Community Foundation's Sharing Community Funds Announce $1.1 Million in Funding for Regional Nonprofits

The Greater Washington Community Foundation is excited to announce close to $1.1 million in grants awarded through it’s Sharing Community Funds this past cycle.

The Sharing Community Funds bring together donors who share our passion for building more equitable, just, and thriving communities.  With expert facilitation by Community Foundation staff, donors join together to learn first-hand about the challenges facing our community. Thanks to the generosity of this growing community of givers, together we discover and invest in visionary nonprofits working on the frontlines of our region’s most pressing needs.   

See below for a complete list of our nonprofit partners for 2022.

2022 Sharing DC Nonprofit Partners

• 2022 Multi-year grant recipients (DC)

  Dreaming Out Loud to create economic opportunity for DC’s marginalized communities through creating a healthy, equitable food system by driving a new framework for sustainable economic development for Black and Brown DC residents, food entrepreneurs, and farmers in our region.

  Empower DC to enhance, improve and promote the self-advocacy of low- and moderate-income DC residents through grassroots organizing, popular education style training, leadership development, and member-led campaigns strategically designed to influence pressing social issues impacting our constituency.

• 2022 Grant recipients (DC)

  Ayuda to advocate for low-income immigrants through direct legal, social and language services, training, and outreach in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

  Bread for the City to help Washington, DC residents living with low income to develop their power to determine the future of their own communities by providing food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services, to reduce the burden of poverty, in addition to community organizing and public advocacy.

  First Shift to help working parents in low wage jobs assert their workplace rights to prevent job loss by focusing on legal issues including paid sick time; family medical leave; D.C. paid family leave benefits; workplace discrimination based on pregnancy, family responsibilities, or domestic violence.

  SMYAL to support and empower lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. SMYAL’s goal is to create opportunities for LGBTQ youth to build self-confidence, develop critical life skills, and engage their peers through service and advocacy.

2022 Sharing Prince George’s Nonprofit Partners

• 2022 Multi-year grant recipients (Prince George's County)

  Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Prince George’s County to partner with the juvenile court to improve the lives of children living in foster care who have suffered from abuse and neglect. With a strong commitment to diversity, CASA/ Prince George’s County trains and supervises volunteers from the community who advocate for the best interest of children, recognizing and respecting each child’s individual needs. By providing a voice to children in the foster care system, it’s goal is to help children and promote the timely placement of those they serve in safe, permanent homes.

  CASA de Maryland, Inc. to create a more just society by building power and improving the quality of life in working class and immigrant communities. Their vision is for a future in which immigrants stand in their own power, their families live free from discrimination and fear, and diverse communities thrive as they work with partners to achieve full human rights for all.

  Community Crisis Services Inc. to provide compassionate crisis support through its hotline, safe-shelter programs and information and referral services.

  Hillside Work Scholarship Connection to provide compassionate crisis support through its hotline, safe-shelter programs and information and referral services.

  Community and Family Youth Services (CAFY) to guide child crime victims in Prince George’s County through the process of testifying in court. CAFY empowers victims and their families to gain the confidence to help hold offenders accountable, restore families and educate the community. They are the designated victim services provider for the four largest law enforcement departments in Prince George’s County. Their mission is “to embrace, educate, and empower those impacted, affected or harmed by crime or trauma on their journey to justice and healing”. All victims are embraced – irrespective of age, gender, religion, ethnic background or sexual orientation.

2022 Sharing Montgomery Nonprofit Partners

• 2022 Multi-Year Grant Recipients (Montgomery County)

  Black and Brown Coalition to engage underserved families to advocate for federal, state, and local supports of intensive and research-based academic interventions targeted toward students with the greatest need.

  Montgomery County Food Council to build a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable local food system. Its leadership helps the many county food providers strategically work together to better serve the 100,000+ residents who do not know where their next meal will come from.

• 2022 grant recipients (Montgomery County)

  Asian American LEAD for academic support and enrichment for children of low‐income Asian American families.

  BlackRock Center for the Arts to support arts access celebrating diversity, along with COVID-19 response to address community need for food and other essentials through the new Consolidation Hub.

  Care for Your Health for culturally sensitive in-home health care for seniors.

  Career Catchers to provide personalized employment and job skills counseling for low-income and chronically under-employed residents.

  Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER) to fund healthy food delivery and other health supports to people with diabetes and those severely hit by COVID-19.

  CollegeTracks to improve college access and retention rates for students at risk of not attending college, primarily first-generation, low-income, minority, and immigrant youth.

  Community Bridges, Inc to empower girls in elementary, middle and high schools through leadership development, college and career readiness, and family support and mentoring.

  Crittenton Services Greater Washington to help teenage girls achieve academic and personal success through virtual and school-based cohort programs.

  EveryMind to provide community-based mental health and social services, life-saving crisis prevention and intervention work, service coordination for veterans, and community education and advocacy.

  Future Link to provide career counseling, mentoring, tutoring, academic advising, scholarships and internships to help connect disadvantaged youth to post-secondary educational opportunities.

  Generation Hope to mentor and provide scholarships for teen parents pursuing college degrees. It also delivers early childhood resources, so scholars children begin kindergarten with a strong academic foundation.

  Horizons Greater Washington supports students from low-income families with academic, artistic and athletic activities for nine years, from kindergarten through eighth grade. 

  Identity, Inc to serve Latino and other historically underserved youths and their families. Identity helps youths develop social and emotional skills, excel in school, and get ready to enter the workforce.

  IMPACT Silver Spring to fund community-building work for a racially and economically equitable community in which people can take collaborative action to enact lasting change.

  Interfaith Works to provide emergency assistance and counseling, vocational services, food distributions, clothing, and shelter for those experiencing homelessness.

  Latino Student Fund to provide year-round, out-of-school programs to ensure a strong academic foundation for underserved pre-K through 12th grade students.

  Mary's Center for health care, education, social services, and ongoing COVID-19 response that builds a healthier and stronger community.

  Mobile Medical Care, Inc to support health care, medications, and ongoing COVID-19 supports for low-income, homeless, uninsured, and underinsured individuals including those with chronic health conditions.

  Montgomery Housing Partnership, Inc to develop affordable rental housing and offer Community Life programs that support young children and their families at home, ultimately strengthening neighborhoods.

  Montgomery Moving Forward to convene leaders from government, business, philanthropy, education, and nonprofits to solve complex problems facing the county.  Through capacity building programs, MMF’s leaders advocate around pressing issues of economic opportunity and early childhood education. 

  National Alliance on Mental Illness of Montgomery County (NAMI MC) to provide comprehensive support, education, advocacy and public awareness to promote recovery for those affected by mental illness.

  Nonprofit Montgomery to support local organizations with government relations, advocacy, strategic communications, financial management, metrics tracking, and cross-sector problem solving. With this support, grantees of Sharing Montgomery can access personalized support and connections to help deepen their impact.

  Nonprofit Village to provide low-cost shared office space plus capacity building resources that help organizations launch and grow. With this support, grantees of Sharing Montgomery can connect with peers and gain supports to advance their work.

  Rainbow Community Development Corporation to fund food security relief and other services including eviction and utility cutoff prevention, and temporary shelter, job search and resume assistance.

  Red Wiggler Community Farm to support on-farm training and education for adults with developmental disabilities. Half of its organic produce is donated to low-income households throughout the county.

  Shepherd's Table to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner to people experiencing food insecurity and provide free eye exams, eyeglasses, and eye treatment to those otherwise unable to access care.

  Sheppard Pratt (formerly Family Services) for clinical health services, rehabilitation services, services to children youth and families, and community and family services such as Linkages to Learning and domestic violence supports. 

Community Foundation to Manage Historic Health Equity Fund in Partnership with Committee appointed by Mayor Bowser and CareFirst

The Greater Washington Community Foundation is pleased to welcome the historic $95 million Health Equity Fund (HEF) to our philanthropic family. The purpose of this transformative fund is to improve the health outcomes and health equity of DC residents. One of the largest funds of any kind focused on community-based nonprofits that serve District residents, the HEF also is the largest in The Community Foundation’s nearly 50-year history.

“The unprecedented $95 million reinvestment in DC neighborhoods and nonprofits is a game changing opportunity,” said Greater Washington Community Foundation President and CEO Tonia Wellons. “As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic further widened and amplified pre-existing health inequities. The Health Equity Fund offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catalyze systemic, lasting change to improve health outcomes and social social determinants of health.”

The funds will be dedicated not only to closing gaps in healthcare but addressing social determinants of health including education, employment, income, housing, transportation, food, environment, medical care, outdoor environment, and community safety issues that have a positive impact on healthcare outcomes.

The HEF was established last year as a result of the resolution of litigation among the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB); Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc. (GHMSI) – a CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) affiliate – and DC Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. In establishing the HEF, the parties created an innovative and impactful way of addressing DC’s racial health gap.

The Community Foundation will oversee the administration of all aspects of the giving program including providing fund administration, financial management, investment oversight, data management, human resources administration, and compliance oversight, among other responsibilities.

Health Equity Committee

The Community Foundation looks forward to working with the newly created Health Equity Committee, which will oversee the HEF, as stipulated by the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the District of Columbia and GHMSI. The seven-member committee consists of three members appointed by the Mayor (Lori Kaplan, Dr. Tollie Elliott, and Courtney R. Snowden); three appointed by GHMSI (Dr. Djinge Lindsay, MD, MPH; Shirley Marcus Allen; and Jeffrey Franco); and one selected jointly by GHMSI and the Mayor (Nnemdi Kamanu Elias, MD, MPH). For bios of the seven committee members, click here.

The Health Equity Committee, in partnership with The Community Foundation, will develop a grantmaking strategy, approve a slate of proposed grant recipients, monitor the HEF's investments, ensure compliance with HEF's governing policies, and review all financial and program evaluation reports.

Community Foundation’s Strategic Vision

The Community Foundation was independently selected to manage the fund because of our track record of working with individual donors, businesses, and local government to manage effective community investments and create tangible, lasting change in our community. HEF goals align with our strategic vision of advancing racial equity and economic justice, especially in our region’s historically underinvested neighborhoods. Racial equity is central to our ongoing work and 10-year strategic vision to close the racial wealth gap by eliminating the historic, racialized disparities in our community.

Grantmaking

In the coming months, the Health Equity Committee in partnership with The Community Foundation will gather community and stakeholder input, identify goals and priorities, develop a grantmaking strategy based on input and an analysis of available data on the nonprofit landscape, and prepare the first competitive RFP. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, all funds are to be disbursed within five years.

If you are interested in receiving more information about funding opportunities, please sign up for our newsletter.

We offer a warm welcome to the Health Equity Fund and Health Equity Committee members and look forward to working together to address disparities in health outcomes so that all DC residents can thrive.

Partnership to End Homelessness Awards Housing Justice Grants in Honor of Waldon Adams

The Partnership to End Homelessness (The Partnership) is pleased to announce $350,000 in grants awarded to seven organizations and coalitions leading systems change efforts in DC. Selected nonprofits receive $50,000 in funding to support work to end homelessness and increase the supply of deeply affordable housing.

Systems change is the intentional process of working to make population level change for whole groups of people by disrupting and dismantling the structures of cultural, social, and economic systems that perpetuate inequities. There are many ways to transform and disrupt systems. We know that in order to end homelessness, we must create systems that center people experiencing housing instability and homelessness and that prevent homelessness in the first place. To do that, we focus on efforts developed and led by people most directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability.

Our second round of Housing Justice Grants are made in memory of our Leadership Council member, Waldon Adams, a fierce advocate for ending homelessness who was tragically killed in 2021.

This grant opportunity provides flexible funding to the seven organizations below to support their advocacy, organizing, and other systems change efforts. This funding can be used for local and federal advocacy efforts, community organizing and education, or even infrastructure to increase the capacity of these organizations and coalitions. It can be used for staffing, messaging and communications, research, or meetings and events. We know these grantees share our goal of ending homelessness and increasing the supply of deeply affordable housing and it is important to us that we support them, as the experts in how to make that happen.

SYSTEMS CHANGE Community Partners

• DC Jobs with Justice

• DC Fiscal Policy Institute

• Empower DC

• Fair Budget Coalition

• Miriam's Kitchen

• ONE DC: Organizing Neighborhood Equity

• The Washington Legal Clinic For The Homeless Inc

Last year, the Partnership awarded our first grants to advance housing justice. Together with tenants and people with lived experience, our community partners led efforts to secure:

• historic budget investments resulting in Permanent Supportive Housing for over 2,300 households;

• $50 million for public housing maintenance and repairs;

• protections for neighbors experiencing homelessness during the pandemic;

• investments in rental assistance to ensure housing instability during the pandemic; and

• more just and equitable housing policies.

These grants were made possible thanks to generous partners and donors to the Partnership’s Grantmaking Fund.

Read on to learn more about a few of our partners, their work, and strategic priorities to transform and disrupt systems and advance housing justice. 

WORKING WITH TENANTS TO BRING ABOUT SYSTEMIC CHANGE

Empower DC’s work emphasizes the housing needs of DC’s lowest income residents, those earning 30% of the Area Median Income or below, including people with disabilities, the retired, low wage earners and people coming home from incarceration or experiencing homelessness. Empower DC received $50,000 to engage in community-led planning to expand deeply affordable housing and to preserve existing affordable rental housing, including public housing.  

“While DC has affordable housing laws that other cities envy – like Inclusionary Zoning (IZ), and the Housing Production Trust Fund – in reality, these programs have not stemmed the tide of displacement or addressed the need for low- income housing. DC’s existing policies and practices systemically fail to address the need for housing at this lowest income level, targeting instead incomes at 60 or 80% of the Area Median Income when units are built with public subsidy from the Housing Trust Fund or set aside by developers through IZ.

Empower DC addresses this inequity by organizing with people who need deeply affordable housing, including public housing residents, to push for greater investment in and protections for low-income tenants. Using policy, budget, planning and even legal strategies, Empower DC centers the expertise of low- income Black and Brown DC residents with lived experience of housing instability, elevating their voices as visionaries and champions for their communities. For more information or to get involved in Empower DC’s work, go to www.empowerdc.org.”

-          Parisa Norouzi, Executive Director, Empower DC

WORKING TOGETHER TO SECURE LIFE-SAVING HOUSING INVESTMENTS

Driven by the truth that housing ends homelessness, Miriam’s Kitchen and The Way Home Campaign community worked together to secure historic investments to end chronic homelessness in last year's budget. Now, Miriam’s Kitchen is working hard to ensure that this funding translates into life-saving housing for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Miriam’s Kitchen received $50,000 to build capacity to push for resources, policies, and implementation that prevents and ends homelessness, and to enhance and expand The Way Home Campaign, a citywide movement to end chronic homelessness.

“Through our leadership of The Way Home Campaign, we continue to convene various stakeholders, including people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, and advocates, to identify and advocate for policy solutions needed to quickly and effectively implement the over 2,300 new Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) vouchers available this year. Additionally, we, along with local and national partners, have spent much of the past year pushing back against Mayor Bowser’s harmful approach to homeless encampments and ensuring that our neighbors living outside are treated with respect and dignity.  

Mayor Bowser releases her budget proposal on March 16. This is a critical time to ensure that she hears from community members like you! Click here to urge Mayor Bowser to fully fund the recommendations laid out in Homeward DC 2.0, her strategic plan to end homelessness. To read our full budget recommendations and to join the over 7,000 individuals and 110 organizations pushing DC to end chronic homelessness, please visit www.thewayhomedc.org.”

-          Lara Pukatch, Chief Advocacy Officer, Miriam’s Kitchen

Historic Opportunities in the Fight to End Homelessness in DC

By Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness

As the Mayor and City Council are considering the FY2023 budget for DC, we face a historic opportunity to end chronic homelessness in DC. Last year, the DC Budget made significant investments in Permanent Supportive Housing, a proven solution to end housing instability for individuals who have experienced homelessness for an extended period of time and who struggle with complex health challenges such as mental illness, addiction, physical disabilities, or other chronic conditions.

This year, the Partnership to End Homelessness is working with our nonprofit, government, and public sector partners to build on this progress and leverage both federal and local resources available to end homelessness and make even more investments in long-term solutions.

We know that our investments alone will never end homelessness and that public sector resources must be targeted to support our neighbors who are struggling with homelessness and housing instability. That is why we created the Partnership to End Homelessness – to bring together public and private sector around a shared strategy to ensure all our neighbors have a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

We hope you will consider joining us in this critical work. There are three immediate and exciting opportunities to help advance the work of the Partnership in 2022:

1. Securing Public Sector Investments for housing and ending homelessness
   Last week, we sent a letter to Mayor Bowser asking her to use the revised 2022 budget and 2023 budget to continue to address housing challenges — specifically by expanding Permanent Supportive Housing, as well as Rental Assistance and Eviction Prevention.

   In addition to our own advocacy, we’re making our second round of housing justice grants to support our nonprofit partners leading budget advocacy and other essential systems change efforts. Last year their work secured historic investments, including almost 2,300 new vouchers for Permanent Supportive Housing. You can read more about those grants and how to get involved here.

   If you live or work in DC, we encourage you to get involved! Our elected officials need to hear from you. Tell them that increasing access to affordable housing and ending homelessness are a priority and that our future will be stronger if we do these things. Our partners at The Way Home Campaign have made it easy, click hear to send a letter now .
   

2. Investing in our nonprofits to leverage federal resources to end homelessness
   DC has an opportunity to leverage up to $20+ million in annual federal resources for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) services in DC. This year, DC will launch a new Medicaid Benefit that will provide higher reimbursement rates for nonprofit providers and new and ongoing federal resources for ending homelessness in DC.

   In order to successfully leverage these resources, nonprofits will need to adopt new practices, quality control checks, and new or updated internal systems related to human resources, accounting, and compliance functions. We are working with our partners to raise critical funds to invest across the system to ensure all nonprofit partners, including smaller Black and Brown-led organizations, are ready to make this transition and leverage these new resources.

   Learn more in our recent blog post or support this work now by contributing to our Grantmaking Fund.

3. Ensuring housing stability through rental assistance and eviction prevention

   One of the key roles that we, as philanthropy, can play is that of convener. In response to the devastating effects of the pandemic and economic crisis, for over a year now, The Partnership has been working with Urban Institute and The DC Bar Foundation to convene key partners – including local government, philanthropy, legal services, landlords, and housing counseling organizations – to prevent evictions and connect tenants to available rental assistance.

   We know that our Black and Brown neighbors have faced higher rates of unemployment and eviction during the pandemic With 21,000 DC residents currently unemployed, we cannot stop working to ensure tenants can stay in their homes. We will continue to advocate for additional resources for tenants and to work with our partners to develop new systems that support tenants and their landlords to increase housing stability.

We know that increasing housing stability and ending homelessness will pay off, in stronger families, stronger communities, and a stronger future for this region. Research confirms that housing instability harms a child’s development and an adult’s ability to get and retain employment, and that providing housing stability creates better health and better futures for children, their families, and single adults.

This year presents an opportunity for DC. How will we respond? Ending homelessness will take everyone working together and doing their part. We hope you will join us.

The Partnership to End Homelessness works to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring in Washington, DC. By joining together, we can increase the supply of deeply affordable housing, bolster our response system to help more people obtain and maintain stable housing, and ultimately end homelessness in DC

Letter to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser from the Partnership to End Homelessness Leadership Council

Dear Mayor Bowser:

We are writing on behalf of the Greater Washington Community Foundation and its Partnership to End Homelessness Leadership Council to thank you for your commitment to addressing homelessness in DC. As you work to finalize your budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, we ask you to take bold action to end homelessness and make substantial investments in housing that is affordable to DC households with extremely low incomes.

As you know, the Partnership to End Homelessness is a collective effort of private sector business leaders, philanthropists, and national and local nonprofits working to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring. We are committed to doing our part to end homelessness in DC. However, we know that we cannot do it alone. Public sector investment and commitment, aligned with private sector resources, is the only way to ensure that everyone in our community has the stability that housing provides.

The pandemic has emphasized how critical the role of housing stability is to everyone’s health and security. It has reminded us that far too many DC households are faced daily with housing instability and little or no financial cushion. And it has shown us what we can accomplish as a community when we commit to finding the resources to end homelessness.

As leaders in the business, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors, we all want to live in a community that has worked to end homelessness, and we know that the District’s future will be stronger if we do. Ending homelessness and ensuring housing security will help children succeed in school, help workers be more present and productive, improve the overall health and well-being of residents, and reduce stresses on DC’s social safety net.

We are deeply appreciative that the budget for the current fiscal year took a major step toward ending homelessness, with funding to help thousands of people to move from homelessness to permanent affordable housing, and that you and the Council devoted a substantial amount of federal pandemic aid to address immediate housing security needs and create more long-term affordable housing opportunities. It is investments like these, sustained year after year, that will bring us to the place we all want: a District of Columbia where everyone has stable, secure, and decent housing that they can afford.

This is why we are asking you to use the revised 2022 budget and the 2023 budget to continue to address pre-pandemic as well as pandemic-driven housing challenges faced by so many, and to make continued progress toward ending homelessness and creating deeply affordable housing. We align with the recommendations of our community advocacy partners in calling on the District to use the Fiscal Year 2023 budget for bold action on our deepest inequities, especially homelessness and affordable housing for extremely-low income and very low income households.

Increased Rental Assistance and Eviction Prevention: The District has done an outstanding job of getting federal emergency rental assistance to those most at risk. Unfortunately, given the major lack of affordable housing, rising rents, inflation and ongoing unemployment, the need is so great that the District is running out of this resource. An estimated 40,000 DC residents remain at risk of eviction. We echo the concerns outlined in the letter submitted by DC Fiscal Policy Institute and 37 other organizations on January 27th, and urge you to invest:

• Necessary resources – estimated to be $200 million in rental assistance and $20 million in utility assistance – through ERAP or other programs. We urge you to do this now, through a supplemental budget for FY2022 or other means to tap the $566 million FY2021 surplus and higher-than-expected revenues this year.

• Substantial funding for rental assistance and emergency rental assistance in the FY2023 budget.

Expansion of Permanent Supportive Housing to end chronic homelessness: Even with the substantial investments in the FY2022 budget, under your new comprehensive plan, Homeward DC 2.0, we know that nearly 500 individuals and 260 families still face chronic homelessness. We urge you to implement your plan’s recommendation and invest:

• $25.9 million in permanent supportive housing for 500 individuals and 260 families

Investments to make homelessness truly rare, brief and non-recurring: The challenge of homelessness is not static, meaning that we cannot house those currently facing homelessness and expect the problem to end. Homelessness is affected by the continued and significant loss of affordable housing and the relentless increase in rents throughout DC– including the increase this year for rent-controlled units. In order to prevent homelessness and the long-term impacts of homelessness on our neighbors and our communities, we urge you to invest:

• $700,000 to prevent homelessness for 400 additional individuals through Project Reconnect

• $6.3 million in well-targeted Rapid ReHousing, including high-quality case management, for single adults

• $27.7 million in Targeted Affordable Housing for 1,040 households

• $24.2 million toward ending youth homelessness

• $1 million in workforce programming for homeless youth

• $558,000 to create a mobile behavioral health team than can meet youth where they are

• $1.8 million to continue the ReEntry Housing Pilot for Returning Citizens

• $1 million to fund B24-0106, the “Fair Tenant Screening Act of 2021,” and B24-0229, the “Human Rights Enhancement Amendment Act of 2021”

• $12.5 million to provide 65 units of transitional housing and 15 affordable housing units to survivors of domestic violence

Outreach and Other Services: While we work to ensure everyone has safe and stable housing, we must:

• Continue to provide PEP-V, non-congregate shelter options for residents experiencing homelessness who are at high risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19

• Fund robust street outreach, focused on housing

• Invest $300,000 in additional capital funds to build two 24-hour, 7-day public restrooms

Preserve Public Housing, Expand Affordable Housing: We urge you to use the FY 2023 budget to make a substantial commitment to deeply affordable housing for households earning 0- 30 percent of the Median Family Income (MFI). Housing that is affordable to households with extremely low-income households is the only real long-term solution to ending homelessness. This includes:

• At least $12.9 million in Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers to ensure that half of the Housing Production Trust Fund units will be affordable to people below 30 percent MFI, as required by law.

• Maintain stable funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) and strengthen transparency and reporting requirements to ensure the fund is meeting statutory affordability requirements.

• $17.3 million for 800 Local Rent Supplement Tenant Vouchers, to assist those on the DC Housing Authority waitlist.

• $60 million to repair and preserve public housing.

• $20 million to preserve affordable housing though the Housing Preservation Fund.

• $1.3 million to expand and provide tenant vouchers to 60 returning citizens .

In a community where over 85% of individuals experiencing homelessness are Black, addressing homelessness and investing in deeply affordable housing is a matter of racial equity and social justice. Our city and nation’s history of denying access to economic opportunity to Black people and those in other marginalized communities – relegating Black people largely to lower-paying occupations, denying access to federally guaranteed mortgages, allowing restrictive covenants and more – created the conditions we now see, where median Black household income is less than one-third median white household income and median wealth for Black households is less than one-eightieth the average white household wealth. The large majority of Black households are renters and thus subjected to the relentless increase in rents as the District develops, and most do not have the finances needed to move to homeownership, leading to displacement and/or homelessness. We have an obligation to reverse these conditions– especially as the Nation’s Capital.

Opening up opportunities to affordable housing and wealth building will pay off, in stronger families, stronger communities, and a stronger future. Research confirms that housing instability harms a child’s development and an adult’s ability to get and retain employment, and that providing housing stability creates better health and better futures for children, their families, and single adults.

Thank you again for your leadership and commitment to ending homelessness in our city. We urge you to make 2023 the year that DC makes bold and significant investments to end homelessness and to increase the supply of deeply affordable housing.

Sincerely,

Tonia Wellons
President and CEO, Greater Washington Community Foundation
Partnership to End Homelessness, Leadership Council Co-Chair

David Roodberg
CEO and President, Homing Brothers
Partnership to End Homelessness, Leadership Council Co-Chair

Donor Update: The ACE Act and Donor Advised Funds

You may have noticed that donor-advised funds have been featured more prominently over the last few weeks. That’s in part because the Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on February 3, 2022.

Portions of the bill are designed to address concerns that donor-advised funds are not required to make distributions to charities according to any timeframe or monetary level.

Donor-advised funds are excellent charitable planning tools for many situations, including for individuals and families who want to organize a regular stream of giving to community organizations and unlock illiquid assets to do so. The proposed legislation recognizes special categories of donor-advised funds established at community foundations, referred to as Qualified Community Foundation Donor Advised Funds, which are treated favorably for tax deduction purposes.

We’re tracking closely the various conversations surrounding this proposed legislation, including a proposal by some community foundations that calls for a five percent aggregate minimum payout and other measures to address concerns while also maintaining the characteristics of donor-advised funds that motivate more charitable giving overall.

As with any proposed legislation, no one can predict whether or when new laws impacting donor-advised funds will be enacted, and if they are, what parts of the proposed legislation will be included in the version that becomes law. What we can tell you is that we are watching this legislation very carefully, just as we do with any proposed legislation that could significantly impact your charitable giving strategies. 

Our team at The Community Foundation has decades of experience working with professional advisors and donors to evaluate whether and how to adjust their charitable giving. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you!

What a Wonderful World! A Celebration of Cultural Relevancy in Education Through Reading in Montgomery County

By Grace Kim, AmeriCorps member at The Community Foundation

On March 2, 2022, the Children’s Opportunity Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation hosted a social media event ‘What a Wonderful World! A Celebration of Cultural Relevancy in Education through Reading in Montgomery County’.

The event was part of Read Across America Day -- the nation’s largest celebration of reading which inspires individuals, both young and old, to pick up a book and read.

This event was completely virtual, with videos being released on our social media platforms (@communityfndn) at the top of each hour from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Some inspiring takeaways from our spotlights were:

• Helen Winder, program coordinator for Wheaton Woods Imagination Library program, explained how "culturally relevant books help children shape their identities." The Wheaton Woods Imagination Library program coordinator, provides free books for young students ages 0-5.

• Cultural relevancy is "not a zero-sum game" where "some groups will lose and others will gain. No one loses, we all gain," from Diego Uruburu, who co-founded the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Excellence and Equity and is the Executive Director of Identity Youth.​

• Shebra Evans, member of the MCPS Board of Education, shed light on the school district's "asset-approach to expanding culturally relevant literacy into the instruction and that means that we are viewing the skills, knowledge, background that each of our students bring to their educational experience and that we value it."

• Myrna Peralta of CentroNía explained the influence of linguistic diversity on which educational resources are brought to classrooms with different language-speaking instructors. She also shared that it's a "natural developmental requirement that we acknowledge and promote the diversity with our children from a very early age." CentroNía incorporates bilingual and multicultural supports to provide quality early childhood education to students.

• For the last segment of the event, Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz and MCPS Principal Shawaan Robinson read aloud Juana Martinez-Neal’s book, Alma and Her Name, in Spanish and English respectively.

Parents, students, and educators were encouraged to participate by using the hashtag ‘#ReadAcrossMoCo’ on social media. See below for the complete list of videos!

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Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - Story Tapestries

In this video, we spotlight nonprofit partner, Story Tapestries, and the creative ways that they promote cultural relevancy in learning.

Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - Imagination Library

In this video, Helen Winder, Montgomery County Public School Parent Community Coordinator shares the impact that Wheaton Woods Imagination Library is having in the lives of children at Wheaton Woods Elementary.

Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity & Excellence

In this video, Diego Uruburu, co-founder of Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence shares what it means to be culturally relevant.

Community Partner Spotlight - Shebra Evans

In this video, Shebra Evans, Montgomery County (MD) Board of Education Member shares why cultural relevancy and literacy are so important to Montgomery County Public Schools.

Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - ISPOT

In this video, one family shares the impact that ISPOT, a Children's Opportunity Fund nonprofit partner, has had on their learning experience.

Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - CentroNia

In this video, Myrna Peralta, President and CEO of CentroNía shares the importance of incorporating cultural relevancy into everyday classroom learning.

Nonprofit Partner Spotlight - Arts on the Block

In this video, Chris Barclay, Interim Executive Director at Arts on the Block explains how their program is supporting culturally relevant learning through the arts.

Read-Aloud in Spanish & English

In this video, Gabe Albornoz, Montgomery County (MD) Council President and Shawaan Robinson, Montgomery County (MD) Public School Principal read "Alma and How She Got Her Name" by Juana Martinez-Neal.

The Community Foundation Reflects on Black History Month

During the month of February many organizations make statements intended to honor Black people’s legacies of struggle and triumph in this nation. While these statements are often made as a genuine celebration of and commitment to Black America, at the Greater Washington Community Foundation, we recognize that our words must be matched with action. We know that commitment to an idea — or in this case, to the Black community — is so much more than a monthly theme that begins on February 1 and ends on February 28. 

So, instead of a traditional Black History Month statement, we take this opportunity to openly acknowledge and wrestle with our past — and to model, perhaps imperfectly, an appropriate way to honor and venerate Black history past, present, and future.

We begin by acknowledging a hard truth: At various points in our region’s history, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has been part of efforts to advance Black people’s struggle and legacy of overcoming — and at times we have also been an actor in a system designed in many ways to undermine Black lives. While commitments to diversity and racial equity abound across the philanthropic field, the depth and the cost of this harm continues. Until we, as a foundation and a larger philanthropic community resolve to acknowledge and address this, it will be impossible to fully realize our purpose and our potential.

One thing is clear: as a community foundation with the sole purpose to support and strengthen our region, we need to do better. To that end, for the past several years, we have been on an organizational learning journey as we recommit to centering racial equity and inclusion in all aspects of our work — from our internal processes to our infrastructure, programs, and community leadership work. Recently, we completed a strategic planning process which culminated with our Board of Trustees and staff adopting a new 10-year strategic vision to close the racial wealth gap in our community.

As part of that strategic vision, we commit to focusing our leadership, advocacy, and investments on increasing economic mobility and directing more investment towards economically excluded neighborhoods and community organizations that serve them, which in our region are overwhelmingly Black.

This strategic vision for the future of our region was not developed in isolation. Rather it’s the culmination of many years-worth of conversations, studies, initiatives, and investments in and with our region’s BIPOC communities.

More recently, this vision has been shaped through our efforts to balance speed, equity, and impact as we distributed $11 million in community support through the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. Additionally, in 2020-2021, we made historic investments in Black-led social change, from grants to support Black leaders through the Black Voices for Black Justice Fellows to nearly $1 million invested in the sustainability of 17 Black-led organizations, to major investments in direct cash transfer programming.

These are but a few of the next steps in our efforts to support those who are making Black history every day in our region. At The Community Foundation, we recognize that there is still much to learn – and a whole lot more to do – before we can achieve racial equity in our region. Until then, we are proud and committed to stand with our Black neighbors and communities every step of the way. 

Black-led organizations share impact of last year’s sustainability investments

For many nonprofit organizations in our region, the COVID-19 pandemic tested them in ways they had never imagined. Faced with the combined challenges of an uncertain environment, limited availability for volunteerism and an overwhelming demand for services, many organizations and their staff were pushed to the limit.

But perhaps none have been tested so severely as Black-led nonprofits.

Historically, philanthropy has woefully underinvested in Black-led organizations. A report by Echoing Green and The Bridgespan Group found that even in areas where work targeted Black communities, Black-led organizations had 45 percent less revenue and 91 percent less unrestricted net assets than white-led organizations.

With a mission to advance equity and prosperity, the Greater Washington Community Foundation is working to close the racial wealth gap and mindful of our obligation to change how we look at our approach to philanthropy.

So last year when Facebook approached us with a generous gift intended to support BIPOC communities, The Community Foundation was eager to invest it in Black-led nonprofit organizations working in the critical area of Systems Change, serving Greater Washington. Grants were awarded to address immediate infrastructure needs such as leadership development, human resources and technology – areas that are traditionally difficult to fundraise for, yet incredibly vital to the sustainability of an organization – especially during a pandemic.

Recently, we reached out to them to understand the impact this funding had on their organization. Here are quotes from a few of those sustainability grantees:

Mamatoto Village is a DC-based nonprofit devoted to serving Black womxn and providing perinatal support services

"Receiving the Sustainability of Black-led Organizations grant has helped Mamatoto Village bolster our data and social impact initiatives. With this grant funding, our organization was able to purchase the SoPact Impact Cloud–– an innovative resource that is helping our organization accurately describe the social impact of our services.”

“The Greater Washington Community Foundation grant funding was instrumental in bolstering our advocacy and organizing efforts by allowing us to train and pay community members who are interested in advocating for maternal health rights and equity.

The Community Foundation grant funding has helped our organization meet necessary infrastructure needs as we continue to serve womxn, families, and communities in the Greater Washington region."
-Jordan McRae, Grants Manager, Mamatoto Village

“Racial Justice NOW is grateful for the support we've received from the Greater Washington Community Foundation's sustainability fund. This support has helped us with our strategic planning efforts as we work to map out our work and desired impact over the next few years. Without this support, it would've been extremely difficult to move forward with this process. The work we do in Montgomery County is very important because we center Black people unapologetically, that's self-determination!”

– Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, Co-Founder & Director, Racial Justice NOW!

"Facing the challenges of COVID, the Greater Washington Community Foundation grant allowed us to add a social media advisor to our team to help us expand our presence across the community.  With the funds, we established a virtual classroom to 1) support our middle student tutoring program, 2) produce a series of issue-focused public service announcements, and 3) deliver our monthly community forums to address critical issues facing our families. "

-- Jim Paige, Executive Director, Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria

The Sustainability Grant allowed CCNA to bring on a social media advisor, who helped the organization to expand their community awareness, through social media graphics like this one.

2021 Sustainability of Black Led Organizations Grantees

• African Communities Together

• Bread for the City

• Collective Action for Safe Spaces

• Community Grocery Co-Op

• Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria

• Critical Exposure

• DC Justice Lab

• Dreaming Out Loud

• Harriet’s Wildest Dreams

• Life After Release

• Mamatoto Village

• Many Languages One Voice

• ONE DC

• Progressive Maryland

• Racial Justice NOW!

• Serve Your City/Ward 6 Mutual Aid

• The National Reentry Network of Returning Citizens

Children's Opportunity Fund and Partners Reactivate Equity Hubs

Recent school closures across Montgomery County, due to the Omnicron variant of COVID-19, led Montgomery County Public Schools to turn to the Children’s Opportunity Fund (COF) at the Greater Washington Community Foundation and its partners to reactivate a proven program to support virtual learning for children and their families.

Initially launched in the Fall of 2020, the Educational Enrichment and Equity Hubs program provides a safe, structured learning environment for children from low-income families who lack internet access or technical support at home.

Each equity hub follows strict safety protocols and has adult staff on-site to support virtual learning and after-school programming. Last year, the program served more than 1,500 students at 70 different locations throughout Montgomery County. For more information about the Equity Hubs Program, click here!

Although the pandemic and necessity of virtual learning may be temporary, the Greater Washington Community Foundation recognizes that many of the challenges that students and families face are not. The Children’s Opportunity Fund will continue working with the community and its partners to understand the evolving needs of the most marginalized youth and families in order to close the opportunity gap in Montgomery County.  

The Children’s Opportunity Fund can only do this work with the help of cross-sector partners across Montgomery County. You can play an active role in ensuring that young people continue to have access to safe, quality learning opportunities and enrichments that support their academic and personal development, regardless of socio-economic status, race, or housing situation. Join us to ensure that all children have access to the essential services and growth opportunities they need to thrive.

Quarterly Community Update

Dear friends of The Community Foundation,

I hope you and your family had a safe and healthy holiday season and a happy new year!

Thanks to the continued compassion and care of our community of givers during a time of deep uncertainty, 2021 was another record year for generosity in Greater Washington. In 2021, we welcomed more than 51 new funds to our Community Foundation family and our donors collectively invested more than $86 million to support nonprofits responding to critical needs, nurturing an equitable recovery, and working to strengthen our region and beyond.

If you plan to continue or grow your giving in the year ahead, please make sure to follow our updated gift transmission guidelines for a variety of ways to contribute to your fund at The Community Foundation. It is crucial that you follow these instructions – especially including the fund name along with your contribution – to ensure timely processing of your gift. If you have any questions or need assistance with your gift, please contact us at 202-955-5890 or [email protected].

At The Community Foundation, we are grateful to be your trusted philanthropic partner and proud of what we have accomplished together for our community. In 2021, your support enabled us to:

• Develop a new strategic vision to close the racial wealth gap in our region's underinvested neighborhoods.

• Direct investments toward equitable recovery strategies – including feeding families facing personal crisis, closing the opportunity gap, supporting survivors of domestic violence, and building stability for more families.

• Make historic investments in Black-led social change work to build political and economic power to transform systems.

• Lead eviction prevention work in DC, expand educational equity in Montgomery County, and increase economic mobility in Prince George’s County.

• Enhance our investment management services and pursue mission-driven investments that are aligned with our values.

As we embark on our new 10-year strategic vision, we plan to engage our entire community in discussions about how we will work together to co-create a brighter future for our region where people of all races, places, and identities reach their full potential and prosper. From our quarterly book club convenings to our grantmaking and investment strategies, we are committed to fully embodying the values of racial equity and inclusion in all aspects of our work and operations. For example, our new Investment Policy Statement outlines our approach to exercising competent and socially responsible stewardship in managing financial resources in alignment with our vision for a just and equitable region.

Thanks to your generosity and the inspiring service of our community partners, I am hopeful about what we can accomplish together in the year ahead. There will be challenges still to come, but I am confident we can continue to get through them together.

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO

P.S. In case you missed it, our OCIO recently recorded this video to share an investment outlook and performance update.

Top 10 Milestones to Remember: 2021 in Review

Now that 2021 is over, we’re reflecting on and celebrating our most impactful stories from the past year – from releasing our new strategic vision, to historic investments in Black-led change, to a $1 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott that boosted our recovery work for local arts groups. Here are some of our most meaningful milestones from 2021. 

Together, We Prosper: Launching a New Strategic Vision for Closing Our Community’s Racial Wealth Gap

In October, we shared the culmination of months of deep heart work: our 10-year strategic vision to close our region’s racial wealth gap. First unveiled at our annual meeting, the vision centers on three core leadership pillars: leading with racial equity and inclusion, aligning business with values, and closing the racial wealth gap. We envision a future where all have the opportunity to prosper – and know together, we can realize this vision as reality.

Celebrating Our Community’s Champions

View a recording of our Celebration of Community Champions program.

In May, our virtual Celebration of Community Champions lifted up our collective COVID-19 response efforts and the everyday heroes – local individuals and companies – who stepped up for our region in exceptional ways. We were proud to highlight Feed the Fight as our Community Hero; Food for Montgomery as our Collaborative Hero; CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield as our Corporate Hero; and Dr. Monica Goldson, Senator Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. (in memoriam), Steve Proctor, and Dr. Alvin Thornton as our Civic Heroes. The evening also featured special performances from Arts on the Block, DC Jazz Festival, the Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate, and Synetic Theater.

Historic Investments in Black Leaders and Black-Led Nonprofits

Jawanna Hardy, a US Air Force veteran, leads an outreach program providing resources to communities affected by youth homicide, suicide, and mental health illnesses.

We were proud to make several historic investments in Black-led change impacting our region. Through our Black Voices for Black Justice Fellows, an initiative launched in 2020 with Bridge Alliance Education Fund and GOODProjects, we selected 10 inspiring Black leaders and activists on the frontlines of advancing racial equity and social justice. Additionally, a generous gift from Facebook enabled investments of nearly $1 million in 17 Black-led organizations leading systems change work. These awards supported the immediate infrastructure needs of grantees, including staffing, strategic planning, marketing and communications, professional development, and more. 

Direct Cash Transfer as a Vehicle for Speed, Inclusivity, and Equity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Community Foundation and many of our philanthropic partners embraced giving directly—transferring cash to people—as an effective and efficient means of providing relief to those hit hard by the sudden economic and health emergency. Since the onset of the pandemic and in partnership with donors, nonprofit organizations, and local government agencies, we facilitated the administration of approximately $26 million in funds, distributed in increments of $50 to $2,500 to approximately 60,000 residents across the Greater Washington region. Urban Institute published a report chronicling the goals, strategies, and short-term achievements of our effort to develop and implement cash transfer strategies at the height of the pandemic. 

Advancing Housing Justice and Preventing Evictions

Housing Counseling Services received a grant to help tenants apply for rental assistance by meeting them where they live, learn, pray, and play.

Our Partnership to End Homelessness continued its critical eviction prevention work in response to the pandemic and economic crisis. Its work to advance housing justice included more than $300,000 in grants to address our region’s housing crisis and inequalities by funding seven nonprofits leading advocacy and organizing efforts. Hear from our Community Investment Officer Jennifer Olney on the Partnership’s eviction prevention work and her explanation of common misperceptions about homelessness – and how you can get involved in helping more people obtain and maintain stable housing during a crisis and beyond.  

Improving Equity and Economic Mobility in Prince George’s County

Jacob’s Ladder was selected by ELIF members to receive a microgrant for its Academic Enrichment Program that provides tutoring, basic literacy skills, and mentoring to students.

Our Emerging Leaders Impact Fund (ELIF), a new giving circle for young professionals in Prince George’s County, announced its inaugural grants to five Prince George’s County nonprofits working to combat chronic absenteeism in County schools. ELIF is currently recruiting new members for 2022; Interested candidates can apply here. While our Equity Fund, which works to eliminate social and economic disparities in Prince George’s County, awarded $440,000 in grants to help 19 nonprofits advance food security, affordable childcare, and workforce equity. These grants were made possible thanks to a generous gift from the Ikea U.S. Community Foundation. 

Increasing Food Security and Educational Equity in Montgomery County

Food for Montgomery received our Collaborative Hero Award for its public-private effort to coordinate and expand food distributions, support local farmers and small businesses, and improve food systems to combat food insecurity in Montgomery County.

Our Children’s Opportunity Fund was recognized by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading as a 2021 Bright Spot community for its COVID-19 response work, including the launch of Educational Enrichment and Equity Hubs. Equity Hubs offered a safe place for low-income students to participate in remote learning during school closures, welcoming more than 1,400 students across 70 sites. Our Food for Montgomery initiative has marshaled the resources of nonprofits, faith communities, local businesses, farmers, and county agencies to increase food access and help families recover from crisis. It has raised and deployed over $2.1 million to double the number of food distribution sites, help sustain local farmers and small businesses, and improve the hunger relief system to meet today’s challenges and future crises. 

Gift From Mackenzie Scott Enables Additional Relief Funding For Local Arts Groups

Dance Institute of Washington received a grant to support its facility renovation and a program evaluation with a focus on racial equity.

Arts Forward Fund was established in partnership with The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to help struggling arts and culture organizations to adapt their programming to survive and recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic. In 2021, the initiative was recognized by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott with a $1 million gift as part of a cohort of equity-focused efforts. Thanks to Scott’s generosity, we were able to award a second round of grants in September 2021, investing in nearly 90 local arts groups. In total, the fund has made nearly $2.7 million in grants to 130+ organizations – 60% of which are BIPOC-led or BIPOC-serving.

Turning Ideas Into Action for Community Change

Learn about several of our Community Action Awards supported projects in this video produced by our partners at Comcast.

As the last step in our three-part VoicesDMV community engagement initiative, we awarded our inaugural Community Action Awards microgrants to 50 local activists, artists, and advocates leading neighborhood-based projects which advance equity and inclusion. Projects included public murals in Brookland, Forest Bathing in Maryland, yoga and dance accessibility, and more. In December, our former Senior Advisor for Impact Benton Murphy reported back how grantees are doing – and the collective impact of these projects - read his post for several inspiring videos and photos. 

Aligning Our Business With Our Values: A New Partnership With SEI

Check out this video featuring our OCIO providing an update on your investment options and their performance.

We believe to truly affect change, our values must inform and drive our actions – and this was the impetus for partnering with SEI as our outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO). The leading global investment firm is known for its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, values we wholeheartedly share. As an OCIO with 450+ clients worldwide – more than 170 of which are nonprofits – SEI serves as an extension of our staff, providing world-class investment expertise and constant focus on managing the charitable funds you have entrusted to us. Check out this new video featuring our OCIO providing an update on your investment options and the performance of our investment portfolio.

In Memoriam: Diane Bernstein, Jane Bainum, Milt Peterson, Senator Mike Miller, Waldon and Rhonda

As a member of our Partnership to End Homelessness Leadership Council, Waldon Adams was instrumental in our work to ensure everyone has housing they can afford.

Last year, we lost several special members of The Community Foundation family. We pay tribute to former Trustee, donor, and friend Diane Bernstein; Jane Bainum, co-founder of the Bainum Family Foundation and longtime philanthropic partner; Milt Peterson, trusted donor and founder of Peterson Companies; and the beloved Senator Mike Miller, one of our 2021 Civic Hero honorees. We also remember and honor our friends Rhonda Whitaker and Waldon Adams, two tireless advocates for ending homelessness who passed away unexpectedly in April. 

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From Crisis to Recovery: A Pivotal Year

You can also view our FY 2021 annual report for more highlights from our crisis to recovery work in 2020-2021.

The Community Foundation Invests $6.2+ Million in 70 Nonprofits Nurturing Equitable Recovery

Grants aim to increase food security, close the opportunity gap, support survivors of domestic violence, and build stability for more families.

The region’s largest local funder has announced more than $6.2 million in grants to 70 nonprofits addressing issues facing families and communities in the Greater Washington region as they adapt to a post-pandemic life. 

The Greater Washington Community Foundation is investing in equitable recovery targeting a wide range of challenges, from helping families facing food insecurity, to advancing educational equity, supporting survivors of domestic violence, and building stability for more families. 

These grants represent initial investments that lay the groundwork for The Community Foundation’s new 10-year strategic vision to close the region’s racial wealth gap. The Community Foundation’s new strategy focuses on increasing economic mobility by prioritizing historically underinvested BIPOC neighborhoods that have been systematically denied access to wealth building opportunities. The Community Foundation is specifically interested in neighborhoods and census tracts that are experiencing the highest incidences of system-induced inequities in the areas of health, homeownership, education, employment, income, and life expectancy. 

“The pandemic not only increased demand for housing, food, and educational supports, it also exacerbated and brought longstanding inequities into focus,” said Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “These grants will help our nonprofit partners sustain and continue to adapt their services to support equitable recovery by providing individuals and families with what they need to survive and thrive today and for the long-term.”

Food Security

With 1 in 10 Montgomery County residents facing food insecurity due to COVID-19, The Community Foundation’s Food for Montgomery initiative is marshaling the resources of nonprofits, faith communities, local businesses, farmers, and county agencies to increase food access and help families recover from crisis. Grants totaling $959,590 will build the resiliency of 14 nonprofit and faith-based partners to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs throughout Montgomery County.

Afrithrive to support its two-acre farm and community gardening program to engage African immigrants in growing culturally specific produce which is hard to obtain through most food distribution providers. 

American Muslim Senior Society to support staffing, equipment, and cold storage necessary to strengthen its food security work and maximize the power of its volunteer network.

BlackRock Center for the Arts / Up-County Consolidation Hub to hire a bilingual social worker to connect vulnerable families to sustainable food resources and supports that are vital to their recovery.

Celestial Manna for staffing needed to advance food recovery efforts that prevent food waste and save thousands of dollars.

Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming to support the development of an urban farm and community gardening program in Wheaton, MD that will enable residents to grow their own culturally appropriate food.

Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER) to support community-garden work that will engage Long Branch area residents to grow their own food for their community.

Guru Gobind Singh Foundation to support expanded storage that will enable this volunteer-driven effort to sustain its food security work.

Kingdom Fellowship CDC / East County Consolidation Hub to support the development of an innovative cold storage resource to help hub partners prevent waste and distribute food more efficiently. Hub partners include Kingdom Fellowship, Rainbow Community Development Center, Kings & Priests Court Int'l Ministries, and People's Community Baptist Church. 

Manna Food Center, A Place of Hope, Co-Health, Ethiopian Community Center Maryland, Identity, Kings and Priests’ Court International Ministries, and Southern African Community USA to enable outreach partners to connect residents with Manna Food Center’s resources and provide vouchers to purchase culturally specific foods to meet their needs.

The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland and its partners, the Crossroads Community Food Network and FRESHFARM, to build the capacity of local farmers markets so they can more effectively reach and serve customers that rely on federal nutrition benefits, thereby increasing access to healthy food from local farmers.

Rainbow Community Development Center for staffing necessary to foster resiliency in the East County region through collaborative work with key partners and to sustain the organization’s expansion spurred by the pandemic.

Red Wiggler Community Farm to employ adults with developmental disabilities to grow healthy food for group homes and food distribution partners throughout the county.

Shepherd’s Table to support the necessary equipment and kitchen improvements to sustain and deepen collaborations bringing prepared meals to individuals and families facing food insecurity.

WUMCO for expanded cold storage that will enable the collection of more donations from local farmers and hunters to distribute in the rural, Up-County area. 

Education and Literacy

The Community Foundation’s Children’s Opportunity Fund (COF) is a public-private partnership that invests in innovative, evidence-informed efforts targeted at reducing educational disparities to close the opportunity gap in Montgomery County. Reading mastery is a key predictor of a student’s career attainment, and the most critical time to gain these skills is between birth and third grade. Recent grants of $200,000 will further COF’s strategy to improve third grade literacy rates by supporting early literacy programs, tutoring programs, and out of school time activities. 

Kid Museum to create an intentional curriculum for students in Grades K-3 that integrates STEM, literacy, and social emotional learning at Rolling Terrace and Strathmore, two Title 1 Elementary Schools -- in the spring the program will be piloted at additional elementary schools. 

Imagination Library to expand its program developed for children from birth to age 5 in seven zip codes to receive free, high-quality, age-appropriate books delivered to their home every month. 

Survivors of Domestic Violence

In partnership with the Prince George’s County Department of Family Services, The Community Foundation administers the Domestic Violence Community Grants Fund to support nonprofits assisting families and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking to achieve a greater level of independence and self-sufficiency, cope with healing, and rebuild the family unit. Grants of $120,00 to four organizations will support counseling services, housing and transportation, and legal services.

Community Advocates for Family and Youth to support the recently launched Begin Again and Thrive program to address housing needs by providing emergency accommodation, permanent relocation, and financial assistance. 

Community Crisis Services to provide shelter transportation, limited rental support, and to meet individual needs such as school lunches or school supplies for a family or student. 

Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County to continue funding a staff attorney position and program offering legal assistance.

House of Ruth Maryland to support the provision of counseling/therapy services including IPV education, safety planning, and trauma reduction. 

Children, Youth, and Families

The Community Foundation administers the Fund for Children, Youth, and Families, a five-year initiative, to invest in effective organizations working to make the community more vibrant, healthy, and stable. The 2021 cycle includes nearly $4.8 million in multiyear grants to 50 nonprofits offering housing services, permanency support, academic support, and early career development programs.

826DC to help students improve writing skill development and increase fluency with writing based on the National Writing Project standards.

Adoptions Together to provide training for families interested in fostering and to place foster children in permanent homes.

The Arc of Prince George’s County to support participants of the Ready@21 Program, which helps young adults through career coaching and resume development to increase job readiness, improve college awareness, and develop self-advocacy skills.

Aspire! Afterschool Learning to improve reading instructional level by one grade or more for students in its afterschool care program.

The Barker Adoption Foundation to provide older foster child adoption training and facilitate the placement of older foster children and/or sibling groups.

Bread for the City to support advocacy efforts for families at risk of housing displacement and to provide direct services to families through the Food Program, Clothing Program, Medical Clinic, Social Services Program, and Legal Clinic.

Bright Beginnings to support early childhood development for children ages 0-5.

Carpenter's Shelter to help families who enter shelter to gain stability and transition to permanent housing and sustain independent living.

CASA for Children of DC to provide advocacy support for reunification, adoption, or guardianship for foster youth and workforce development activities for older foster youth.

Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) to provide trainings and support for pre-adoption and post-adoption guardians.

Central American Resource Center to provide financial training and planning to support stable housing for Latino immigrants.

Children's Law Center to provide legal representation for child welfare cases to ensure children are growing up in permanent, stable families.

Community Crisis Services, Inc. to assist households experiencing homelessness and/or domestic violence to access safe, permanent housing.

Community Family Life Services to provide intensive financial coaching, financial case management, and wrap around supports for women seeking housing stability.

Cornerstones, Inc. to provide rental assistance services for at-risk tenants.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/ Prince George's County, Inc. Support the Job Readiness and Transitioning Youth program, which ensures that at youth participants who emancipate will do so with stable housing

Voices for Children Montgomery to provide placement in safe homes for clients at case closure.

DC SAFE to help clients move to safe transitional or permanent housing after their stay in SAFE Space.

DC Volunteer Lawyers Project to offer advocacy and referrals, including enforcing victim rights in housing, employment, and public benefits, as well as provide legal assistance and advocacy with victim legal rights.

DC127 to help teen parents who are aging out of foster care be prepared for a life of independence with stable housing, jobs, and increased access to supportive services.

District Alliance for Safe Housing to help families transition from emergency shelter to more permanent housing with increased economic and housing stability.

District Of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment to help secure long-term housing for residents displaced and impacted by public housing redevelopment.

Doorways for Women and Families to provide re-housing supportive services to help participants achieve stability and transition to permanent housing.

The Dwelling Place, Inc. to help program residents remain stably housed and maintain compliance with program requirements through case management, increasing financial stability, and home visits.

Family & Youth Initiative to assist participant teens in foster care with finding an adoptive family and provide continuing support to participant youth who age out of foster care.

Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso to provide afterschool and summer programs for children in the child welfare system to allow them to develop positive relationships with adults and peers.

Crittenton Services of Greater Washington to increase school attendance, academic engagement, and grade point average for Goal Setting Girls participants.

Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center (FAPAC) to provide training, peer support, financial stability, and individual advocacy to foster families in DC.

Homeless Children's Playtime Project to provide ongoing play programs and supportive services for homeless children in DC.

Hope And A Home, Inc. to help resident families increase financial stability and make progress towards transitioning into and/or maintain permanent, stable housing.

Horizons Greater Washington to provide literacy and math academic enrichment support for students.

Housing Up to provide employment support, rental assistance, and financial support services for affordable rental housing buildings.

Interfaith Works Inc. to help families experiencing homelessness achieve stability and transition to permanent housing with the assistance of case management and supportive services.

Martha’s Table to support academic enrichment for the six developmental domains — early literacy, early math, language, cognition, physical development, and socioemotional development.

Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc. to support the Home Visiting Program, which encourages early childhood development through reading, storytelling, and singing with young children daily.

Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. to help residents maintain on time rent payments and permanent, stable housing.

My Sister's Place to help residents increase income, provide case management, and transition to transitional or permanent housing.

National Housing Trust Enterprise to help NHT households participate in financial programs and maintain stable housing.

Neighborhood Legal Services Program to host “Know Your Rights” presentations and represent clients in cases involving housing discrimination, illegal eviction, rent increases, housing conditions, voucher termination, and loss of subsidies.

Neighbors Consejo to assist low-income families in transitioning from shelter to rental housing, while helping them improve their personal and financial stability.

Northern Virginia Family Service to provide foster care pre-service training and Resource Parent certification.

One Common Unity to improve course grades, increase class attendance, and reduce punitive disciplinary actions for students in the Fly by Light program.

One World Education to increase research and writing skills as well as social and emotional learning for students.

The Platform of Hope to provide housing, education, employment, family stability, finances, and health support services for low-income families at risk for homelessness.

Prince George's Child Resource Center, Inc. to improve language and cognitive abilities through participation in child development and parent/child learning activities.

Reading Partners to help students meet or exceed their primary, individualized end-of-year literacy growth goal.

Right Beginnings Inc. to provide career development, mentoring, and career counseling to homeless women seeking to increase financial stability to find housing.

Rising for Justice to provide tenant rights educational trainings and legal services for tenants in need of improved housing conditions or facing eviction.

Sasha Bruce Youthwork to help at-risk youth achieve safe and stable living environments.

Stepping Stones Shelter to help resident families increase their income during stay and move on to stable housing utilizing a subsidy program.

Philanthropy is a journey: Our Tips for Giving With Confidence

By Rebecca Rothey, Chief Philanthropy Officer

As I was listening to a presentation by the author of a new book, In Defense of Philanthropy by Beth Breeze, it struck me that the need to defend philanthropy may come as a surprise to some readers. However, as Beth pointed out, there is a growing effort to denigrate philanthropy and the value it brings to our communities. At The Community Foundation, we have the privilege of  working directly with generous individuals and families who care about their community, and seeing firsthand the impact that philanthropy can and does accomplish for our region and beyond.

As we enter a new year with continued uncertainty about the pandemic, our economy, and even the very future of our democracy, philanthropy remains more important now than ever. I remain heartened by the many ways in which our donors have stepped up in response to community challenges – from combating gun violence to supporting animals, the arts, and the environment. Notable examples include:

Peace For DC was established by a grieving father to address the rise of gun violence in DC. Peace for DC will build community capacity and fund evidence-based gun violence intervention solutions to drastically reduce DC homicides over the next 5 years—and help bring racial and economic justice to DC’s most under-resourced communities.

Ann Manheimer established her legacy to provide a way for people to prepare for service-oriented work that will meet future societal needs. Her inspiration grew from her career at the US Department of Education, volunteer work with seniors and animal rescue, and travel to places of both great natural beauty and stunning man-made art.

On July 4, 2020, 11-year-old Davon McNeal lost his life to gun violence as he was leaving a Stop the Violence cookout with his mother. After consulting Davon’s mother, DC residents Mary Grace and Al Rook founded the Davon McNeal Memorial Fund to give at-risk youth in Wards 7 and 8 a respite from potential violence through pro-social programs in sports, the arts, and education.

We are proud to partner with these donors to help pursue their philanthropic goals by making the set up and administration of their charitable giving simple and convenient for them -- including suggesting the best structure for the charitable fund, providing staff expertise, receiving gifts, making grants, and covering accounting.

While the word “journey” has become over-used, through the course of my career I have learned that those moved to address concerning challenges or to preserve valued purposes engage in an ongoing learning process. Philanthropy does not have all the answers. What it has is a commitment to asking questions and to acting in response to current answers. Answers inevitably lead to more questions. Better to generate a new set of questions, and possibly more effective answers, than to do nothing.

We are grateful that you have chosen to partner with The Community Foundation on your philanthropic journey. As we approach the end of another unprecedented year, I want to leave you with a few of my top tips for the most effective way to maximize your giving and philanthropic work, now and in the future:

• Gift appreciated stock that you have owned for more than one year. With the possibility of capital gains tax rates going up next year, this year may be an especially advantageous time to gift assets held long-term. With the past year and a half’s market gains, you may still have long-term gains in your portfolio and there is an opportunity to capture the gains into a philanthropic fund. Donating appreciated securities to your fund may mitigate the impact of capital gains taxes. As a reminder, always let us know when you are making a gift of stock.

• If you are over 70.5 years old, make a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA. While these gifts may not be granted to a donor-advised fund, there are several other ways for you to directly transfer up to $100,000, including your required minimum distributions, from your IRA to minimize your reportable taxable income . Ask us how!

• Bundle your giving into a donor-advised fund. With the currently higher standard deduction and limitations on SALT deductions, only approximately 8% of tax filings now itemize. A large gift in one year to a donor-advised fund can potentially lead to a larger charitable income tax deduction in the year given and the grants can be made over a period of two or three years.

• Maximize your gifts of cash to take advantage of the opportunity to deduct up to 100% of your adjusted gross income through the end of this year. These gifts may not be made to a donor-advised fund.

I encourage you to speak with your financial advisor or accountant about the most tax efficient ways to give.

As always, feel free to reach out to us if you have questions or want more information about any of these options. You can reach us Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Please note our holiday closures on December 24 and 31, and special hours on December 23 and 30 when we will close at 1 p.m.

I wish you a safe and connected holiday season.

Following up with our Community Action Award Winners

By Benton Murphy, outgoing Senior Advisor for Impact

Earlier this year, the Community Foundation issued $100,000 in small grant awards to community partners across the region through our Community Action Awards. The Awards were provided to a cohort of 50 activists, artists, and advocates leading neighborhood-based projects that would spark change in their communities. 

The Community Action Awards are part of our three-part VoicesDMV series, a powerful community engagement initiative launched in 2017 to explore our region’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. In 2020, VoicesDMV tapped into Community Insights through a regional survey and convened hundreds of residents from across the region to discuss ways to make our communities stronger through On The Table conversations.

While many of our Awardees are still working to finalize their programs, we are thrilled to share some highlights of some excellent programs that have taken place over the past year.

American University and EL Haynes Public Charter School received an award to support their Action Research for Community Change project. The project, sparked by a conversation that took place as a part of our On the Table day of dialogue in 2020, was an innovative and impactful partnership that paired AU college students and high schoolers at EL Haynes Public Charter School in conversations on race and equity. Students at both institutions participated in virtual classrooms together, co-learning and co-designing a community action research project. AU students developed a curriculum and guide for community action research. EL Haynes students conducted a bilingual survey of the student body with more than half of student responding. Based on student responses, the action researchers made a series of recommendations that yielded commitments from school leadership to hire a new social worker, offer two new elective courses focused on centering Black lives, and a commitment to using student surveys to inform future teacher professional development. What’s more—AU students developed a workbook on action research that the students can use in future years to continue to lift up student voices for change!

The Brem Foundation received an award to provide funding for its Wheels for Women program which helps connect women to breast care appointments. The District of Columbia has the highest death rate for breast cancer in the United States, and despite being diagnosed at the same rate, Black women have a 40% higher death rate from breast cancer than white women. Brem used funds to support 76 one-way rides for women to get to their breast care appointments, the majority of recipients were Black women. Brem also was able to use funds to expand from 8 to 9 community partners for rides, which will be useful for the many recipients who live very far from their health care provider.

IMPACT Silver Spring used its award to support its Sewing Academy for Latina Women. The Academy was the brainchild of IMPACT’s Women’s Empowerment Collective, composed mostly of parents of IMPACT’s youth programming or who became interested through direct outreach at local schools. The award funded the purchase of sewing machines and supplies, as well as compensation for experienced seamstresses who served as instructors in the program. Twenty women registered for the Academy over a six-month period. The women of the Academy both built their sewing skills as well as strong bonds and a new support network. Participants were also supported to participate in civic actions, including providing testimony at Montgomery County Council hearings on the importance of affordable vocational education. When the Academy students gathered with their family, friends, and IMPACT staff for their graduation in July they held a fashion show to showcase the students’ work, with one participant noting: “I made three dresses. I never thought I could do this. I’m making my dreams come true.”

This has been an especially meaningful program for me to take on as I wrap up a 17-year stint here at The Community Foundation to move on to other opportunities. Having led our inaugural Community Action Awards program, it is so wonderful to see how impactful these small-dollar grant awards can be. It is instructive for us as funders and individual donors that even a small gift can be meaningful for those who are striving to make the world a better place for everyone. I am hopeful that you will find our next crop of Awardees as inspiring as I have found this one!

View the Impact of Several Projects

Got You Covered Diaper Bag Project

Live It Learn It for Drew Elementary School

DC KinCare Alliance Relative Caregiver Community Board Outreach and Education Project

Zoom Pals, an intergenerational pilot project in a partnership between American University and Hyattsville Aging and Place

Mamas Together Mutual Aid Community Survey Project

Mamas Together Mutual Aid Community Survey Project

Baños de Bosque and Defensores de la Cuenca "forest bathing"

AALEAD Overcoming Gentrification in Chinatown

Book Club for Kids podcast

Young, Black and Giving Back Institute'sYoung, Black & Working from Home Community

Investing in Nonprofit Capacity to Leverage Federal Funds to End Homelessness

The Partnership to End Homelessness is excited to announce a $250,000 investment from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to double our support for this important project. Together, we are working to leverage ongoing federal funding to support our nonprofit partners providing Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).

In April 2022, DC is expected to launch a new Medicaid Benefit that could result in an additional $20+ million in annual federal resources for PSH services in DC.

The new benefit will allow nonprofit providers to bill Medicaid for PSH services. The additional federal funding that will be leveraged through this investment will result in higher reimbursement rates for nonprofit providers, meaning the ability to improve retention of talented, experienced staff and build internal capacity to meet new quality and outcome metrics.

PSH is a proven model for ending chronic homelessness and an effective tool that works by pairing housing with wrap-around support services. PSH services are voluntary, flexible, and individualized to help people achieve their personal goals, such as stabilizing and improving their physical and mental health, gaining employment, reconnecting with family, and participating in the community. These supports help people experiencing chronic homelessness obtain affordable housing and remain permanently housed. 

To learn more about Permanent Support Housing, check out our blog post featuring former Leadership Council member, Waldon Adams.

Image courtesy of Open Arms Housing, one of our PSH provider partners

In DC there are currently around 4,000 clients in the PSH program. Across the city, nonprofits provide supports for clients in the PSH program including housing navigation, housing stability and the basics of landlord-tenant relationships, connection to employment and training, navigation through public systems, and connection to community resources. Services can also provide clients with tools to cope with mental health, addiction, trauma, physical health problems, and other issues they might be experiencing that jeopardize housing stability.

Opportunity for Impact

In order to make this transition to billing Medicaid, nonprofits will need to adopt new practices, quality control checks, and new or updated internal systems related to human resources, accounting, and compliance functions.

Through the Partnership to End Homelessness, The Community Foundation is uniquely positioned to leverage and align private sector resources to support PSH providers to increase capacity and begin billing Medicaid. This could include technical assistance and coaching from consultants with expertise and experience with Medicaid billing and enrollment, or one-time technology investments to set-up necessary systems and tracking to bill Medicaid.

Advancing Racial Equity Goals

Ensuring all PSH providers, big and small, are able to make the transition to Medicaid billing is an important part of our goal to increase racial equity in the homeless service system. Smaller organizations, many led by Black and Brown leaders, are often the organizations that don’t have additional support and resources to increase capacity. By investing across the system and ensuring all providers have access to capacity building resources, it is our goal to ensure that all organizations will have the support they need to make the transition to Medicaid billing and benefit from federal funding and higher reimbursement rates for services. 

Advancing Public-Private Solutions to End Homelessness in DC

The Partnership to End Homelessness was created to leverage private philanthropy, in alignment with Homeward DC, the city’s Plan to End Homelessness, to create sustained investment in the homeless services system.

The Partnership is working with partners at the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) to coordinate these funds and support PSH providers and the system as a whole to make the necessary investments to access ongoing federal funds.

How Can You Help?

Join the Partnership to End Homelessness and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation in our efforts to leverage federal funding and increase the capacity of our nonprofit providers. We are bringing together private funders in order to bridge the gap between opportunity and impact. Contributing to this project can make a significant impact in ensuring support and stability for our neighbors in Permanent Supportive Housing.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness, at [email protected].

Three Ways to Address Hunger Across Our Community

By Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for Montgomery County

Since the pandemic struck, I have watched with deep admiration as our region’s food security leaders stepped up to the challenge of a lifetime. On top of skyrocketing need, our nonprofits and faith-based partners faced plummeting food donations, massive disruptions to the supply chain, and a significant drop in their volunteer workforce. It was clear that our community had to act fast to prevent our neighbors from going hungry, and we did! 

In addition to the investments from our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, The Community Foundation launched Food for Montgomery, a public-private initiative leading a coordinated response to the hunger crisis. This effort is marshalling over 100 nonprofit & faith-based food distributors, farmers, restaurants, county agencies, and generous donations from hundreds of donors. As a result, we’ve expanded access to healthy foods throughout the county to reach the 1 in 10 residents who otherwise didn’t know where their next meal would come from.

While talking with food security leaders about what they’ve accomplished and their projections for the coming year, I’ve noticed a shared concern. Many vividly recall the lopsided recovery from the 2008 economic downturn, when our lowest-income neighbors were hit the hardest and took the longest to recover. They worry that between the rise in vaccinations and improvements in the economy, donors and volunteers might think the pandemic is effectively over. In truth, our nonprofits and faith-based food distributors are serving thousands of children, seniors, adults, and people with disabilities who are still struggling. This includes many low-income essential workers (who were heralded as heroes just last year) plus families rebounding from the loss of breadwinners and caregivers due to COVID-19. 

After reflecting on the herculean efforts of our food security partners over the last year and the work ahead, I have three pieces of advice for anyone who is passionate about fighting hunger:

Support Creative & Nimble Partnerships

Manna Food Center worked with grassroots leaders, schools, county agencies, faith-communities, farmers, and other nonprofits to get food to those in need.

The most effective organizations foster strategic partnerships with other nonprofits, local businesses, farmers, etc. If you’re thinking about starting a brand new effort, I encourage you to first look into volunteering for an existing organization or explore how you might foster connections between new partners.  For donors, I strongly recommend providing flexible general operating support which was pivotal over the last year, enabling nonprofits to problem-solve quickly and work strategically to increase the number of people they could serve. If you’re looking inspiration, you give to one of The Community Foundation’s strategic response initiatives or browse our grantee lists for vetted organizations you can support directly. 

Invest in Building A More Equitable Food Security System

The deepest impact came from organizations that set racial equity as a top priority guiding all they do. For many, that means taking the time to develop relationships with the people relying on their food distributions. By listening and learning, they’ve continuously improved their services and how they reach people. I’ve also been inspired by nonprofits that partner with grassroots community leaders, empowering them to serve as connectors, identify solutions, and drive change in the neighborhoods where they live. If you are a prospective volunteer or donor, be sure to browse our grantee list to learn about the impact of these organizations. For nonprofit leaders wanting to deepen their impact, be sure to connect with your peers and The Community Foundation so we all can continue to learn together. 

Scale Innovation & Efficiency

Our partners from The Healthcare Initiative Foundation, GRO Consulting, and BlackRock Center for the Arts teamed up to create the very first consolidation hub to connect people to food and other vital supports.

In the early days of the pandemic, many partners across the region could not obtain the food, equipment, and supplies needed to keep their doors open. Fortunately, the advocacy of key local conveners — such as the Montgomery County Food Council and Prince George’s Food Equity Council — enabled nonprofits and faith communities to partner with each other and local government. By working together, we’ve been able to maximize both public and private dollars to meet the need. However, without leadership and investment, there’s a risk that we’ll fall back to the pre-pandemic levels of support to food partners. That was not enough to meet the need back then, let alone now. In addition to supporting vital advocacy and convening partners, all of us — nonprofits, volunteers, and donors — must tell our local government leaders that food security is a top priority that requires system-wide solutions. To learn about some ideas in the works, check out this recent Washington Post article featuring quotes from local government and nonprofit food champions.

One silver lining coming of this crisis is that it forced us to reimagine what’s possible and stretch the limits of what we can achieve.  For those of us who are passionate about food, that means we must continue to work together toward the goal of a community free from food insecurity. 

I hope you will join us in this work!

Changing Perceptions About Homelessness in DC

By Jennifer Olney, Community Investment Officer, Partnership to End Homelessness

This week, communities across the country marked Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, an annual program designed to bring people together to share information and stories that help draw attention to the persistence of hunger and homelessness in our community. Through our Partnership to End Homelessness, one of our goals is help to our partners and community members better understand who experiences homelessness and why, and what we can do about it.

Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about homelessness and housing instability.

It is no secret that DC has a severe shortage of affordable housing. As local housing costs continue to outpace people’s incomes, nearly 1 in 5 residents reported they could only make it by for less than one month if they lost their current sources of income. A person working a minimum wage job would have to work two full-time jobs in order to cover rent on a one-bedroom apartment in DC. Without stable housing it is hard to focus on your health, get an education, maintain employment, or take care of other basic needs.

It’s important to remember that homelessness is not a choice or an individual failure. Homelessness is the result of systems that are failing our neighbors and as a result, failing our community. Due to systemic racism and decades of discrimination in housing, employment, and access to healthcare, Black and Brown residents are much more likely to struggle with housing instability and to experience homelessness. Although Black residents make up less than half of DC’s overall population, they make up 87% of people experiencing homelessness in DC. As we talk about racial and social justice, we must also talk about housing justice.

It’s important to remember that people who lose their housing and experience homelessness and housing instability are our neighbors.

People like Shelley, a mother and veteran, who could not make enough income to afford housing for her and her daughter. Or Janet, who lost her apartment after she was laid off when her employer shut its doors.

In DC, nearly 1 in 100 residents are without housing on any given night. They’re our neighbors including working adults, people suffering from chronic health conditions, families, college students, senior citizens, LGBTQ+ youth, and veterans. With the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, many households who were already struggling, lost their jobs or childcare and quickly fell behind on rent. According to a recent analysis by DCFPI, renters in DC still owe over $70 million in back rent.

We know that in order to reach our goal of preventing and ending homelessness, it will take all of us working together and doing our part. Over the past year, we have been working closely with our nonprofit and government partners to ensure that no one loses their housing during the pandemic. We’ve also been inspired by innovative partners like Empower DC and Horning Brothers who are going above and beyond to connect tenants with available resources to help them remain stably housed.

Join us in our work to ensure everyone has safe and stable housing that they can afford.

In 2019, we launched The Partnership to End Homelessness, a public-private partnership aimed at uniting DC government and the private sector around strategies to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring. We believe that ending homelessness in DC starts with creating more supportive and deeply affordable housing and strengthening our system so people have the supports they need to obtain and maintain stable housing.

With support from our donors and investors, the Partnership has helped to leverage and align over $12 million in funding to build and preserve affordable housing, provide critical support to nonprofits working on the front lines with people experiencing homelessness, and to support advocacy efforts that secured funding for housing for an additional 3,500 households in this year’s city budget.

We are making progress, but there is more to do. During Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, the Partnership is ramping up its efforts to end homelessness in DC and I hope you will join us. To learn more about our work, and how you can get involved, we invite you to explore our website or our most recent Impact Report, and consider supporting our work with an a donation to our grantmaking program.

Quarterly Update to the Community

Dear Community Foundation Fundholders,

I hope you and your family are enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

 Thanks to the continued generosity and care of our community of givers, we collectively awarded more than $21 million in grants last quarter to nonprofits working to strengthen our region and beyond.

In August, we were proud to release our 2020-2021 Annual Report and share how we mobilized $40 million in community support to help our neighbors facing hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the incredible donors, nonprofit partners, and community leaders who stepped up to help us meet this challenge. In case you missed our 2021 Annual Meeting or the release of our Annual Report, you can find the recording and resources here.

Last quarter, our community impact work included:

• A new partnership between our Food for Montgomery initiative and Feed the Fridge to provide meals for families in need at Mary’s Center.

• Our Partnership to End Homelessness participated in the White House Eviction Prevention Summit and invested in Housing Counseling Services to help more tenants apply for and access rental assistance.

• Historic investments to address the infrastructure needs of 17 Black-led organizations, enabled through a generous $1 million gift from Facebook. 

• Additional investments from Arts Forward Fund totaling nearly $1.7 million to help 89 arts and culture organizations recover from the impact of the pandemic.

• Welcoming new funds like America Remembers Fund, which supports the “In America: Remember” art exhibition that blanketed the National Mall with 660,000+ white flags, each honoring a person lost to COVID-19.

We were proud to welcome new and diverse leaders to our Board of Trustees, Advisory Boards, and staff.

• Sarah Moore Johnson, founding partner at Birchstone Moore, was elected to serve as a Trustee.

• Anna Behnam, Christopher J. Martin, and Ana Morales joined our Montgomery County Advisory Board, and Glenda Wilson joined the Prince George’s County Advisory Board. 

• Darcelle Wilson joined our staff as the new Senior Director for Prince George’s County.

This month, we are excited to release our new 10-year strategic vision with a sharpened focus on closing the racial wealth gap in our region's underinvested neighborhoods where racialized disparities are the greatest. As we begin this journey, our intent is to engage you and our entire community in conversation to inform our learning journey and align our understanding about the root causes and the most effective solutions for closing the racial wealth gap.

With the end of year approaching, our staff can assist with carrying out your philanthropic goals for 2021. Please be mindful of our December 17 deadline for your year-end grantmaking activities to ensure your nonprofit partners receive their funds by December 31.

Thank you for your continued partnership in serving our community’s needs today, and in building a better tomorrow for the Greater Washington region. 

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO

Emerging Leaders Impact Fund Awards Inaugural Grants to Combat Chronic Absenteeism

The Emerging Leaders Impact Fund (ELIF), a new giving circle for young philanthropists in Prince George’s County, recently completed its inaugural cohort and culminating grant round. ELIF members – 40 young professionals from area colleges, businesses, and civic organizations – selected 5 Prince George’s County nonprofits to receive $11,500 in micro-grants to provide a broad range of services that are designed to address chronic absenteeism and high truancy rates in Prince George’s County schools.

School absenteeism, a problem that leads to learning loss and other negative outcomes, has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis and the need for a transition to remote learning. Children who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are less likely to be proficient readers by third grade. By sixth grade, those who miss more than 10 percent of school are more likely to drop out altogether. Frequent school absenteeism has long-term negative effects on academic performance, income, and health. The ELIF has partnered with five nonprofit organizations to address this pressing issue:

• Jacob’s Ladder to support the Academic Enrichment Program that provides tutoring, basic literacy skills, one on one instructions, small group sessions, confidence building and mentoring to students that have low grades, high rates of truancy, absenteeism, suspensions, and behavioral issues.

• L.E.E.P. to College Foundation to support pilot learning pods to enrich student learning, increase student engagement, and provide mentoring and emotional well-being support.

• Mentoring Through Athletics to support tutoring services in mathematics, reading comprehension, and writing as well mentoring and physical activities.

• S.E.A.C., Inc. (Seaton Empowering Action in the Community) to support the Math Achievers Program that provides individualized and/or small group instruction, consistent relationships between instructors and students, parental involvement, and reinforcing that learning math can be fun. 

• Sisters4Sisters, Inc. to support the Daughters of Destiny mentoring program for girls which provides workshops focusing on leadership skills, career mentoring, developing self-esteem and avoiding peer pressure.

Jacob’s Ladder Founder and Executive Director Jarriel Jordan, Sr. talks about the organization’s mission and its Academic Enrichment Program.

L.E.E.P to College Foundation Founder and Executive Director Lisa Rowe talks about how ELIF funding will help create an academic enrichment program.

Mentoring Through Athletics supports kids and families on and off the field with mentoring, tutoring, food support, and athletic programming.

“School absenteeism and truancy threatens to undermine our children’s success. We’re pleased to be partnering with so many great organizations to address the issue. These grants will help ensure that every Prince Georgian has the opportunities necessary to reach their full potential,” said Davion Percy, Co-Chair, ELIF.

The strength of ELIF lies not just in how many grants it awards, but more importantly in its ability to bring a diverse group of people together to learn about issues affecting Prince George’s County residents and make investments in programs that can help transform our communities.

The ELIF enrollment period is now open to all emerging leaders (45 years of age and under) and others that support the County’s future leaders. If you’re interested in joining a diverse group of passionate people who use the power of philanthropy to make a positive difference in Prince George’s County, click here to learn more about ELIF and become a member today!