About the Foundation
Our founder, Marilyn Brachman Hoffman, created the Foundation to further her vision of a better world. Her highest priority was environmental preservation, with a focus on parks and air quality--both indoor and outdoor. She cared about vulnerable people and their medical care, and she was also interested in how people experience their medical care. She wanted to help feed the hungry and shelter the homeless in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. She was concerned about civil liberties. She appreciated public broadcasting. We fund projects in each of these areas commensurate with her directives.
The Foundation’s grantmaking is significantly influenced by Ms. Hoffman’s writing and what we know about her suffering due to an acquired sensitivity to chemicals, mold, and other toxicants, which is commonly known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Ms. Hoffman was a scholar and a scientist who read and thought deeply about the condition that afflicted her, and she coined the term “Delta” to signify the change in health that could follow an initial toxic exposure. In her case, this may have been a moldy building and exposure to combustion byproducts.
Because of the central importance of this condition in Ms. Hoffman’s life, we support efforts to educate and inform physicians, scientists, and the public about MCS. We fund research in keeping with Ms. Hoffman’s prodigious investigations and writings concerning this condition and its causes and effects. We also make grants to support clinical efforts to treat MCS patients, helping sufferers find effective therapies to improve their quality of life.
We envision a world where everyone, and especially people with MCS, can live full lives with access to nature, clean air, permanent housing, healthy food, and caring medical providers who will listen to and advocate for their most vulnerable patients.