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Your Gift Changes Lives

When you give a financial gift to Shelterhouse, you become part of a large, community-wide support system for survivors. When survivors become empowered, our whole community flourishes.


Whether you are able to give $50 or $500, your gift helps provide critical transformational services to survivors of domestic violence & sexual assault such as shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, and medical forensic exams.

Your in-kind donations help survivors feel safe, comfortable, and cared for as they rebuild their lives after the trauma of abuse

Shelterhouse is a nonprofit organization in Midland, MI that accepts a variety of donations. We serve survivors of all backgrounds with a variety of needs and rely on community support to ensure our clients in shelter have everything they need to heal comfortably before transitioning into new, safe housing.


Here are a few of our greatest, and ongoing, needs:


  • Paper products (toilet paper, paper towel, Kleenex, etc.)
  • Personal care items (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, etc.)
  • Bedding (sheets, pillows, comforters - Twin XL or larger)
  • Diapers (sizes 4-6 especially)
  • Cleaning supplies (disinfectant spray & wipes, toilet bowl cleaner, etc.)
  • Laundry supplies (baskets, fabric softener, detergent, dryer sheets)


If you belong to a community group, class, or organization interested in hosting a donation drive or making a bulk donation, please contact Lizzy Kennedy, Communication & Outreach Coordinator, at kennedy@shelterhousemidland.org


All donations can be brought directly to the Shelterhouse Resale Shop (1830 South Saginaw Rd. Midland, MI 48642)

Estate Planning: Leave a Legacy of Empowerment

Shelterhouse has been serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault since 1976, but we need your help to continue providing these critical and transformational services! Planned gifts are a means for individuals to use commonly accepted estate planning methods to remember those charitable entities that are near and dear to you. While there are many ways for this to occur, the following examples are ways people share their charitable dollars at the time of their death:

A bequest is one of the easiest and most widely used methods to share assets. Bequests can be used to support the organization to continue the vision and mission.


Through a Will or a Trust, you can provide specific instructions to specify an amount or percentage and give it to the organization. 

Retirement plan assets can be shared as a planned gift. These types of plans are good assets to use as testamentary gifts to charity because of their tax status. Pre-tax retirement accounts left to charities is a $ for $ gift, whereas if this is left to an individual beneficiary it is future taxable income. Generally, a beneficiary designation form will allow for the gift to be made.


The types of Retirement Plans that this works for include but are not limited to: Individual Retirement Accounts; Profit-Sharing Plans; 401(k) plans; 403(b) Plans; and Simplified Employee Pension.  

The unique characteristics of life insurance allow for wonderful gifts to be made to support the charitable outreach of the Endowment Fund. There are many ways to provide insurance policies as gifts.


  • Assignment of Ownership – An existing cash value policy may be a current gift to a charity. This can be done by an assignment of the ownership of your policy to the charity that allows you to receive a charitable deduction for the gift of the policy. After the transfer, if the policy is paid up or will continue without more premium than the charity generally holds the policy until your death. You can continue the premium to the charity and receive a charitable deduction for the premium to allow the policy to grow for more value to be available for the charity.
  • Change Beneficiary Designation – You may change the beneficiary designation on an existing contract to the charity, so the gift is completed at your death as a planned gift. With this method, you do not receive a current charitable deduction during life.
  • Purchase New Contract – You can apply as the insured for a new policy owned by the charity with the charity as the beneficiary. You determine the annual premium to be gifted to the charity that allows you to take a charitable deduction for this gift. The charity owns the policy, receives the increases during your life and receives the insurance proceeds at your death.

Charitable Remainder Trust is an irrevocable trust that can provide a potential income stream to the donor or other beneficiaries of the trust. Trusts may be established for a term of years or an individual’s lifetime. At the end of the trust period, the remainder of the assets are distributed to a charity.


Tax benefits to donor/grantor: current year income tax deduction based on the present value of the property donated. It’s not a dollar-for-dollar calculation because the gift is considered a future gift. The donor may also wish to gift appreciated assets into the trust to avoid capital gains on a particular asset.

A gift of appreciated stock and mutual funds are a great way to avoid the capital gains tax and make a charitable contribution. To gift a security, please communicate the # of shares and name of asset to Shelterhouse and provide the below information to your financial institution:


DTC-Eligible Securities:

DTC Participant Number 0226 (Fidelity Investments)

Account Number: 676-186507

Account Name: Midwest Trust Company 

Further Credit To:  Shelterhouse (account #)


If you are over 70 ½ / 72 (new legislation) you have a unique opportunity to make a difference with the Fund. Ask your estate planner or attorney for more details.


More details: The Tax Reform Act of 2017 and the rules within the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA funds provide a unique way for you to give a charitable gift and reduce your taxable income. As a retiree over 70 ½, you could contribute directly from your IRA. Congress has allowed an exception if you make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) directly from your IRA to a 501 c 3 organization like the Endowment Fund. The amount of QCD up to $100,000 a year can be given and is not included as taxable income to you. Given recent increases to the standard deduction amount, this strategy allows you to still benefit by giving. Consult your tax professional for more information.  


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