What we do

The Taylor 829 Foundation Inc. (“the Foundation”) is an Indiana nonprofit corporation organized exclusively for charitable, scientific, religious, and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation will focus its efforts on fundraising for educational scholarships, grants, and charitable grant-making. The Mission of the Taylor 829 Foundation, Inc., dba The Andrea M Taylor Future Doctors Scholarship Fund is to serve African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, White Americans and LGBTQ+ students who come from disadvantaged communities who are interested and/or have the aspiration to become a Medical Doctor. We will be focusing on 3rd thru 6 Graders, Junior High School, High School, Colleges/Universities, and Graduate-Medical and Internships students.

The Foundation’s primary goal is to help to eliminate healthcare disparities and improve the equity, quality of life, and quality of care when they have to interact with medical professionals in the healthcare field while seeking medical services as a patient and/or patient advocate.  To achieve this goal, the Foundation will help to increase and support the number of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, White Americans and LGBTQ+ students from disadvantaged low-income communities who aspire and/or have a deep interest in becoming a Medical Doctor.  It is also the Foundation’s goal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority physicians, residents, medical students and pipeline students who are in junior high school, high school, community/junior college, university/college and post bac and pre-med students in their medical education through fundraising in order to provide them with educational scholarships to lessen their financial burden while they successfully secure the Medical Degree. In 2024, the average total cost of medical school in the US is $235,827 and average yearly cost, $58,968.  For most Black and minority students with dreams of being a doctor, these medical costs close the door to any prospect of achieving their dreams.

The Foundation will operate The Andrea M. Taylor Future Doctors Scholarship Fund, which is named in memory of the founders’ daughter, Andrea, who tragically passed away due to health complications after failing to receive standard healthcare services from a broken healthcare system that did not understand or validate her as a human being along with her serious health concerns. Andrea lived her life giving and sharing selfishly herself to everyone who was fortunate enough to meet and know her all the way to the end of her life when she placed her ‘Medical Directive’ “I want to donate whatever that can be used to help save someone else’s life”.

The structural disparity and discrimination that thrives in the medical field, robbed Andrea of her final wish as well as patients who are waiting to receive an organ. African Americans make up a large number of recipients waiting [on the Donors List] to receive a kidney. This scholarship will operate as a testimony to her life and will take steps to make a difference in Black and other minority students’ lives who come from disadvantaged communities to provide a path for students to achieve their goal(s) to obtain a medical education, thus becoming Medical Doctors. Black doctors in the U.S. today make up only 3.6% of the full-time faculty and residents, resulting in more doctors of color. Black patients in medical need do not experience people who look like them or come from families or backgrounds like them. This imbalance in places of medical power and achievement leads to diagnoses that disclaim patients’ complaints and results in greater suffering and death. The Founders hope to honor Andreas’s memory by sharing her infectious generosity and positivity so that more people of color experience a world where they receive treatment from a Doctor who looks like them.

The Foundation is in the process of researching and developing several partnership opportunities with other 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofits to amplify its efforts. These relationships are in the early phase, but we envision assisting efforts and programming to assist African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, White Americans and LGBTQ+ students from disadvantaged low-income communities who aspire and/or have a deep interest in becoming a Medical Doctor. Programming may include opportunities to explore various facets of medicine and receive information about medical school preparation, including networking with medical and medical education professionals; conducting workshops and informational sessions on medical school admissions and financial aid, workshops on developing medical school applications, personal statements, interviewing skills and MCAT/SAT exam prep, attending mock clinic and surgery opportunities, seminars on mentoring and medical role-play along with workshops for family support of students.

In addition, the Foundation is seeking to build relationships and create opportunities for younger students in grammar school and middle school to foster younger students’ passion for medicine to help them prepare and take the necessary steps to continue towards a later medical education. The National Urban League is partnering with us to provide assistance with implementing these programs. These are examples of future charitable and educational programming, but the Foundation is not limiting its charitable mission to these specific examples.

The Foundation may also raise and distribute funds as grants to other charitable organizations with 501(c)(3) status, as reviewed and approved by the Foundation Board of Directors. In addition, the Foundation may make occasional emergency one-time hardship grants to individuals in need, upon application and meeting objective criteria established by the Board of Directors. The Foundation will hold fundraisers and events throughout the year to raise funds for charitable support. The Board of Directors of the Foundation will accept financial donations from the general public; will research, review, and select scholarship recipients and individuals in need; and will distribute and monitor grant funds to such individuals. Approximately 90% of the Foundation’s time will be spent on awarding scholarships, charitable fundraising, and grant-making activity.