Distribution Policy

Adopted by Board of Directors: June 1, 2013
Amended by the Board of Directors April 29, 2024

1. Financial Aid Distributions:
   The Denver Actors Fund may provide financial-aid distributions to Qualified Distribution Recipients only under the following circumstances
   • Medical Expenses:
     • When a Qualified Distribution Recipient requests assistance with presently unpaid medical expenses incurred as the result of a medical condition or injury; and upon provision of written documentation of such expenses by the Qualified Distribution Recipient.
     • Qualifying medical expenses include those directly incurred by the Qualified Distribution Recipient, or medical expenses incurred by the QDR’s spouse, legally committed partner or children that become the provable legal responsibility of the Qualified Distribution Recipient. This benefit does not extend to parents of the Qualified Distribution Recipient.
     • The Denver Actors Fund will consider reimbursement of medical expenses that the Qualified Distribution Recipient already has paid within six months of the date of the application.
     • Qualified Distribution Recipients requesting funds for medical expenses incurred over a period of more than 12 months must submit a separate application for aid each calendar year. In addition to the documentation set forth above, such Qualified Distribution Recipients shall also provide documentation of their own good faith efforts to pay their own medical expenses and/or documentation verifying their inability to do so.
   • Living Expenses:
     • When a Qualified Distribution Recipient requests assistance with limited, essential living expenses incurred because unable to work an existing job while recovering from a medical condition or injury for a period of up to three months
     • With written verification from a licensed medical professional that the medical situation impacts the Qualified Distribution Recipient’s ability to work an existing job.
   • Lost wages:
     • When a Qualified Distribution Recipient requests assistance with limited reimbursement of provable lost wages because unable to work an existing job while recovering from a medical condition or injury for a period of up to three months.
     • With written verification from a licensed medical professional that the medical situation impacts the Qualified Distribution Recipient’s ability to work an existing job.
   • End of Life Expenses:
     • To provide financial assistance to the legally responsible next of kin upon the death of a Qualified Distribution Recipient, only when the legal responsibility for those expenses becomes the responsibility of the next of kin. Such financial assistance may include payment of any or all of the following:
       • Unpaid and verifiable medical expenses incurred by the Qualified Distribution Recipient;
       • Verifiable funeral and/or burial expenses incurred by the next of kin to a Qualified Distribution Recipient. This benefit is limited to parents, spouses or legally committed partners of a Qualified Distribution Recipient when those burial expenses become their legal financial responsibility.
       • Verifiable funeral and/or burial expenses for a spouse, legally committed partner or child of a Qualified Distribution Recipient when those burial expenses become their legal financial responsibility. This benefit does not extend to their parents or other extended family members.
       • A “Memorial Distribution” of up to $1,000.00 made directly in memory of the Qualified Distribution Recipient to an arts-related organization of the next of kin’s choosing.
     • To provide financial assistance to a Qualified Distribution Recipient following the death of a member of his or her immediate family (spouse, legally committed partner child or parent), only when those medical expenses become the provable legal responsibility of the Qualified Distribution Recipient.
2. Qualified Distribution Recipients:
   • Individuals seeking Financial Aid Distributions from the Denver Actors Fund shall:
     • Have lived in Colorado for at least six months prior to submitting the application for Those six months do not have to have been continuous, nor must they have immediately preceded the request for aid. But they must have taken place within one year of submitting the application for aid, and so long as the applicant meets all other eligibility qualifications.
     • Have worked as a performer, designer, crew member, or in any other position actively involved in the artistic creation of a show, for a credible theater company operating in Colorado within the five-year period preceding the application for distribution.
     • The Denver Actors Fund may waive the five-year eligibility requirement when a previously Qualified Distribution Recipient no longer participates in the making of live theatre due to retirement (minimum age 65) or has not participated in the making of live theatre in the previous five years because of a documented medical issue or issues (any age).
   • The following classes of individuals shall not be eligible to receive a distribution from the Denver Actors Fund:
     • Current directors or officers of The Denver Actors Fund.
     • Former directors or officers of The Denver Actors Fund within two years of the end of their service in such capacity.
   • The Denver Actors Fund may, at its sole discretion, decline to provide a disbursement to an otherwise qualified individual under any of the following circumstances:
     • Otherwise qualified applicants whose medical need has arisen during the commission of a crime for which they have been convicted, not including minor traffic offenses not resulting in injury to others.
3. Lifetime Benefit Limit:
   • Lifetime Aid distributions to any individual Qualified Distribution Recipient (or their next of kin on their behalf) shall not exceed seven percent of the balance of the Denver Actors Fund General Fund. The Executive Director shall calculate this Lifetime Benefit Limit based upon the balance of the Denver Actors Fund General Fund on the date of our most recent monthly bank statement.
   • The Board of Directors may approve distributions in excess of the Lifetime Benefit Limit on a case-by-case basis by a unanimous vote.

4. Individual Case Benefit Limit:

   • The maximum any individual Qualified Distribution Recipient (or their next of kin on their behalf) may be reimbursed for any single submitted medical expense shall not exceed 1.5% of the Denver Actors Fund’s present total assets. The Executive Director shall calculate this Lifetime Benefit Limit based on the date the applicant’s application.

   • The Board of Directors may approve distributions in excess of the Individual Case Benefit Limit on a case-by-case basis by a unanimous vote.

5. Role of Executive Director:
   • The Executive Director shall review all applications for Financial Aid Distributions and determine whether each applicant is eligible to receive such a distribution.
   • The Executive Director may make a Financial Aid Distribution of up to $2,000 to any Qualified Distribution Recipient without obtaining prior approval from the Board of Directors.
   • The Executive Director shall not make any Financial Aid Distribution of more than $2,000 without prior unanimous approval of the Board of Directors.
6. Discretion of the Board of Directors:
   Upon request from the Executive Director, the Board of Directors may, by unanimous vote, authorize any Financial Aid Distribution that it deems to be consistent with the mission of The Denver Actors Fund, regardless of whether such distribution is otherwise authorized by this Distribution Policy.
7. Applying for Financial Distributions:
   • Individuals seeking financial distributions from the Denver Actors Fund shall submit a written application through DenverActorsFund.org.
   • The Executive Director shall have the sole authority to determine the content and form of the aid application.