Our fellow foundations:
GHR Foundation | Enkel Foundation | Opus Foundation | Opus Prize
We acknowledge our presence on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe and Dakota People.
Better Way Foundation was established to support the positive development of all children. Through grants and investments, we partner with communities to build a future where child well-being contributes to strong families and communities.
WHERE OUR STORY BEGINS
One of eight children and the son of tenant farmers, Gerald Rauenhorst was born in Olivia, Minnesota. He began his business career at age six, selling sweet corn on the highway. There, he learned early practical lessons on the necessity of hard work and faith.
As a student at St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Gerry invited Henrietta Schmoll, a girl from the College of St. Catherine to the homecoming Dance—a date that launched a lifetime together. The couple was married in 1950 and spent the next six decades raising seven children and living out their shared commitment to Catholic social values.
Three years after they married, Gerry used their $354 in savings to start the business that would become the Opus companies, where he pioneered the design-build approach to construction. The Opus group has grown into a family of commercial real-estate development, construction and design companies headquartered in Minneapolis.
Ever mindful of the inextricable link between business and community, Gerry and Hanky founded several philanthropic ventures including Sieben Foundation, founded in 1988 and Better Way Foundation (originally the Alpha Omega Foundation, founded in 1994), which merged in 2014 to become what Better Way Foundation is today.
OUR VISION
Our partners are finding a better way to build a future where child well-being contributes to strong families and communities
OUR MISSION
A family foundation, rooted in catholic social values, Better Way Foundation invests in systemic, holistic and evidence-based approaches that support the positive development of all children