Community Foundation Update (09/26/20)

Arizona

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona in Tucson has announced COVID-19 Community Support grants totaling $42,000 to four local organizations. The grants will support payroll for teaching staff, the purchase of school cleaning supplies and learning materials for students, and Internet support for families in need. Grant recipients include St. Andrew’s Preschool, the Tanque Verde Extended Care Program, Kino Learning, and the Cradle-to-Cradle Partnership.

California

The San Francisco Foundation has announced the appointments of Justina Lai and Justin Steele to five-year terms on its board of trustees. Lai is chief impact officer and shareholder at Wetherby Asset Management, and Steele is director of Google.org Americas.

Seeded with $250,000 from San Diego Gas & Electric, $75,000 from Wells Fargo, $25,000 from Cox Communications, and $1 million from the foundation itself, the San Diego Foundation has announced the establishment of a Black Community Investment Fund in support of innovative community-led initiatives aimed at advancing racial equity and increasing generational wealth for Black San Diegans. To that end, the fund will focus its grantmaking in four areas: education, employment, housing, and entrepreneurial activities. With funding from the Alliance Healthcare Foundation, the David C. Copley Foundation, and San Diego Gas & Electric, the foundation also announced the establishment of the Dr. Wilma Wooten Courage Scholarship, which honors the courage and leadership of Wooten, a San Diego County public health officer.

Connecticut

The Main Street Community Foundation in Bristol has announced $465,000 in operating grants to local nonprofits, including operating support grants totaling $112,353 from its COVID-19 Response Fund, Bristol Brass General Grant Fund, KAWFY Memorial Fund, and several donor-advised funds. Grant recipients include the American Clock and Watch Museum, the Bristol Recovery Club, the Veterans Strong Community Center, and Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut.

Louisiana

The Greater New Orleans Foundation, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, hosted its third annual Celebration of Black Philanthropy on September 22. Conducted virtually, this year's event honored the philanthropic legacy of the late Ellis Marsalis and the philanthropy of New Orleans Pelicans star Jrue Holiday and his wife, Lauren. The foundation also announced the launch of the $3 million Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity. Seeded with an initial investment of $350,000 from GNOF, the fund will make sustained investments in support of nonprofits working to advance racial equity locally, regionally, and across the state.

Maine

An anonymous donor has made a $200,000 gift to the Maine Community Foundation to help support theaters impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, MaineBiz reports. The gift will provide general support to a number of theater groups and venues in the state, including Bagaduce Theater, Celebration Barn, Wintergreen Arts Center, and Eastport Arts Center.

Michigan

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation is inviting local organizations and businesses to apply for impact investment loans for community-based projects in three areas: housing equity, an inclusive economy, and nonprofit infrastructure. According to the foundation, the loans are an alternative to traditional loans and carry a low interest rate pegged to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent.

New Jersey

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation has announced that its ArtsBergen initiative is working with the City of Hackensack to launch the "Hackensack on the Rise" project. In conjunction with the launch, local graphic designer and visual artist Poramit Thantapalit will create a poster design illustrating the city's renaissance, with the finished poster to be featured throughout the downtown area. Funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the project is a collaborative effort of the foundation, the Main Street Business Alliance, the City of Hackensack, and the Hackensack Creative Arts Team (CAT), a group of artists, merchants, nonprofit leaders, and public officials working to implement Creative Hackensack, a creative placemaking initiative aimed at making the city a regional arts destination.

Ohio

The Greater Cincinnati Foundation has announced grants totaling $1 million from its Racial Justice Fund in support of six nonprofits. Established in June with a commitment of $5 million, the fund will support efforts to advance fairness and justice, with a focus on large systems that disproportionately impact the African-American community. Grant recipients include Ohio Justice and Policy Change, the National Development Council, the Heights Movement, and Queens Village of Cradle Cincinnati.

Oregon

The Lemelson Foundation has announced an allocation of $150,000 to the 2020 Community Rebuilding Fund — a joint effort of the Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, and Ford Family Foundation aimed at rebuilding communities — many of which were already struggling with the health, economic, and social impacts of the COVID pandemic — damaged by wildfires that have raged across the state.

South Carolina

The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry has announced an eighth round of COVID-related grantmaking totaling $97,600 in support of ten organizations working to address critical needs resulting from the pandemic. Since April, the foundation has awarded a total of $556,000 to forty-one organizations in the state. Grantees in this latest round include Agape Family Life Center, Antioch Education Center, the Children’s Center, and Programs for Exceptional People.