It was not easy to be steadfast in our commitment to our mission—articulated on the opposite page of this report— over the last fiscal year. We lost a significant portion of our endowment. We were uncertain as to the depth and duration of the market crisis, and more importantly we were and are uncertain as to the depth and duration of the economic crisis that has affected all our grantees and all the individuals whom they serve. In this climate, "hope for all" is not an easily attained goal.

Perseverance is an important attribute for grantmaking foundations, just as it is an important virtue for all of us as individuals. We have tried to hold true to our principles, whether managing our assets or overseeing our grant programs. Our investments remain diversified; we resisted the temptation to sell our equities at what we hope would prove to be the bottom of the market—recognizing that we may not have seen that bottom yet. As we write this letter, we are reassured that our financial strategies have already brought us partway back to where we were.

We have tried to be perseverant in our grantmaking as well. It has not been our practice in prior years to use budgetary strictures to limit our grantmaking, and as a consequence we have commonly exceeded our distribution requirements. In the last year, recognizing that some self-discipline was required in the face of sharply declining assets, we made small reductions in our grantmaking, all the while painfully cognizant of the fact that our grantees and the people whom they serve are needier than ever.

Our program staff has found thoughtful ways to stretch our dollars, sharpening our focus in a number of areas to maximize support for our most effective grantees. We did not ask our staff to make cuts that would reflect the magnitude of the market decline because we know that there are no cuts in the needs of the individuals whom we seek ultimately to serve. As Unmi Song has noted in her letter on this same page, the organizations that are our most effective grantees are struggling with great heart against the problems created by decreasing resources in a time of rising needs.

While Unmi salutes our grantees and other nonprofit organizations throughout our city—and the people who staff those organizations, I must salute Unmi and our program staff, Sydney Sidwell, Sharon Bush, Regina Dixon-Reeves and Soo Na, who have worked so hard to accomplish a little more with a little less. Our aspirations are great, and we have the right people for the tasks before us.

Howard M. McCue III, Chairman