Sylvia and Aaron Scheinfeld Foundation

In the early 1970s, Sylvia and her husband Aaron Scheinfeld, Chicago philanthropists, began sending letters to local leaders interested in racial justice, low- and moderate-income housing, and economic development. They envisioned a conference center in Woodstock, Illinois, where participants could debate social justice issues and plot solutions. The Woodstock Institute was established in 1973 as the program arm of the Sylvia and Aaron Scheinfeld Foundation. Its purposes were to conduct research, training, and education about public and private policy alternatives that would diminish discriminatory housing and investment patterns in the Chicago metropolitan area. By the end of 1976, it had become obvious that much of the Institute?s work had national implications. For this reason, the Institute was incorporated as a separate non-profit corporation early in 1977, and it began to seek grants and contract opportunities from foundations and government agencies throughout the country.The Scheinfeld?s donated the conference center to Northern Illinois University in 1987. The Woodstock Center Endowment Fund was created upon the sale of the Woodstock Center Conference Center to the McHenry County Conservation District.