Lifestyle

How Can Your Donations Help the Episcopal Church Foundation?

Published

4 years ago

July 5, 2022

Donating to causes that are important to you not only benefits the charities but can also be extremely rewarding for you. Millions of people donate to charity on a regular basis to support causes they believe in and to benefit their own lives.

The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth, revitalization, and transformation of Episcopal faith communities. The organization is succeeding in its mission to inspire and nurture church leaders, assist in the acquisition and management of financial assets, and provide high-quality and innovative resources and ideas for use throughout the Church.

Donation Programs

ECF’s programs play an important role in constructing the Church of the future. This work does not come cheap. Individuals, foundations, and others who care about this important work make generous contributions to ECF. We hope you will consider making a contribution to help ECF continue to respond to God’s call in meaningful and lasting ways.

Here’s how you can help if you’re interested in donating to ECF:

Ways to Make a Planned Gift

Bequests and Wills

The most straightforward way to make a planned gift is to include the Episcopal Church Foundation in your will. A bequest is a meaningful way to support their work while not interfering with your cash flow during your lifetime. Your attorney can include it when preparing or revising your will, or you can add it at any time.

Some examples of bequests include:

A specific bequest specifies the amount of money, securities, or other assets that you want to leave to ECF. It can also represent a specific percentage of the total value of your estate.

After all other bequests have been satisfied, a residuary bequest leaves the remainder of your estate (or a percentage of the total) to your beneficiaries.

You can designate ECF as the beneficiary of a contingency bequest, which accounts for the possibility of a change in your beneficiary’s circumstances.

Unrestricted and Restricted Gifts

If you want to make a restricted gift, make sure to include language that allows ECF to re-direct the use of your gift if the specified initiative, program, or purpose no longer requires funds in the future.

Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity is a straightforward arrangement between you and the Episcopal Church Foundation. ECF pays one or two annuitants to whom you designate a fixed annuity for life in exchange for your irrevocable gift of cash or securities, and you will be eligible for an income tax deduction in the year you make the gift.

The minimum age to begin receiving annuity payments at ECF is 55. You can, however, establish a charitable gift annuity at a younger age and postpone the start of annuity payments until the age of 55. ECF requires a minimum of $5,000 to establish a charitable gift annuity.

You will receive an instantaneous income tax deduction for a portion of your gift, and your annuity will be backed by the entirety of ECF’s assets.

Retirement Plans

Through your retirement plan, you can make a contribution to the Episcopal Church Foundation. Certain retirement plans, such as IRAs, Keoghs, 401ks, and 403bs, allow you to postpone paying taxes until you withdraw income during retirement. However, these accounts are frequently subject to significant taxes after your death.

Charitable Trusts

A charitable trust can help you achieve your short- and long-term financial, estate, and philanthropic objectives. A donor makes an irreversible transfer of cash, real estate, stock, or other assets to a trust that generates income for the donor or another beneficiary for a set period of up to twenty years or until the donor or another beneficiary dies. The remaining principal possessions will be distributed to ECF at the end of the trust period.

Pooled Income Fund

A contribution of $2,500 or more to a pooled income fund is “pooled” with other contributions in a professionally managed investment portfolio. You or your designated receiver will be guaranteed an income for the rest of your life, with the amount determined by the fund’s investment returns. You will receive an instant federal income tax deduction as well as possibly a reduction in estate taxes. When you die, or the final beneficiary dies, the remaining property will pass to ECF.

Bank Accounts, Securities, and Certificates of Deposit

A planned gift to ECF can be made at no cost by designating it as the beneficiary of a bank account or security. You can direct any financial institution with which you have an account or are the holder of a security to place your asset in a trust (also known as a Totten Trust or a Transfer upon Death Account) that will be transferred directly to the Episcopal Church Foundation upon your death.

Life Insurance Policies

ECF welcomes philanthropic support in the form of gifts of life insurance policies once the policies have been paid in full and ECF has been named as the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy.

End Note

ECF works hard every day to ensure that all lay and clergy leaders have access to the resources they need to thrive. But they can’t do it alone. There are ways you can help them achieve their mission: you can donate money to support their programs, or you can also spread the word about our work by sharing our website and social media posts with your friends and family. Whatever you do, know that your support is essential to ECF’s success. Thank you for helping ECF strengthen the Episcopal Church community!

Lifestyle

When Seasons Shift: Dr. Leeshe Grimes on Grief, Loneliness, and Finding Light Again

Published

4 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michelle Langton

Some emotional storms arrive without warning. A sudden change in weather, a holiday approaching, or even a bright sunny day can stir feelings that don’t match the world outside. For many people, the hardest seasons are not defined by temperature; they are defined by what’s happening inside, where grief and loneliness often move quietly.

This is the emotional terrain where Dr. Leeshe Grimes has spent her career doing some of her most meaningful work. As a psychotherapist, registered play therapist, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, and founder of Elevated Minds in the DMV area, she understands how deeply seasonal shifts and unresolved grief can affect people. Her upcoming books explore this very space, guiding readers through the emotional weight that can appear during different times of the year.

What sets Dr. Grimes apart is her ability to see clearly what many people overlook. Seasonal depression, for example, is usually tied to winter months. But she often sees it appear during warm, bright seasons, the times when the world seems happiest. For someone already grieving or feeling disconnected, watching others travel, celebrate, or gather can create its own kind of heaviness. Sunshine doesn’t always lift the mood; sometimes it highlights what feels missing.

The same misunderstanding surrounds grief. Society often treats it as a short-term experience with predictable phases and a clean ending. But in her practice, Dr. Grimes sees how grief keeps evolving. It doesn’t disappear on a timeline. It weaves itself into routines, memories, and milestones. People learn to carry it differently, but they rarely leave it behind completely. And that’s not failure, it’s human.

Her approach to mental health centers on truth rather than pressure. She encourages clients to acknowledge the emotions they try to hide: sadness that lingers longer than expected, moments of joy that feel out of place, and the waves of loneliness that return even when life seems stable. Instead of pushing for quick recovery, she focuses on helping people understand how emotions shift and how to care for themselves through those changes.

Much of her insight comes from her military years, where she witnessed the emotional toll of loss, transition, and constant survival. She saw how people continued functioning while carrying pain that had nowhere to go. That experience shaped her belief that healing requires space, space to feel, to speak, and to move through emotions without judgment.

In her clinical work today at Elevated Minds, she encourages people to build small, steady habits that anchor them during difficult seasons. Journaling helps them recognize patterns and name what feels heavy. Community support breaks the cycle of isolation. Therapy creates a place where emotions don’t have to be minimized or explained away. And intentional routines, daily sunlight, mindful breaks, and calm evenings help rebuild emotional balance.

Her upcoming books expand on these ideas, offering practical guidance for navigating both grief and seasonal depression. She focuses on helping readers understand that healing is not about escaping pain. It’s about learning how to live with it in a healthier way, honoring memories, acknowledging loneliness, and still allowing room for moments of light.

What makes Dr. Leeshe Grimes a compelling voice in mental health is her ability to bring language to experiences that many struggle to explain. She reminds people that emotional seasons don’t always match the weather and that there is no single path through grief. But within those shifts, she believes there is always a way forward.

The seasons will continue to change. And with the right tools, compassion, and support, people can change with them, finding steadiness, softness, and light again, one step at a time.