Easton support center working for Buffett grant

October 06, 2011|By Johanna Seltz, Globe Correspondent

EASTON - The House of Possibilities, a center for children and adults with developmental disabilities, could get a $250,000 check from billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s older sister, Doris.

The only catch is that the nonprofit, which opened in 2009 on the edge of the Stonehill College campus, has to raise the same amount of money within a year.

The grant would come from Doris Buffett’s Sunshine Lady Foundation, which she formed in 1996 for the sole purpose of giving away all of her considerable inherited wealth. Her fortune comes from stock in her brother’s company, Berkshire Hathaway , and her plan is to keep writing checks until the last one bounces.

So far, she has handed out more than $100 million to individuals and organizations - including Friendship Home in Norwell, a program for developmentally disabled adults that has received $500,000 over the last two years.

“A lot of my life I was looking for a fairy godmother who never showed up; now I can be that person,’’ said Buffett, who is in her 80s and lives in Virginia, in a televised interview last year.

She said she required those she helped to raise a matching amount of money because “if you want something for somebody more than they want it for themselves, forget it, you’re wasting your time.’’

Paula Kavolius, a Walpole resident who founded and heads the House of Possibilities, said a member of her board found out about Buffett’s interest in children with special needs “by fluke’’ while watching television. The organization applied for a grant and heard that it was approved on Sept. 1, Kavolius said.

She’s already busy fund-raising. Although she has until September 2012, she said she wants to raise her share by April.

While an online auction of a two-week vacation in Hawaii failed to get bidders, a cocktail party drew 75 contributors, she said. She plans more parties in supporters’ homes and will revive the auction with less pricey items.

Kavolius is no stranger to fund-raising; she led the $1.6 million drive that allowed House of Possibilities to be built on land leased from Stonehill College - at $1 annually for 50 years - and to operate seven programs that provide respite for parents and activities for their children. About 150 families participated last year, she said.

The Yawkey Foundation contributed to the cause, as did scores of individuals and businesses that donated money and time. More than 70 electrician volunteers wired the house, for example, and teams of fathers and sons from St. Sebastian’s School in Needham spread 80 yards of mulch in the yard. Kavolius would not disclose the operating budget of House of Possibilities because, she said, “we are very much a start-up, and I’m very protective of it.’’