Community Foundation to Honor Community Champions

Hundreds will gather virtually to celebrate the individual and collective efforts to address the most pressing needs of our community

In celebration of what makes the Greater Washington region truly remarkable, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has announced the honorees for its upcoming Celebration of Community Champions on Thursday, May 20, 2021. 

The virtual Celebration will uplift and honor several local Heroes for their exceptional efforts to help our community navigate the pandemic and economic crisis.

CareFirst workers delivering PPE.

• Corporate Hero: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
  For committing to distributing 1.6 million units of PPE at no-cost to nonprofit health centers and independent providers on the frontlines of the pandemic.

• Community Hero: Feed the Fight
  A community-driven, volunteer effort with a dual mission to support local restaurants and provide meals to healthcare and frontline workers.

Food for Montgomery volunteers distributing food at a food distribution site.

• Collaborative Hero: Food for Montgomery
  A 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.

• Civic Heroes
  For demonstrating outstanding civic leadership and service dedicated to improving the lives of Prince George’s County residents.

  • Dr. Monica Goldson, CEO, Prince George’s County Public Schools

  • Steve Proctor, President and CEO, G.S. Proctor & Associates, Inc.

  • Dr. Alvin Thornton, former chairman, Prince George’s County Board of Education

  • Senator Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., in memoriam

While 2020 was an incredibly challenging year, the generosity and commitment of our community has been nothing short of incredible. Since the early days of this crisis, our community has stepped up to provide much needed support and resources to help our neighbors facing hardship due to COVID-19. 

The Community Foundation was proud to partner with and serve this community during its time of need. Since March 2020, The Community Foundation has mobilized over $10.5 million in community support to help families put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, access medical care, find or maintain a job, and fully participate in remote learning.

The Celebration of Community Champions will honor the generosity of our community and help The Community Foundation continue to raise vital support to respond to this ongoing crisis and work toward an equitable recovery for our region.   

“Small actions can add up to make our community a better place,” said Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “Over the past year, our community has come together to respond to the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, economic crisis, and racial reckoning. This virtual Celebration will recognize and honor the people and partners who stepped up to meet these challenges with equally unprecedented generosity, creativity, and compassion.”

 The Celebration will feature special performances from local artists and arts organizations supported by the Arts Forward Fund and representing a range of creative expression including music, theater, visual arts, and dance. The Arts Forward Fund is a funder collaborative at The Community Foundation which provided $1 million in emergency support to help struggling arts organizations, especially nonprofits led by and serving BIPOC communities in our region. 

Celebration of Community Champions

On Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m., join us for an hour of inspiration and celebration of our collective efforts and impact. As a champion for your community, we want to uplift you and the everyday heroes - including the donors, nonprofit partners, corporate supporters, and local government advisors - who stepped up to help our community navigate this crisis.

This virtual Celebration will share the incredible stories of neighbors helping neighbors that have continued to inspire us. You will also enjoy special performances from local artists and arts organizations, supported by the Arts Forward Fund, representing a range of creative expression including music, theater, visual arts, and dance.

Save the date for May 20 to recognize and honor our community of changemakers.

Registration opens in early April and is free to our community (though donations are appreciated!).

Quarterly Update to the Community

Dear friends of The Community Foundation,

I hope this finds you enjoying a happy and healthy start to your new year. Thanks to the continued care for our community, last quarter our community of givers awarded more than $23+ million in grants to organizations serving our region and beyond.

The Community Foundation remains focused on meeting our community’s evolving needs through leading critical community impact initiatives. Last quarter, our activities included:

• Issuing an additional $2 million in grants from the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, for a total of $10 million to address the public health and economic crisis.

• Funding equity hub scholarships through the Children’s Opportunity Fund for low-income families in Montgomery County to receive childcare and remote learning support in a safe environment.

• In partnership with FSC First, distributing more than $1 million in emergency relief to support 173 small businesses in Prince George’s County through the Legacy Fund.

• Celebrating the Power of Our Community with virtual convenings reflecting on the heart and spirit of our communities in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

• Welcoming experts on racial equity and community building to our board and staff, including new Trustee Dr. Rashawn Ray and new Managing Director of Community Investment Ronnie Galvin.

Our collective efforts have been recognized with several notable awards. I was proud to represent all of you when accepting the Washington Business Journal’s Nonprofit Leader of the Year award and I was humbled to be named a Hero of the Crisis by Washingtonian Magazine. And, our partnership with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield received the Washington Business Journal's 2020 Citizenship Award for our efforts to distribute thousands of PPE units to frontline workers at qualified health clinics across the region.

As our community continues to recover from this crisis, we are working to build a more equitable and resilient future for our region. With this in mind, we have embarked on a strategic planning process to identify ways to develop a fresh roadmap for the organization and how we serve this community.

Over the next several months, we will examine and fine-tune our organizational processes to serve our fundholders and our community with strengthened excellence and efficiency. We will also get crystal clear about our strategy, how to best center racial equity, and what it means to be a regional organization with the need for local, jurisdictional, and community nuance. And we will look at how we partner with our donors and fundholders so that we can fully and thoughtfully leverage your philanthropic passions into lasting community impact. 

I look forward to sharing an update with you soon. Thank you for being our partner in strengthening our communities now and for the future.

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO

COVID-19 Partners Advance Food Security and Equity in Region

More than 15% of residents in our region struggle with food insecurity—and we anticipate this only getting worse as the cold winter months continue. In response to this emergency community need, we recently distributed an additional $2.04 million in phase 3 grants from our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, helping support local nonprofits that are providing food assistance, as well as childcare, eviction prevention, and unemployment support.

Our nonprofit partners have stepped up to feed our community, and we are excited to share a few of their stories. Read on for more.

Community Outreach and Development CDC

Community Outreach and Development CDC, a Prince George’s County-based nonprofit, works to provide quality services so residents can become self-sufficient, productive members of our community. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has expanded their food assistance program to deliver to over 1,000 households who are homebound, including seniors and those who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. 

“Elderly individuals called our agency thanking us for our delivery service, especially during a time when persons were anxious about being in the public and they had underlying medical conditions. One family called stating that they tested positive for COVID-19 and had no groceries. We were able to assist that family with two weeks' worth of food while going through isolation, and provided a tub of cleaning products to help with disinfecting their home.”  -Community Outreach and Development CDC staff member

 In the below, short impact video, Corae Young, Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Development, shares more of their story.

Dreaming Out Loud

Since the onset of COVID-19, Dreaming Out Loud (DOL) quickly pivoted their program model to include meal preparation for vulnerable populations, as well as supporting mutual aid programs for residents across Wards 1, 7, and 8. This directly supports this local nonprofit’s mission—creating economic opportunities for the DC metro region’s marginalized communities through building a healthy, equitable food system.

With support from The Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, DOL provided logistics and coordination support to provide more than 200,000 meals. And, they procured produce from Black BIPOC farmers, and helped maintain community-based hires to pack and distribute food. In total, their direct COVID-19 food support has served an average of 2,000 people per week to DC residents.

“This grant allowed DOL to add capacity to support food aid to thousands of DC residents,” said Christopher Bradshaw, Executive Director. 

“It was very important the way that the food aid resources were deployed. They supported Black food makers and workers and farmers, hiring from within the community – while reaching vulnerable residents with healthy, delicious food. This is in line with our mission of creating economic opportunities within marginalized communities, while building a health equitable food system.” 

Institute for Public Health Innovation

The Institute for Public Health Innovation is focused on improving the public’s health and well-being, across Northern Virginia, Maryland, and DC. And with our region’s current food security crisis, that includes providing urgent food assistance to those in need. In response to COVID-19, the Institute has:

• Provided grant writing and development support for food assistance providers

• Developed an extensive COVID-19 resource hub for food access on their website

• Developed a partnership with La Clinica Del Pueblo that allows us to refer requests for food assistance support form Spanish speaking residents to support staff at the organization

• Acted as a liaison between donors, food providers, and Council members to help coordinate large donations

…among many others. In partnership with World Central Kitchen and National Philanthropies, the Institute was able to provide county partners with over 10,000 meals served weekly from April to June, and 8,000 weekly for the months of July and August.

“We were able to leverage our deep relationships with food and farm stakeholders, regional organizations, and county agencies to lead the County’s COVID-19 emergency food response. Support from the Greater Washington Community Foundation enabled us to quickly build staffing capacity and launch new initiatives,” said Sydney Daigle, Food Equity Council Director. 

“The programs we have launched during our grant period will support residents during the pandemic and during our County's recovery.” 

Partnership to End Homelessness Update: A Year in Review

This year, our work to end homelessness in DC has been more critical than ever, as our neighbors without housing were at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, on top of the risks people experiencing homelessness face every day. Throughout 2020, and always, our focus has been on working with our partners to look at the efforts happening across the city and to identify strategic opportunities for investment.

So, this holiday season, as we reflect on our first full calendar year of the Partnership to End Homelessness, we want to say thank you. Thank you to our donors who trusted us to stay informed and to make strategic investments that will result in fewer people experiencing homelessness and more people maintaining safe and affordable housing. Thank you to our nonprofit partners on the frontlines working to make sure our neighbors have food, shelter, medical care, and other basic necessities, in such a scary and uncertain time. And finally, thank you to our government partners who are working tirelessly to respond and direct resources where they are needed most.

Volunteers for Church of the Epiphany, a COVID-19 Response Fund partner, hand out food and supplies topeople experiencing homelessness

a year in review

With your help, this year we have provided over $1.25 million in grants to organizations supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness and housing instability during the pandemic. These grants included COVID-19 response partners Mi Casa Inc., which provides long-term support and critical housing resources; the Church of the Epiphany, which provides food to people experiencing homelessness in the community; and Bethesda Cares, which provides case management and counseling services. You can learn more about these partners and others here.

In addition to our grantmaking, since 2019 we have supported the development and preservation of over 530 affordable homes through our partnership with Enterprise Community Loan Fund. These investments will create long-term housing options for our neighbors and help to preserve and increase the supply of deeply affordable housing in DC.

Together, we have continued to invest in the strength of our system and helped to provide our neighbors without housing access to healthy meals and medical care when they needed it most. Even in uncertain times, we remain committed to supporting the creation of processes and systems that will help people exit homelessness more quickly or avoid homelessness altogether.

As we head into the new year, we know that tens of thousands of our neighbors are behind on rent and at risk of eviction. We know we must continue our emergency response, while also investing in long-term solutions and systems change that will mean less people experiencing homelessness and a more equitable response for those that do.

COVID-19 Response Fund partner Mi Casa Inc. works with Girard House Co-op to preserve affordable housing

Ways to join us

Next year, keep an eye out as we ramp up our advocacy work and continue to coordinate with our public and private sector partners. As Congress appears to be moving forward on a new COVID-19 relief package, join us in sending a message to your Members of Congress to let them know that now, more than ever, we must make investments that ensure everyone has housing where they can isolate to stay healthy, continue their education, and work to address other needs.

We hope this year, in addition to supporting the amazing frontline providers in our community, we can count on you to support our work as we continue to identify strategic investments to ensure everyone has safe and stable housing.

So once again, thank you. Thank you for all you have done this year and for joining us in our efforts to make sure that no one in DC experiences homelessness and that everyone has housing they can afford.

---

About the Partnership to End Homelessness

The Partnership to End Homelessness, led by the Greater Washington Community Foundation and the District Government’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), brings together the public and private sectors to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in DC. We believe that all DC residents deserve a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

By joining together, we will increase the supply of deeply affordable housing, help everyone find a home they can afford, and help more people access housing and exit homelessness more quickly.

Get Involved

Every action, whether large or small, can make a difference in ending homelessness. Visit EndHomelessnessDC.org to learn more.

This blog post is from the Partnership to End Homelessness newsletter. Sign up here to receive these quarterly updates.

A Year of Impact: Top 10 Stories of 2020

#1: Tonia Wellons Named Hero of the Crisis, Nonprofit Leader of the Year

It’s been a busy year for Community Foundation staff—especially for Tonia Wellons, who was named permanent President and CEO just weeks after the pandemic hit. Tonia was recently named Washington Business Journal’s 2020 Nonprofit Leader of the Year for her role and leadership in our region’s COVID-19 Response efforts; and “Hero of the Crisis” from Washingtonian Magazine. We are so proud of Tonia, and the incredible leadership she’s provided throughout this crisis. 

#2: COVID Impact Stories: Bringing Partner Voices to Life 

This special video highlights our COVID-19 nonprofit partners’ impact —and thanks donors for their incredible generosity and support throughout this crisis. 

Highlights are pulled from our individual, 2-minute COVID impact story videos, including local organizations like Black Swan, Generation Hope and Montgomery Hospice. Click here to access a full list of videos—and hear more of our nonprofit partner’s stories first-hand. 

 #3 Your Voices Matters: VoicesDMV On the Table Conversations

This WDVM segment highlights how VoicesDMV On the Table conversations brought together residents throughout the DMV area to talk about ideas for improving their communities.

On October 1, we hosted our inaugural VoicesDMV On the Table conversations, bringing together hundreds of residents from across the region for small-group conversations, remotely. Groups discussed and reimagined the future of our community, offering meaningful, action-oriented perspective on how to improve the lives of our neighbors in the DMV. Read more from Benton Murphy, Senior Advisor for Impact, who led the initiative.

#4: Arts Forward Fund Announces $1 Million in Grants to Local Arts Groups Impacted by COVID-19

This fall, together with the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and 16 other foundations and individual donors, we launched the Arts Forward Fund, an initiative to help local arts and culture organizations weather the impact of COVID-19. We were so excited to announce $1 million in grants from the fund, helping arts and culture nonprofits make essential shifts needed to sustain their work—and respond to the national movement for racial justice. 

 #5: Back to School Means Facing the Digital Divide

As remote learning continues, schools still don’t have enough devices for every student, and too many homes in DC lack access to high-speed internet. Together with the DC Public Education Fund and Education Forward DC, we established the DC Education Equity Fund, which has provided 4,000+ students with internet access. and 3,000+ students with personal devices. Read more in “Back to School Means Facing the Digital Divide,” by our partner Erin Sheehy of Education Forward DC. 

#6: #MakeADifference Mondays

This bi-weekly blog series features our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund partners’ stories, grouped by funding priority: housing and homelessness, medical care and access, education and youth, domestic and community violence, and workforce and small business. Take our #MakeADifference Monday: Housing and Homelessness blog, for example, which includes a feature on Mi-Casa, Inc.:

Through its Emergency Rental Assistance and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance programs, [Mi Casa] helped more than 15 residents access critical housing resources. More than 400 households received virtual trainings around financial education, food banks, unemployment benefits, and the financial effects of the pandemic.

Read our blog for a full list of our #MakeADifference Monday posts, sharing the difference your support has made for our community.

#7: How to Reconstruct an Equitable Future for Our Region

In this opinion piece for the Washington Post, our President and CEO Tonia Wellons and Ursula Wright, Managing Director for FSG, explore a new framework for reconstructing a more equitable future for our region. In the article, they refer to our country’s current situation as a “trifecta of crises” that threatens our nation’s public health, economic security, and democracy. 

Though this pandemic is new, racism and economic injustice are not. The pandemic has served to further reveal preexisting inequities in housing, education, health care, food security, policing and criminal justice, income and employment.

 #8: Celebrating Three Leadership Legacies

Richard Bynum, board member and President of PNC in Greater Washington and Virginia, was honored by the Washington Business Journal with the Minority Business Leader Award—an honor that coincided with two other major board member milestones. Dr. Charlene Dukes, Secretary of our Board, retired as President of Prince George’s Community College after 13 years of service. And Artis Hampshire-Cowan, Vice Chair of our Board, was honored by Leadership Greater Washington as the 2020 Leader of the Year.

Read more about their achievements and success stories. 

#9: Legacy Fund Supports Small Businesses in Prince George’s County

This fall, we were proud to launch The Legacy Fund for Small Business Development, seeded with a $1 million gift directed by Sam Brin and support from Meridiam, to provide critically needed access to capital for small businesses in Prince George’s County—one of the hardest hit groups in the County. We have disseminated $1 million in relief funds to 173 small Prince George’s County small businesses, helping them minimize vulnerability to closure and enabling them to thrive. 

#10: Celebrating the Power of Our Community

It’s been challenging year, but our community stepped up in amazing, awe-inspiring ways. Our community recently came together to celebrate these efforts at the Power of Our Community, Montgomery County and Power of Our Community, Prince George’s County, two virtual convenings that applauded the cooperative spirit of these communities and the collective impact of our work.

Read our Power of Our Community recap to watch the event recordings and view our key-takeaways and impact video updates.

Fund for Children, Youth And Families Awards $1.99 Million to Greater Washington Region Nonprofits

The Fund for Children, Youth, and Families (FFCYF) at the Greater Washington Community Foundation is pleased to announce $1.99 million in grants to 49 nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged children, youth, and families across the Greater Washington region. The organizations will receive grants of up to $50,000 for project/program support or general operating support.

These grants support organizations that are:

• Helping families experiencing homelessness, and those participating in housing-based service programs

• Closing the achievement gap for students from various racial and ethnic backgrounds

• Closing the achievement gap between low-income and high-income families by investing in early childhood education, academic achievement for school-aged children, and college preparation and career training

• Supporting children in the foster care system by promoting permanency and helping youth leaving the system achieve self-sufficiency

Watch coverage of our FFCYF grants in this Local WDVM segment

Take the Wesley Housing Development Corporation, for instance, awarded funding to help low-income households avoid eviction. The grant will help 139 households in DC to maintain their housing. Of these households, nearly 50 residents will participate in one-on-one career coaching to attain unemployment benefits or re-enter the workforce. And, they will receive material assistance, such as grocery store gift cards, hygiene items, and youth “Study & Snack Packs,” at no additional cost.

Or, CollegeTracks, a Montgomery County nonprofit that that helps prepare high school students for higher education. Our grant will help fund their College Access Program, focusing on college admissions and counseling. Of the 784 students who were enrolled in the program in Spring 2020, nearly 630 will enroll in college within a year of their high school graduation.

Our grant to Prince George’s Child Resource Center will provide child development and parent/child learning activities for 95 participants, with the goal of improved language and cognitive abilities. Within one year, we also anticipate participating parents to demonstrate an improved understanding of nurturing parenting techniques.

These are just a couple organizations and projects that we’re proud to support. Below, read on for a full list of our FFCYF grantees and their projects.

• Adoption Together
  To host informational meetings on foster care and adoption with 250 prospective families

• AHC, Inc.
  To support the development of literacy and social engagement skills for 112 students in its afterschool program

• Aspire Afterschool Learning
  To support 80 children in its LearningROCKS! afterschool program

• Center for Adoption Support and Education
  To provide therapy sessions for 33 children who are moving from the foster care system into permanent, loving families

• Central American Resource Center
  To provide housing counseling services to help 50 participants maintain stable housing

• Children’s Law Center
  To provide legal support and other service to help children grow up in permanent, stable, loving families

• Collaborative Solutions for Communities
  To help 12 families transition to permanent housing

• CollegeTracks
  To help almost 800 high school seniors enroll in college or vocational programs

• Community of Hope
  To help 14 families in remain stably housed or transition to another positive housing situation

• Cornerstones
  To help 25 families move into stable, permanent housing

• Court Appointed Special Advocate - Montgomery County, MD
  To recruit and train 100 additional CASA volunteers

• Court Appointed Special Advocate - Prince George's County, MD
  To increase capacity for its Transitioning Youth program

• Court Appointed Special Advocates – Fairfax County, VA
  To provide the services of a CASA volunteer to 292 children

• DC Bilingual Public Charter School
  To enroll 34 children in PK-3

• DC Volunteer Lawyers Project
  To train 38 volunteer lawyers to offer 140 victims legal and/or advocacy assistance

• District Alliance for Safe Housing
  To assist families through its Cornerstone Program, Empowerment Project and Survivor Resilience Fund

• District of Columbia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
  To improve the capacity of the District's 2,300 early childhood educators to identify children at risk for developmental disabilities

• Doorways for Women & Families
  To provide safe housing, life skills and employment services to 30 households experiencing homelessness

• Edgewood Brookland Family Support Collaborative
  To help 80 families and individuals obtain or retain stable housing

• Family and Youth Initiative
  To match four teens with an adoptive family

• Friends of the National Arboretum
  To provide career awareness workshops to youth from low-income communities

• Generation Hope
  To offer college readiness workshops, application and enrollment services, and ongoing support throughout college for 170 teen parents

• Good Shepherd Housing & Family Services, Inc.
  To place 90 vulnerable and homeless participant families in affordable housing

• Healthy Babies Project
  To help pregnant/parenting youth find stable housing and create educational or job readiness plans

• Homeless Children's Playtime Project
  To increase the number of advocacy coalition partners and expand support services for children in families experiencing homelessness

• Homestretch
  To provide debt and financial services and help four homeless adults transition to stable housing

• Hope House
  To provide college preparation services to high school students and ongoing support to students while in college

• Housing Up
  To help 686 families obtain and/or maintain stable housing

• Identity, Inc.
  To help 50 students demonstrate improvement or achieve their grade-level target in key literacy skills

• International Rescue Committee
  To help 70 refugees increase their incomes through public benefits and securing entry-level jobs

• Legal Aid Justice Center
  To provide housing-related legal services to more than 300 households

• Main Street Child Development Center
  To help children achieve or make progress toward school readiness goals

• Mental Health Association of Frederick County
  To close 15 cases and place foster children in permanent homes

• Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless
  To help 126 families maintain stable, permanent housing through its Partnership for Permanent Housing (PPH) program

• Neighborhood Legal Services Program of The District of Columbia
  To provide low-income DC residents and homeless families with legal and housing services

• Northern Virginia Family Service
  To help 130 households transition from homelessness into temporary housing or from temporary into permanent housing

• Prince George's Child Resource Center
  To provide child development and parent/child learning activities that improve language and cognitive abilities for 95 participants

• Reach Education
  To help high school and elementary students develop and grow their literacy skills

• Rising for Justice
  To help 1,500 tenants and their families avoid eviction

• Sasha Bruce Youthwork
  To support homeless youth and runaways with housing and family strengthening services

• Stop Child Abuse Now of Northern Virginia
  To help 75 children served by the CASA program achieve permanency in their family placements

• Shelter House
  To help 19 families achieve housing, public benefits and income stability through its RISE program

• Stepping Stones Shelter
  To help 30 families move into stable housing and increase their income

• Survivors and Advocates for Empowerment (DC SAFE)
  To assist 300 participants in successfully moving to safe transitional or permanent housing

• The Arc Prince George's County
  To support more than 40 participants with training and employment services through its Project SEARCH and Ready@21 programs

• The Barker Adoption Foundation
  To provide clients with lifelong services and advocate for ethical, respectful and child-centered adoption practices

• The Platform of Hope
  To help 60 low-income families develop life goals, increase their resource networks and participate in programs that help achieve their goals

• Voices for Virginia's Children
  To collect and distribute data-driven information to policy makers and support 1,000 children in the foster care system

• Wesley Housing Development Corporation
  To help 139 low-income households avoid eviction and maintain housing

About the Fund for Children, Youth And Families

The Fund for Children, Youth and Families (FFCYF) was established to invest in the betterment of underserved children, youth, and families across the greater Washington region - specifically, to invest in organizations achieving significant impact providing services and programming across the following program areas: Stable Homes Stable Families, Foster Care and Adoption, and Academic and Career Success. Through its grantmaking, the fund supports effective organizations working to make the community healthy and stable. Please visit www.fund4cyf.org for more information.

Deciding which charity to support doesn’t have to be hard. These tips will help.

Giving Tuesday is a global movement that’s more important now than ever - and every act of generosity counts.

Not sure where to begin? In her interview with The Washington Post, Anna Hargrave, Executive Director for our Montgomery County office, offers giving tips to get you started - beginning with what moves you.

Tonia Wellons Named Nonprofit Leader of the Year by Washington Business Journal

Dear Friends of The Community Foundation,

Photo by EMAN MOHAMMED/WBJ
Courtesy of Washington Business Journal

What a year it has been! In light of the ongoing crisis and continuing cycle of bad news, I wanted to share the exciting news that Tonia Wellons, our fearless CEO, has been named Nonprofit Leader of the Year by The Washington Business Journal.

Tonia could not have taken over as The Community Foundation's permanent President and CEO at a tougher time. Tonia has proven to be the exact right leader for this moment and for our community. Under Tonia’s leadership and with the tireless work of our amazing staff, together with the generosity of all of you and many others in our community, we have raised over $10 million to date for our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.

As we continue to respond to the ongoing crisis and move forward with other critical initiatives, I hope you will join me in congratulating Tonia by making a gift to support The Community Foundation's work.

Congratulations to Tonia for this well-deserved recognition of your hard work!

Yours,
Katharine Weymouth
Chair, Board of Trustees
Greater Washington Community Foundation

Magnifying Our Power for Change

By Karla Bruce, Chief Equity Officer for Fairfax County

Nationally and locally, there has been a growing understanding of the role of federal, state, and local government in creating and maintaining inequity—specifically racial inequity—through policy and practice. While overtly discriminatory acts based on race are now illegal, the effects of policies from previous generations, often considered “race neutral,” that regulated features of communities, including who could live where and how wealth could be built, still linger. 

Reports from the Urban Institute, and the Northern Virginia Health Foundation have documented this variance in opportunity and vulnerability within Fairfax County and across the region. The Equitable Growth Profile, produced for Fairfax County by PolicyLink in 2015, established that people of color are driving Fairfax County’s population growth, and their ability to participate and thrive is central to the county’s continued economic success. 

Adopting an Equity Lens

Fairfax County, as a local government and a community of committed service providers, has exerted considerable effort and resources to meet the basic needs of our most vulnerable residents, yet our work has not produced improvements in life outcomes at the scale desired.  The efforts, while well-intended, have focused primarily on the delivery of programs and services to individuals and families, often missing the root causes of these differences in outcomes.  

Through an “equity lens” however, the focus is shifting from centering on addressing perceived "lack” in people, to tackling the situations and conditions that are driving the inequities people face.

One Fairfax

November 2020 marks three years since the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board adopted the One Fairfax Policy, committing the county government and Fairfax County Public Schools to intentionally consider equity when making policies and delivering programs and services.

We are now gaining a better understanding of how opportunity varies, depending on who you are and where you live in the county. Our Countywide Strategic Plan is connecting our jurisdiction’s success to our ability to address the structural barriers to opportunity that exist—and build the productive capacities of all neighborhoods and residents. The plan is grounded in the concepts of Targeted Universalism and building Communities of Opportunity, which abandon a one-size-fits-all policy formula, in favor of an approach that is more place and population focused. 

Ultimately, inequities must be challenged and dismantled through the collective action of government and all aspects of community. The transformative institutional work happening inside government is informed, enhanced, and emboldened by the outside work happening with residents, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, business, and philanthropy.

Inclusive Prosperity  

The cornerstone of Fairfax County’s approach to advancing equity is addressing the wide gaps in income, employment, entrepreneurship, and other wealth-building opportunities by race and geography. With the Greater Washington Workforce Collaborative (an initiative of the Greater Washington Community Foundation) and support from Capital One, we are working with an expanding group of stakeholders, representing county agencies and nonprofits, to align efforts and fill gaps through the formation of an Inclusive Prosperity Network.  

This network will align, leverage, and develop strategies to create an ecosystem that will support the full integration of people of color into the economy, putting more residents on the path toward reaching their full potential. Initially focused on the Richmond Highway Corridor, but with a goal of applying successes and lessons learned to other lower opportunity areas across the county, the Inclusive Prosperity Network is positioned to inform the county’s future economic growth. And now, in the context of COVID-19, the Network is also positioned to foster sustained economic prosperity in Fairfax County in the county’s equitable recovery.

I appreciate having The Greater Washington Workforce Collaborative as a partner in the work of becoming One Fairfax.  

When we come together as institutions, government and philanthropy, and live into our unique roles, we are able to magnify our power to disrupt the status quo and dismantle the deeply rooted inequities that plague us and hinder our community’s progress.  Working together, we can bolster connections to the region’s assets and resources and facilitate full participation in and contribution to the region’s economic and social vitality and readiness for the future.

---

About Karla Bruce

Karla Bruce has over 20 years of local government management experience and is known as a driver of innovation in public service delivery, bridging the efforts of local government with the collective action of residents and broad networks of partners to strategically address issues facing vulnerable populations and neighborhoods.  Karla currently serves as the Chief Equity Officer for Fairfax County, Virginia where she successfully championed the adoption of the One Fairfax Racial and Social Equity Resolution and Policy and provides overall management of the One Fairfax strategic framework, advising and supporting the Board of Supervisors and Executive Leadership in shaping and directing policy and practice to foster equitable opportunity for all Fairfax County residents.

Washington Business Journal Recognizes Community Foundation with 2020 Citizenship Award

We are proud to share that the Greater Washington Community Foundation and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield are recipients of the 2020 Citizenship Award, part of the Washington Business Journal's annual Philanthropy Awards program. The award recognizes our partnership on the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield PPE Response Fund to distribute thousands of PPE units to frontline workers at health clinics across the region.

Pathways to Housing staff receive a shipment of PPE

Mission of Mercy provided free medical and dental care during COVID-19 using the gift of PPE from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield PPE Response Fund.

COVID-19 Response Fund Issues Over $10 Million in Emergency Grants

300+ Critical Nonprofits Across the Region Received Support to Weather Pandemic

The Greater Washington Community Foundation today announced an additional $2.04 million in phase three grants from the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, reaching a combined total of more than $10 million in emergency support distributed to address the public health and economic crisis. The Fund’s rapid response grantmaking helped local nonprofits to expand critical services, ensure continuity of operations, transition to virtual service delivery, and counteract lost revenue due to closures or event cancellations. 

In total, the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund’s impact includes: 

• Over $10 million raised and invested in regional response efforts

• 300+ social service and health nonprofits funded

• Grants range from $1,000 to $250,000

• 50% of nonprofit partners led by people of color

Phase three funding was spurred in part by a $1 million dollar commitment from IKEA to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Maryland where some of its facilities are located. IKEA calculated unemployment claims submitted by its employees and donated that money back to the state through a partnership with the Greater Washington Community Foundation to disperse the resources to communities in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. 

Phase 3 Grant Highlights

Improving Food Security

$250,000 to Capital Area Food Bank and its partners to address the dramatic increase in food insecurity among Northern Virginia residents in Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun counties and the City of Alexandria. CAFB’s goal is to provide an additional 9 million pounds of food in these areas, including to many disproportionately impacted communities of color.

A $200,000 investment in Dreaming Out Loud to address DC’s food security crisis by connecting fresh and nutritious food offerings from local Black-owned farms in our region to food insecure residents, including 1,300 weekly CSA shares and 150,000 prepared meals.

$188,000 allocated to help Food for Montgomery meet the urgent need for food, support restaurants and farmers by purchasing meals and fresh produce, and to strengthen our hunger relief system.

$200,000 to help resource Get Shift Done for DMV operations through the end of the year. The initiative is paying displaced hospitality workers to help local nonprofit providers prepare food and meals for neighbors facing hardship due to COVID-19.

$214,000 to support food assistance providers in Prince George’s County to make and/or deliver prepared meals, produce, and shelf-stable foods, and to connect food insecure households to additional food resources.

Support for Childcare

$188,000 allocated to the Children’s Opportunity Fund to expand affordable childcare and distance learning support options for up to 1,000 low-income families in Montgomery County.

$150,000 allocated to the D.C. Childcare Reopening Fund, in partnership with Mary’s Center, to invest in a network of local family childcare providers to ensure that low-income children and youth remain in licensed childcare programs that support healthy and safe development.

$50,000 investment in the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative, led by the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, supporting advocacy efforts to improve early childhood systems infrastructure, expand access to high quality early education programs, and help early educators effectively meet the needs of all children.

$100,000 invested alongside the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia to support local family-based early care providers through the Infant Toddler Family Day Care, a high-impact local provider that will directly support 85 Northern Virginia-based family childcare providers, all of which are led by women of color.

$50,000 to Prince George’s Child Resource Center to provide support and technical assistance to childcare providers to ensure their sustainability and ability to create healthy and nurturing environments for children by helping families and educating caregivers.

Expanding Employment Opportunities

$300,000 allocated to the Equity Fund in Prince George’s County to support programs selected through an open call for applications that are preparing workers for meaningful employment and ensuring that people facing barriers to employment can access high-quality education and job opportunities which pay a family-sustaining wage.

Eviction Prevention and Housing Stability

$150,000 allocated to The Partnership to End Homelessness for work with DC Bar Foundation and other funders to prevent evictions and help low-income residents maintain stable housing. Initial investments will focus on building the capacity of the system to make sure tenants are aware of their rights and can access the rental assistance and other resources that are available.

Previous Funding and Priorities

The COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund was established on March 12, 2020 and administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, which also was a donor to the effort. Community Foundation staff in collaboration with a steering committee and working groups, comprised of regional philanthropic leaders, subject matter experts, and local government advisors, met regularly to discuss needs, vet proposals, and coordinate efforts.

The Fund received contributions from nearly 800 foundations, corporations, and individuals. A list of the major contributors to the Fund can be found here.  

More than 1,600 nonprofits across the region applied for approximately $60 million in grants. Priority was given to direct service providers with deep roots in the community and the ability to both address urgent needs and reach historically underserved populations.

Phases 1 and 2 (March-August) investments were made across five issue areas:

• To provide cash assistance to impacted workers, including hourly and gig economy workers, contractors, and workers excluded from unemployment or stimulus funds.

• To bridge the digital divide and expand resources for low-income families, youth disconnected from school or work, and students with special education needs. 

• To provide PPE and other equipment for frontline workers, expand medical care for marginalized communities, and increase access to mental health support services.

• To support individuals, families, and youth experiencing homelessness by expanding access to housing/shelter, health care, and other emergency services.

• To help stabilize nonprofits, expand emergency food assistance, address the uptick in domestic violence, and support the civil legal aid needs of individuals and families.

Phase two investments also included funding for advocacy and community organizing projects focused on improving systems for food security, violence prevention, medical care access, affordable housing, childcare, and more.

A full list of the Fund’s grantees can be found here. To learn more about the unique stories of the organizations supported by the Fund, click here for impact videos.

Quarterly Community Update

Dear Community Foundation fundholder,

I hope this note finds you enjoying a happy and healthy start to your holiday season. Thanks to your continued care for our community, last quarter our community of givers awarded more than $17.6 million in grants to organizations serving our region and beyond.

At The Community Foundation, we remain focused on meeting our community’s evolving needs through the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. Last quarter, our work coordinating the region’s philanthropic response to this ongoing crisis included:

• Joining The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and eight other funders to launch the Arts Forward Fund, providing $1 million in relief to arts and culture organizations across the region.

• Distributing more than $2 million from the DC Education Equity Fund to ensure students have the resources and materials they need to continue their education.

• Raising over $500,000 through the Children’s Opportunity Fund to support learning hub scholarships for low-income students in Montgomery County to receive supervision and help with remote learning.

• Partnering with FSC First and a generous donor to launch a $1 million grants program to provide emergency relief to small businesses in Prince George’s County.

• Partnering with Ikea to distribute over $1 million in funding to address childcare, unemployment, and food security in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

As our community continues to recover from this crisis, our goal is to work together to build a more equitable future for our region. We are approaching this work by listening to and learning from our community.

This summer, through our VoicesDMV initiative, we released new data from our Community Insights survey of residents conducted by Gallup, and launched a series of Social Justice Town Halls to unpack findings related to inequities in housing, education, employment, food access, and entrepreneurship. Earlier this month, we brought together residents from across the region for On the Table conversations to discuss and reimagine the future of our communities. Now, we are offering Community Action Awards – small grants to help individuals and nonprofits implement ideas to improve their neighborhoods.

In September, we partnered on the national launch of the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund. This innovative new fund is supporting Black leaders on the frontlines of shaping the urgent movement to build a fair, equitable, and anti-racist America. As a local partner to this national philanthropic initiative, we are proud to provide support for local Black leaders who are grassroots advocates, organizers, and emerging voices in the Greater Washington region.

With the end of year approaching, our staff can assist you with carrying out your philanthropic goals for 2020. Please be mindful of our December 18 deadline for your year-end grantmaking activities to ensure your recommended grantees receive their funds by December 31.

Your continued partnership and support are crucial as we seek to build thriving communities now and for generations to come. Thank you for standing with us!

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons,
President and CEO

P.S. In case you missed our 2020 Annual Meeting or the release of our 2020 Annual Report, you can find the recording and resources here.

BLACK VOICES FOR BLACK JUSTICE FUND (DMV) TO INVEST IN TEN COMMUNITY CATALYSTS

A commitment to support the activists, artists, and organizers working locally to build an anti-racist America

Washington, D.C. -- The Greater Washington Community Foundation today announced the launch of The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund DMV and has partnered with the DC-based nonprofit, GOODProjects, to bring its mission to life with the Black Justice Fellowship. Ten Black Leaders representing the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia will be selected to receive monetary and meaningful support to scale their activism. They will each receive a personal grant of $30,000 to support their work and living expenses for a year. Nominations for the first cohort can be submitted via an online form at www.blackjusticefellows.org.

Led by visionary committee leaders Angela Rye, Linda Wilson, Tonia Wellons, Cherrelle Swain, and Darius Baxter, The Black Justice Fellows is redefining the way philanthropy identifies and invests in Black leaders.

“Black Leaders have been actively working for years to create a more just America, yet too many are underestimated, underfunded, and underrepresented,” says fund co-chair Baxter. “We declare the success of Black Leaders will not be determined by how much they can fundraise or their proximity to whiteness.”

The Racial Equity in Philanthropy Report states that white-led organizations had budgets that were 24 percent larger than those led by people of color. It also found that groups led by Black Women received less money than those led by Black Men or White Women. Further, disparities by the race of the leader repeatedly persist even when taking into account factors like issue area and education levels.

Co-Chair Tonia Wellons explains, “Historically, we know that there has been an underinvestment in Black leaders who are on the frontlines of fighting for justice and equality. We are excited to help scale the work of emerging leaders in the Greater Washington region by providing financial support so they can continue to live while they lead. This initiative will help elevate the voices of Black leaders and invest in solutions led by Black leaders to fuel their efforts to address structural and systemic racism.”

The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund (DMV) was seeded by the Bridge Alliance Education Fund and Greater Washington Community Foundation. This local initiative stemmed from the national Black Voices for Black Justice Fund which was launched from a partnership between many philanthropic organizations across the country.

"We are pleased to support communities and leaders in the Washington, DC area by partnering with the Greater Washington Community Foundation to provide resources to Black leaders at the forefront of community work that is strengthening our communities and our nation,” says David Nevins, Chairman of the Board of Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

For more information or to nominate a local leader for the fellowship, please visit www.blackjusticefellows.org or @blackjusticefellows on all social media platforms.

Arts Forward Fund Announces More Than $1 Million in Grants to Local Arts Groups Impacted by COVID-19

Arts Forward Fund, a partnership between the Greater Washington Community Foundation, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and 16 other foundations and individual donors, announces grants totaling $1,048,500 to 43 arts and culture organizations in the DC region.

These grants will help organizations make essential shifts needed to sustain their work through the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to the national movement for racial justice. A majority of the grants will be used to support expanded digital and online programming. More than 60 percent of grants and grant funding will go to organizations that are BIPOC-led and predominantly BIPOC-serving.

In response to a call for applications released in early August 2020, Arts Forward Fund received 227 applications totaling nearly $8 million.

“The volume of applications illustrates the devastating impact of the pandemic on arts and culture organizations in our region,” says Calvin Cafritz, President and CEO of The Cafritz Foundation, which made a lead grant of $500,000 to establish Arts Forward Fund. “The pandemic has exacerbated challenges for groups that have historically had inequitable access to philanthropic capital, and these grants reflect the collective commitment of our funding collaborative to prioritize those organizations.”

“Arts and culture organizations are a critical economic engine for the region and they contribute immeasurably to our sense of community and our well-being,” says Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “We are proud to partner on the Arts Forward Fund to bring much needed relief to these organizations that enrich our communities and touch our lives.”

Following is a list of Arts Forward Fund grant recipients, grant amounts, and a brief description of how grant funds will be used.

• 826DC
  $25,000 to support the shift to online and small group programming, including increased training for volunteers

• Anacostia Playhouse
  $25,000 to support the shift to digital content

• Arch Development Corporation
  $30,000 to support transition to online programs

• Art Enables
  $25,000 to implement an enhanced digital marketing plan

• Art Works Now
  $25,000 to support the shift to virtual programming, including an expansion of the Creative Aging program

• ARTSFAIRFAX
  $25,000 to support the WORK-SMART training series for Fairfax County arts organizations

• Arts on the Block
  $25,000 to upgrade IT and HR capacity with a focus on equity and human-centered design

• ArtStream
  $25,000 to hire a virtual programming manager and develop a new evaluation system for online programs

• Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA)
  $25,000 to support the shift to virtual programming

• Critical Exposure
  $20,000 to support the shift to digital curriculum

• Dance Institute of Washington
  $30,000 to support facility renovation and program evaluation with a focus on racial equity

• Dance Place
  $30,000 to support diversity, equity, and inclusion training

• DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative
  $50,000 to support a distance-learning database and virtual projects

• DC Jazz Festival
  $30,000 to support a new digital content initiative

• Foundation for the Advancement of Music and Education (FAME)
  $25,000 to support an online learning platform

• Gala Hispanic Theatre
  $30,000 to build fundraising capacity and create online programming

• Greater Reston Arts Center
  $20,000 to support digital content

• Heritage Signature Chorale
  $20,000 to support digital content

• InterAct Story Theatre
  $10,000 to support the shift to virtual and blended programs

• Joe's Movement Emporium
  $30,000 to support the transition to a new online teaching platform

• Kalanidhi Dance

  $10,000 to support website development

• Life Pieces to Masterpieces
  $30,000 to support outdoor programming, PPE and safety precautions

• Live It Learn It
  $25,000 to support equipment and curriculum to adapt to distance learning

• Museum of the Palestinian People
  $20,000 to strengthen the museum’s online presence and create a new online exhibition

• Music for Life
  $10,000 to support the shift to online programs

• One Common Unity
  $20,000 to support software and training for a digital platform

• P0STB1NARY
  $15,000 to support online content platforms and web development

• PEN/Faulkner
  $50,000 to support online accessibility (joint proposal with Split This Rock, The Writer's Center, 826 DC)

• Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center
  $25,000 to support virtual programming

• Project Create
  $17,500 to support rebranding and marketing

• Restoration Stage
  $25,000 to support the transition to digital programs

• Shout Mouse Press
  $20,000 to increase digital and print sales and engage a DEI consultant

• Step Afrika!
  $30,000 to support the shift to virtual programs

• Synetic Theater
  $25,000 to support the shift to online content

• Teatro de la Luna
  $20,000 to support the shift to online content

• The Essential Theatre
  $25,000 to support capacity-building

• Theatre Alliance
  $25,000 to support the shift to online programs

• Urbanarias
  $16,000 to support expanded digital marketing and improved ticketing and production for digital content

• Washington Jazz Arts Institute
  $20,000 to support an online music collaboration project

• Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
  $25,000 to support innovative online productions, anti-racism training, marketing

• Words Beats And Life
  $25,000 to support the shift to online programs

• Young Playwrights Theater
  $25,000 to support the shift to online programs

• Zora Neale Hurston Richard Wright Foundation
  $20,000 to support the shift to online programs

About Arts Forward Fund

Launched in July 2020 with lead grants from The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Harman Family Foundation, and the Weissberg Foundation, Arts Forward Fund is a funder collaborative housed at and administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Additional supporters include Linowitz Family Fund, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, S & R Foundation, Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation, Lois and Richard England Family Foundation, Philip L. Graham Fund, Greater Washington Community Foundation, Share Fund, Walter Brownley Trust, Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation, and other individual contributors.

Tonia Wellons named one of Washingtonian's "Heroes of the Crisis"

Tonia Wellons, President and CEO, of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, was recognized for our efforts to help struggling arts groups as part of the Washingtonian‘s feature on “Heroes of the Crisis.” The feature shines the spotlight on “some of the people who have helped get us through these most challenging of times” from medical professionals to social-justice activists to culinary stars.

VoicesDMV: Putting Your Ideas On the Table

By Benton Murphy, Associate Vice President for Community Investment

On October 1, hundreds of residents from across the region came together for virtual or face-to-face small-group conversations on a single day to discuss and reimagine the future of our communities, through our VoicesDMV On the Table conversations.

We were so proud to be joined by a diverse group of community members to discuss issues ranging from how we can help support students to succeed in a remote learning environment to unpacking the impacts that hate, racism, and injustice have on our neighbors and communities. 

At The Community Foundation, we believe it is important to actively engage people and communities most impacted as we seek to develop solutions and identify investments to address community needs. In particular, our focus for the VoicesDMV initiative is to engage people who are often left out of these conversations to uplift and amplify the voices of communities who have been systematically unheard and silenced.

Created by The Chicago Community Trust in 2014, to date, the On the Table model has been adopted by more than 30 communities that have collectively engaged more than 300,000 people from coast to coast. Our Community Foundation chose to participate in the On the Table initiative with the knowledge that when we come together to talk with, listen to, and learn from each other, we have the power to improve the quality of life for everyone. 

Individuals, nonprofits, groups of neighbors, and major regional institutions all convened for our inaugural On the Table day of civic engagement and participation. We are so thankful for the partnership of organizations like American University, Leadership Greater Washington, Howard University, and Venture Philanthropy Partners, each hosted multiple tables for robust discussion across a diverse set of topics ranging from supporting educational outcomes in the early childhood space to boosting African American participation in COVID-19 clinical trials. 

On the Table was designed to bring diverse participants together to have a data-driven, action-oriented conversation on how to improve the lives of our neighbors in the DMV. Conversations were grounded in data that The Community Foundation gathered with survey partner Gallup earlier this year. Our Community Insights survey revealed a region characterized by deep inequity but also pride in our communities and deep values around topics like ensuring a quality education for young people. 

Stephanie Berkowitz, President and CEO of Northern Virginia Family Services, participated in a conversation on economic mobility, noted:

“The value of it was the diversity of the participation and the data-driven aspect of the conversation and the opportunity to get people in a room together that don’t naturally have opportunities to get together, especially in the middle of a pandemic.”

Carissma McGee, a student at Howard University, underscored the importance of channeling conversations into action:

“I think today really mobilized people to take action even after the conversation… instead of just looking back and saying oh there’s a problem in my community, its taking a step back and looking holistically at what people are facing and having empathy.”

This WDVM segment highlights how VoicesDMV On the Table conversations brought together residents throughout the DMV area both online and in small, face-to-face groups to talk about ideas for improving their communities.

Community Action Awards

We are excited that On the Table generated so much critical conversation and are looking forward to supporting these community leaders in taking action on the issues and challenges they discussed in their conversations. To ensure these conversations move from ideas to action, The Community Foundation is now offering Community Action Awards—grants of up to $2,000 to individuals and nonprofits working to make our region a more equitable and inclusive place for everyone to live, work, and thrive. 

Through the Community Action Awards, we are interested in supporting and advancing neighborhood-level projects that will engage diverse communities and help grassroots leaders to implement their ideas. We are especially interested in providing resources to enable ideas and activities that were generated through On the Table conversations.

The application process is easy, with just four questions to answer in an online application form. We also invite applicants to share a short video clip describing the change they are hoping to see for their community! 

We encourage anyone in the community who has an idea of how to make our region a better place to live and thrive to apply, and to share this opportunity with people who may also be interested in sparking positive change in their neighborhood.

New Grant Opportunities for Nonprofits Serving Greater Washington

The Greater Washington Community Foundation has opened its Fall 2020 Grant Round and is now accepting applications for Community Action Awards and grants from the Children's Opportunity Fund in Montgomery County and the Equity Fund in Prince George's County. 

VoicesDMV Community Action Awards

VoicesDMV is a three-part initiative that tapped into Community Insights through a regional survey, convened residents for On the Table conversations and Social Just Town Halls to discuss the issues that matter in our communities, and now will provide funding for Community Action Awards to help advance ideas sparked during these conversations.

The application is now open for small awards of up to $2,000 for individuals and nonprofits in Greater Washington working to make our region a more equitable place for everyone to live, work, and thrive. These microgrants are intended to support and advance neighborhood-level projects that will engage diverse communities and help grassroots leaders to implement their ideas. We are especially interested in providing resources to enable ideas and activities that were generated through On the Table conversations, held on or around October 1. The online application closes on Monday, November 2, 2020.

---

Children's Opportunity Fund

The Children’s Opportunity Fund is focused on funding innovation opportunities that close the achievement gap in Montgomery County, Maryland. As a member of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading network, the Children’s Opportunity Fund is using a participatory grantmaking process to fund organizations providing direct service, advocating for, or researching literacy skills with children ages birth to 8 and their families. The Children’s Opportunity Fund will provide grants up to $25,000 for organizations with a budget of less than $500,000, that are focusing on early literacy, family supports, and tutoring.

Applicants must submit a proposal via The Community’s Foundation’s online application system no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2020.

---

The Equity Fund

The Equity Fund supports nonprofit organizations working to eliminate social and economic disparities and create pathways to economic success for Prince George’s County residents. The focus area for the 2020 Equity Fund grant cycle is workforce equity and economic mobility for low-income people inclusive of people of color and other marginalized or under-represented groups. The Equity Funds seeks to support a diverse range of impactful programs to ensure that people who face social and economic barriers have access to high-quality education and jobs which pay family-sustaining wages.

Grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded for program support. Applicants must submit a proposal via The Community’s Foundation’s online application system no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 13, 2020.

Your Generosity Made a Difference

A lot has changed over these past five months. The one thing that has not changed is our shared commitment to support and strengthen our community.  

In times of crisis, The Community Foundation serves as our region’s philanthropic first responder. As our region faces a trifecta of crises that threatens our health, economic security, and racial justice, The Community Foundation has galvanized people and resources in response to these challenges and supported high-impact nonprofits serving our communities. With one-third of nonprofits in our region potentially closing or merging before the economy recovers – we knew this partnership was crucial.

On March 12, we launched the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to deploy critical resources to meet the urgent health and economic needs of this region. Our community responded with a strong statement about the power of generosity in the face of hardship and tragedy. 

You and a diverse group of businesses, foundations, individuals, and families stepped up to help us mobilize $8 million - with gifts ranging from $5 to $1 million - for coordinated relief and recovery efforts. Thank you for standing with us during our community’s time of need.

Caring for Our Neighbors in Need

These funds were quickly deployed to care for our neighbors directly impacted by the pandemic, and to provide aid to low-income families and communities of color who have been disproportionately affected due to pre-existing inequities exacerbated by this crisis. 

Our staff led working groups which reviewed more than 1,600 requests for funding totaling more than $60 million - a figure nearly seven times the amount raised to date. We were able to invest $7 million to support low-wage workers who have been laid off, expand access to medical care, equip frontline workers and clinics, address the digital divide, provide shelter and services to people experiencing homelessness, increase food access, and so much more.

Take Generation Hope for example, a nonprofit helping teen parents earn their college degrees while preparing their children for kindergarten. With support from our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, Generation Hope moved its services online, providing student parents with virtual education, career readiness programming, and mental health support. 

“Our families are among the hardest hit by COVID-19," said Nicole Lynn Lewis, Founder and CEO. "With this support, we've been able to really provide [our clients] with the critical services they need to weather this storm.” Hear more from Nicole in her two-minute COVID-19 Impact Story video. 

In It Together

We have witnessed some inspiring examples of our community coming together to meet this unprecedented moment with unprecedented generosity and creativity.

The Community Foundation was proud to team up with our donors and partners to advance educational equity for DC students, increase food security in Montgomery County, support small businesses in Prince George’s County, and help displaced workers earn an income by filling gaps in volunteer shifts at local nonprofits. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which our community has stepped up to meet this challenge. It is proof that we are all in this together!

Our newest initiative, the Arts Forward Fund, aims to help small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations make the shifts needed to successfully navigate this crisis and continue their essential role in our communities and lives. It is a collaborative partnership with The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Harman Family Foundation, the Weissberg Foundation, and many other individual and institutional contributors. 

Partnering for the Future

As we prepare for what comes next, our goal is not to go back to the way things were before, but to work together to build a more equitable future for our region. Your continued partnership and care for our community inspires hope for what we can accomplish together.  

This is the final message in our COVID-19 response series, and we are using this opportunity to give you an inside look at what your support has made possible. Click here to view our Interim COVID-19 Impact Report with stories from our coordinated regional response efforts. A more detailed impact report is in the works and will be released later this fall. 

Thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure our region comes out of this crisis stronger and more resilient. We are so grateful for your support and partnership.

Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO

Greater Washington Community Foundation and Cafritz Foundation Launch $1 million Arts Forward Fund

Grants Will Address Impact of COVID-19 on the DC Region’s Arts and Culture Sector

Recognizing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on arts and culture organizations throughout the region, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has joined with The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and eight other grantmakers to launch the Arts Forward Fund, a million-dollar initiative to provide critical support to help arts and culture organizations in the DC region to stabilize, adapt, and thrive despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Arts Forward Fund will award grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to help arts and culture organizations make the urgent changes needed to continue their work through the pandemic and beyond. The Arts Forward Fund also recognizes the need to address systemic inequities in arts and culture organizations and in our communities that have amplified the impact of the pandemic for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, and will prioritize support for organizations founded and led by people of color and organizations that primarily serve communities of color.

The Arts Forward Fund was launched in July with a lead grant of $500,000 from The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, with additional support from the Harman Family Foundation, Weissberg Foundation, Linowitz Family Fund, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, S & R Foundation, Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation, Lois and Richard England Family Foundation, and Philip L. Graham Fund. The Fund will be housed at and administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the programs and finances of the region’s nonprofit sector in ways that even the most forward-thinking organizations could not have anticipated,” says Cafritz Foundation President and CEO Calvin Cafritz. “In helping to launch the Arts Forward Fund, we want to ensure that arts and culture nonprofits continue to carry out their missions, serve their communities, and pursue new paths during this crisis. We are happy to work with the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Harman Family and Weissberg foundations, and many of our colleagues, to help our local arts institutions continue their work and find opportunity in this moment.”

“The Greater Washington Community Foundation and our donors have a long history of investing across the arts ecosystem – from supporting anchor institutions to small theaters, visual arts programs, arts education, and individual artists. In order for our communities to truly thrive, we must continue to cultivate a broad-based arts sector where creativity can flourish and foster diverse and inclusive spaces for human connection and understanding,” says Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “We are proud to partner on the Arts Forward Fund to bring much needed relief to organizations that enrich our communities and touch our lives.”

According to a 2017 Americans for the Arts study (using 2015 data), the Greater Washington region’s arts and culture organizations contribute at least $3.75 billion in economic activity and nearly 60,000 jobs to the region’s economy on an annual basis.

Nationally, a white paper released in May by SMU DataArts estimated that the impact of COVID-19 on arts and culture organizations across the United States will be a net loss of $6.8 billion between February 2020 and March 2021—the equivalent of a 25 percent operating deficit for the average organization, even after significant reductions in expenses.

Interviews with dozens of small and mid-sized arts organizations in the DC region by the Cafritz Foundation in May found groups struggling with the financial and programmatic impact of shuttered facilities and the cancellation of performances and in-person fundraising events. More than a third had already laid off staff, with more layoffs anticipated as federal Payroll Protection Program funds run out.

All the organizations interviewed reported challenges with making the transition to online and digital programming. These challenges included production limitations that impact the artistic quality of online offerings, contractual and intellectual property barriers, and barriers to online participation as a result of inequitable access to the internet and technology -- particularly among youth-serving organizations. Generating revenue from online content is especially challenging.

Arts Forward Fund aims to help organizations address these challenges by providing grants to support short-term capacity-building, training, and innovation. Arts and culture organizations with annual revenue of less than $10 million in their most recently completed fiscal year are eligible to apply, provided they serve the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax in Virginia. More details and the call for applications are available here.

Funders and individual donors interested in joining Arts Forward Fund should contact Rick Moyers.