Woods Canopy Fund launches on Veterans Day, inspired by a family legacy of service

Detailed summary

Family fund supports five priorities; launch includes $150,000 for Veterans Bridge Home and $100,000 for Center for Veterans Issues CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --…

Family fund supports five priorities; launch includes $150,000 for Veterans Bridge Home and $100,000 for Center for Veterans Issues

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lauren Dominique Woods and Eugene A. "Gene" Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health, know how much the right support can change a life. Today, they announce the launch of the Woods Canopy Fund, a personal family donor-advised fund created to support the organizations doing that work every day.

Gene grew up in military housing and was the first in his family to go to college. Lauren began her career as a teacher. Both credit family members, educators, mentors and others who believed in them and helped shape their paths.

With an initial commitment of $1 million in giving through 2027, the Woods Canopy Fund will help organizations build on the work they know best: supporting students, creating opportunities, strengthening communities, expanding access to mental health care, and serving veterans and military families. Those efforts reflect its five priorities: education, opportunity, community, mental health and military service. The fund focuses its giving on organizations supporting communities in the Advocate Health footprint.

"Nearly every opportunity I've had in life started with someone who believed in me and opened a door," said Eugene A. "Gene" Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health and co-founder of the Woods Canopy Fund. "They gave me chances and saw possibilities in me before I could see them for myself. Lauren and I have both been fortunate to have people like that in our lives. This fund is about gratitude and trying to do the same for someone else."

"Gene and I have seen how one person's encouragement, one open door or one moment of belief can change the course of a life. Our hope is that the Woods Canopy Fund will help more people feel seen, supported and empowered to pursue their dreams — and, in time, extend that same sense of possibility to others," said…

Launch…

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