From swirling origins including mental illness, drugs and a legal battle over the legacy of an extremely wealthy and extremely unusual Capitol Hill man, the Raynier Institute & Foundation is, today, a mostly unknown entity providing financial support for an eclectic list of cultural organizations on the Hill and beyond.

Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times deemed him “the nicest guy you never knew.” After his death in 2005, Capitol Hill resident Jim Ray left his $78 million estate to the Raynier Institute & Foundation, a private grant giving foundation he founded in 1994. This Seattle Times article documents Ray’s period of mental illness and drug abuse, his recovery and a legal battle over his decision to leave the entirety of his fortune to the foundation. Those rocky days are history. Today, Raynier is focused on its giving.

Photo: Raynier Institute & Foundation

After Ray’s death, the foundation’s grant giving was threatened by a lawsuit from his sister. The suit was settled and Ray’s sister briefly served on the board of directors. She passed away last year.

To date, the foundation has given more than $10,000,000 (Roughly 12 percent of the estate) to various organizations in Seattle, some of it on Capitol Hill where Ray lived on 3.7 acres near Interlaken Park. Ray had a fondness for the Broadway neighborhood where he gave $1,500 to the Seattle Museum of Mysteries the year of his death, an organization the foundation continued to give to in the founder’s honor. To date, the Museum of Mysteries (which will be moving off Broadway this summer) has received $29,000 from the foundation. Other Capitol Hill organizations that have received grants include the Richard Hugo House, which has been gifted $15,000 to date and the Lambert House received $21,500. None of these organizations could be reached by deadline to answer the question of what percentage of donations these gifts represent.

Rays interests were eclectic and the foundation’s grant list is a testament to that. He was interested in the mystical, at-risk youth and the arts.

Ray loved bumper stickers and pithy sayings; he used to say, “Give until it feels good,” said Brad Trenary, vice president of the Raynier board of directors. “It’s a random thing we’re doing here.”

Trenary is a 30-year resident of the Hill himself and says he too values the neighborhood so loved by Ray.

“I’m particularly interested in community building. Capitol Hill is a unique community,” Trenary said. “I’ve received the benefit of that incredible neighborhood.”

The foundation has been Seattle-centric until now but it is looking for opportunities to stretch its giving across the country.

Trenary said he does not know what is in store for the foundation’s immediate future but the board wants to turn their focus to the East Coast. They are currently researching deserving organizations doing good on the other side of the country.

“The whole idea is to make a change, not just put on a band-aid,” Trenary said.