Price Philanthropies Foundation

Sol Price created Price Philanthropies Foundation to provide social services to low-income families and immigrants, which led to him advocating for left-of-center policy supporting similar government-provided services. ¹

History

Sol and Helen Price founded the Price Philanthropies Foundation (formerly the Price Charitable Fund) in 1982. Sol Price was an American businessman who founded  FedMart, Price Club, and PriceSmart. Price created the foundation to fund youth programs and provide social services for low-income families and immigrants. ¹

In 1994, Sol Price started the City Heights Initiative in City Heights, San Diego, which has a high population of immigrants. Through the initiative, the Price Philanthropies Foundation has helped develop low-income housing and commercial real estate and advocated for left-of-center policy to support the creation of government-controlled social service programs for individuals in the community. ¹

Activities

Support for Undocumented Immigrants

From 1998 to 2018, Price Philanthropies Foundation hosted a college scholarship program for undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for government aid. The scholarship program director announced the end of the scholarship in 2018 due to insufficient funding. ²

Price Philanthropies Foundation also organizes a human rights initiative that advocates for expanding protections for both undocumented and documented immigrants. It provides grants to groups that provide legal representation for immigrants, advocate for left-of-center immigration policy, and provide immigration-based social services. ³

City Heights Initiative

In 1994, Price Philanthropies Foundation created its City Heights Initiative, which is still active as of July 2021. Through the initiative, Price Philanthropies Foundation gives out loans to subsidize the development of low-income housing, businesses, schools, and nonprofit centers across the City Heights community in San Diego, California. The area consists of 16 neighborhoods and has 74,000 residents, making it the most densely populated area in the region. ⁴

Price Philanthropies Foundation funds the development of low-income housing through a company called the Chelsea Investment Corporation. ⁵ In 2019, Price Philanthropies Foundation reported $6.8 million in spending on real estate in City Heights and $1.9 million on the City Heights Initiative as charitable acts. The Foundation also reported receiving $7.1 million in net income from City Heights real estate. ^{6 7}

Critics of the City Heights Initiative report that despite Price Philanthropies Foundation spending over $200 million in the area since 2000, there have been no improvements to income, employment, obesity rates, educational outcomes, crime, or homeownership in the region. ⁸ Critics of concentrating low-income housing into one area have claimed that the practice is segregationist, increases crime, does not address poverty rates, and confines low-income people to communities with limited resources. ⁹

Financials

In 2019, Price Philanthropies Foundation reported receiving over $1.7 million in contributions, $4.2 million from interest and temporary cash investments, $5.2 million in dividends, $6.7 million in other income, and $31 million in total revenue. ¹⁰ Its total investment income for 2019 was over $19 million, and the foundation ended the year with $534 million in total assets. ¹¹

In 2019, Price Philanthropies Foundation reported spending over $18.1 million on operating and administrative expenses, $11.3 million on contributions and grants, and $29 million in total expenses. ¹²