Karla Stoeffler was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1932 and grew up on Eastern Avenue.  After graduating from Central High School, she enrolled in Western Michigan College, now Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree in January, 1954, and returned to Grand Rapids, where she taught second grade at Eastern Elementary School.

She married H. Barton (Bart) Hamilton in September, 1954 and the couple lived for a short time in East Lansing, Michigan.  After the couple returned to Grand Rapids in January 1955, Karla worked as an art consultant for the Godwin Heights Elementary School System. Later that year, the Hamiltons left Michigan for Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where Karla would teach second grade for the next several years.

Karla and Bart returned to Michigan in 1958, living first in Ypsilanti, and then later moving to Ann Arbor.  In addition to raising her three children, Karla returned to teaching in the 1960s, working as a preschool teacher at the Jack and Jill Nursery.  She also taught Sunday school and directed the youth choir at the First Congregational Church in Ann Arbor.  

About THE KARLA FUND

The KARLA FUND is a special children’s literacy project at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

When newborns are discharged from the hospital, the KARLA FUND provides the new parents with a packet to take home.  Each packet contains two new books, an instructional booklet for parents explaining why and how to read to their infant and what different types of books to read to a newborn, a letter of congratulations to the new parents, a terry cloth bib with an embossed teddy bear and the words “Reading is for Me”.  The packet also provides a KARLA FUND brochure and book mark, and an Ann Arbor Public Library brochure and book mark.

In addition, The KARLA FUND also maintains “the Karla Kart” in the Special Care Nursery at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital.  The “Karla Kart” provides materials for parents to use during their child’s stay in the nursery including an instructional reading video, a display of recommended children’s books to read to and the KARLA FUND packets that they take home with them.

The KARLA FUND distributes their instructional reading packets to approximately 2000 new infants and their parents each year.

The KARLA FUND is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation whose programs are supported by contributions from individuals, groups and foundations.  The fund also raises money through benefits and other activities with the assistance of our partners and supporters.  Please visit either the Upcoming Events page or the Donations page on our website for further information about how you can become involved in our fundraising activities or contribute to our organization.

History of The KARLA FUND

Karla Hamilton was an elementary school and pre-school teacher who believed that reading to children from infancy would not only provide important interpersonal bonding but would also help them develop reading skills and a love for books and learning that would serve as the foundation for later success in life.  Karla put this idea of helping children to love reading and appreciate books as babies into practice with her three children, the children of other family members, and her circle of friends.  These children learned to associate reading with warmth, caring, and the excitement of learning.

The KARLA FUND was created in 1996 by the H. Barton Hamilton and Victor Stoeffler families to honor the memory of their sister, wife, and mother, the late Karla Stoeffler Hamilton.  The organization was started as a special project within the Baby Book Club of Ann Arbor, and the Hamilton and Stoeffler families selected the Special Care and Neonatal Intensive Care Nurseries at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital as the location for their children’s literacy project. 

On May 9^th, 1997, the first fundraiser for the organization took place at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor.  The KARLA FUND raised $10,000 to order to begin supplying books and reading materials to premature or sick newborns with the support and cooperation of the staff of the Pediatric Department, the Special Care Nursery and the administration of Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital.

 In January 1998, the KARLA FUND donated the “Karla Kart” to the hospital.  The “Karla Kart” provides materials for parents to use during their child’s stay in the nursery including an instructional reading video, a selection of recommended children’s books to read to and the KARLA FUND packets that they take home with them.

In 2001, the KARLA FUND incorporated and obtained its designation as a non-profit 501(c)(3).  A Board of Directors oversees the planning and operation of the fund with members of the Stoeffler and Hamilton families participating on the board.

The KARLA FUND expanded its children’s literacy activities at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in 2002.  Beginning in July of that year, the fund began distributing their packets to first time parents in the main nursery’s Mother and Baby unit as well as to parents of sick or premature newborns in the Special Care and Neonatal Intensive Care Nurseries. This expansion of activity brings our organization closer to the goal of providing books to all infants in Ann Arbor in order to foster literacy as well as a love for books and learning.