About

Our Mission

The mission of the Otto Schoitz Foundation is to improve the health and wellbeing of the community and its individual members by funding grants.

Our Guiding Principles

• Comprehensive: For sustained improvement, a broad approach is taken:
  • Addressing the multi-dimensional levels of individuals, i.e., the physical, emotional and mental levels.
  • Investing in our community to enhance its vibrancy for all to live, learn, work, play, and age.
  • Initiating change for community betterment, actively and collaboratively.
• Partnership: The Foundation partners with others to address community issues.
• Impartiality and Objectivity: To advance its mission, the Foundation objectively distributes funds to aligned organizations that do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law.
• Perpetuity: The Foundation safeguards its endowment for the betterment of generations to come. 
• Continuous Improvement: The Foundation adapts, evolves and changes with the times, thereby maximizing its benefit to the community.

Our Funding Preference

Our funding preference favors proposals focused on significant community need and/or benefit and that:

• Improve residents' quality of life.
• Better the community.
• Meet the needs of the vulnerable.
• Create equitable opportunities, particularly as it relates to racial/ethnic equities.
• Address root or primary causes. 
• Show evidence of success and impact.
• Impact Waterloo, because of the greater need.
• Share in funding with others.

Our Roots

Otto A. Schoitz | The Foundation is proud to be named after local philanthropist and industrialist Otto A. Schoitz, a Danish immigrant born in 1883. In his lifetime, Schoitz was identified as Waterloo’s top benefactor, giving more to the city than any other citizen. Otto Schoitz’s benevolence included a pacesetting donation in honor of his late wife as part of a community-wide effort to raise money to build a new hospital, the Charlotte Lee Schoitz Memorial Hospital. Upon his death, Otto Schoitz left specific instructions to publish his last will and testament in the local newspaper hoping to teach others what a benevolent mindset could accomplish.

Wheaton Franciscan Sisters | In 1986, Schoitz Memorial Hospital became part of the Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare System, a Catholic healthcare organization started by the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters nearly 150 years ago. The Franciscan Sisters first came to the United States in 1872 and began a rich history of responding to the needs of a constantly changing society, with a preference for serving the poor. Throughout the years, while they created caring communities, the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters held a philosophy of human and community development, which emphasized respect for each person. In 2016, the Wheaton Sisters transferred their Iowa ownership interest.  

The Otto Schoitz Foundation | The Wheaton transfer opened the door to establish a new and independent foundation, the Otto Schoitz Foundation, with an initial endowment in excess of $50 million. The Otto Schoitz Foundation continues the tradition of serving to the benefit of its community following the legacies of philanthropist Mr. Otto Schoitz and the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters. Also seeking to respond to the needs of a constantly changing society, the Foundation partners with not-for-profit organizations aligned with its mission to improve the health and wellbeing of all individuals in the Cedar Valley.

Our Board of Directors

The Otto Schoitz Foundation's Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring all actions undertaken by the Foundation are in furtherance of its mission.

Officers

Additional Directors