerman in the spirit of their parents, and even their parents’ parents.

Each generation has devoted generous amounts of time and funding to various institutions with a particular focus on underserved and underseen communities. Since her parents’ passing, their daughter Nancy Hackerman has taken the helm. She remains steadfast in honoring the vision of her parents while also staying nimble enough to meet the needs of communities today.