“Educating and equipping citizens with opportunities to help themselves” is one of the guiding principles of the grantmaking at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL (June 25, 2016) – “Educating and equipping citizens with opportunities to help themselves” is one of the guiding principles of the grantmaking at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. The Foundation’s board of directors recently approved $1.2 million in community impact grants to 23 nonprofit organizations in the two-county region. Collectively, the Foundation will provide over $8.94 million in grants and scholarships in its 2015-2016 fiscal year.
“We believe in building a more vibrant community where neighborhoods are healthy, housing is affordable and all people can develop to their full potential,” said Brad Hurlburt, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “Our funding priorities for this year’s competitive grants included affordable housing, arts and culture, foster care needs, education and special needs assistance to help empower our residents to lead their best life.”
Grants were awarded through several charitable funds at the Foundation, including the MacArthur Foundation Housing Initiative; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund; The Environmental Fund; and the Hans and Mary Stratmann Fund. The grant cycle opened last fall and the process includes letters of inquiry; invitations for full proposals; site visits; committee evaluations and scoring; and final recommendations to the Community Foundation board in May.
Competitive and responsive grants are only one part of the Foundation’s annual grantmaking. Most grants are directed by donors to the causes they care about. The Foundation also has more than 100 scholarship funds, making it one of the largest providers of scholarships in the two counties. This year, the organization awarded more than $1 million to 123 local high school students.
For more information on the grants program, or about establishing a charitable fund at the Community Foundation, please call 561-659-6800 or visit www.yourcommunityfoundation.org.
Here are the 2015-2016 grantees by category:
2015-2016 Community Impact Grants
$1,226,891.00 total
$50,000.00
Palm Beach County Food Bank $50,000.00
Funded by the Community Impact Fund
$ 190,860.00
Adopt-A-Family $25,860.00
The Lord’s Place $165,000.00
Funded by MacArthur Foundation Housing Initiative
$316,498.00
Ballet Palm Beach $38,396.00
Els for Autism $143,882.00
Expanding and Preserving Our Cultural Heritage, Inc. $80,000.00
dba Spady Cultural Heritage Museum (EPOCH)
Milagro Center $31,470.00
YMCA of South Palm Beach County $22,750.00
$250,000.00
Center for Creative Education $25,000.00
Centre for the Arts at Mizner $25,000.00
Elliott Museum/Historical Society of Martin County $25,000.00
Loggerhead Marinelife Center $25,000.00
Loxahatchee River Historical Society $25,000.00
Palm Beach Symphony Society $25,000.00
Sandoway House Nature Center $25,000.00
The Arts Council, Inc. $25,000.00
Young Singers of the Palm Beaches $25,000.00
Zoological Society of the Palm Beaches $25,000.00
Funded by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund
$55,000.00
Education Foundation of Palm Beach County $55,000.00
Funded by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund
$ 148,362.00
House of Hope $128,362.00
Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast $20,000.00
Funded by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund
$140,521.00
Best Foot Forward $99,121.00
Friends of Foster Care Children of Palm Beach County $41,400.00
Funded by the Hans and Mary Stratmann Fund
$75,650.00
Children’s Services of Martin County $20,000.00
(Lawrence A. Sanders Fund to Promote Literacy and the Early Childhood Education Fund)
Clinics Can Help, Inc. $5,110.00
(Bailey Stein Fund and John T. Murray M.D. Children’s Health Fund)
Genesis Community Health $20,000.00
(Judy Lake Memorial Fund)
Grandma’s Place, Inc. $18,000.00
(Henry and Mildred Baldwin Memorial Endowment Fund and Jack Taylor Fund for Abused and Neglected Children)
Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group, Inc $4,240.00
(Bailey Stein Fund)
Miracle League of Delray Beach $3,300.00
(Cliff Williams Youth Recreation Fund and Perry-Belle and Phillip O’Connell Pioneer Fund)
T. Leroy Jefferson Medical Society $5,000.00
(Judy Lake Memorial Fund)
Grantees by region, excluding the Forever Arts & Culture
Endowment Challenge Winners:
Grant highlight: House of Hope’s Golden Gate Center for Enrichment will offer programs, classes and informational sessions in education, vocational training, life skills, health and nutrition, arts and culture and library services to notoriously impoverished neighborhood Golden Gate. The Center will help remove long-standing barriers to advancement through renovations in the neighborhood. By offering a vast array of services and programs in addition to a community garden, the Center can help residents live a better way of wife, paving the way to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Grant Highlight: Els for Autism will design and program a Sensory Arts Garden Environment (SAGE), a therapeutic garden experienced via touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste and movement. People with various special needs, their family members and neighborhood and community residents will find this creative place a tranquil destination to learn and experience performing and visual arts and appreciate diversity. The garden will offer educational and employment opportunities while also serving as a space that can be utilized by the community.
Grant highlight: Best Foot Forwards’ Grounded for Life program empowers youth in foster care to become productive members of society through academic success by providing an advocate to support their achievements in school and in life. Students commit to specific goals and are assigned to a graduation coach and/or college advisor. Coaches and counselors assist students with reducing behavioral problems, improving organization and study skills, remediating educational deficiencies and ultimately navigating the increasingly complex world of post-secondary education planning and the financial aid process.
Grant highlight: Burckle Place, a project of The Lord’s Place, provides housing programs exclusively for hundreds of single, homeless women who often do not qualify for other programs. Burckle Place is centered on the principle that the best environment to foster growth and empowerment is one rooted in community and fellowship. Residents encourage, support and uplift one another and rely on each other to achieve their goals. The program’s structure prioritizes education and skill-building. It focuses on empowering each woman to secure housing and rebuild their lives.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties is one of Florida’s largest community foundations. The nonprofit organization has provided more than $128 million in grants and scholarships over its 44-year history. At its core, the Community Foundation is an organization created with gifts from generous people committed to local causes. For donors, the Foundation serves as a philanthropic advisor. For the community, the Foundation serves as a grant maker and a civic leader. Through the support of its donors and fund holders, the Foundation has been able to address some of the community’s most pressing needs, including hunger, housing and education.
