MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), and the Gannett Foundation today announced 16 non-profit organizations that will receive 2019 national grants from the company’s A Community Thrives program.
Now in its third year, A Community Thrives awards grants to worthy causes in communities across the U.S. to help drive positive change. The program also enables non-profits to promote their ideas and efforts on our national platform to drive further support through donations.
After receiving more than 1,500 submissions from organizations across 46 states, A Community Thrives is awarding more than $2 million in grants: $1 million in National Project Grants and more than $1 million in Local Operating Grants. The program’s crowdfunding effort through CrowdRise has raised an additional $2,513,658. A total of $4,523,658 will be distributed to these non-profits from the Gannett Foundation and the program’s fundraising efforts combined.
“We are proud of the work this year’s national grant winners have done to improve their communities. At Gannett, our mission is to connect and empower the communities we serve to create positive change. A Community Thrives further fuels that mission and purpose,” said Andy Yost, Chief Marketing Officer, Gannett.
The Gannett Foundation selected the 2019 national grants recipients based on the proposed projects’ viability, sustainability, community need and community building properties.
The recipients chosen for the 16 grants are as follows:
America
SCORES, New York, NY -- $50,000
America SCORES’ “Our
Words Our Cities (OWOC)” is a nationwide youth poetry slam series that
will provide trained mentors and free afterschool enrichment for kids
living in poverty. Children and teens in 11 cities will compete in local
poetry slams, vying for the opportunity to represent their city.
Following local and regional slams, OWOC will culminate in a national
youth poetry slam open to the public, a documentary, and a printed
anthology of original poetry.
Arab-American
Family Support Center, Brooklyn, NY -- $25,000
AAFSC's
mission is to empower new immigrants with the tools they need to
successfully acclimate to the world around them and become active
participants in their communities. This grant will support the expansion
of its Project Resilience, which offers multilingual, trauma-informed
behavioral counseling for immigrant youth in school-based settings and
through home visits.
Cancer
Support Community Arizona (CSCAZ), Phoenix, AZ -- $50,000
The
grant was will help “Smiles Across the Miles: Survivorship on the Go,” a
customized mobile truck that will travel to neighborhoods and workplaces
of the most underserved and underinsured populations in Arizona to
increase awareness of the broad range of CSCAZ support services while
creating social connections through mind-body-wellness and expressive
arts experiences throughout Arizona.
Care
to Learn, Springfield, MO -- $25,000
This grant was
supported by the Springfield News-Leader. The mission of Care to Learn
is to provide immediate funding to meet emergency needs in the areas of
health, hunger, and hygiene so every student can be successful in
school. Springfield Mobile Clothing Closet Project started during the
2017-2018 school year as a pilot program serving the 15 highest poverty
schools in the area and will expand to 3 more high-need schools with the
Foundation’s support.
Edna
Martin Christian Center, Brooklyn, NY -- $50,000
This
grant will support a capital investment to house the Edna Martin
Christian Center’s Community Solutions and Entrepreneurship Center
(CSEC), where innovative business solutions that support neighborhood
quality of life can be incubated and nurtured. The site will also serve
as the neighborhood-owned communication hub through the Center's
expansion of the existing Community Voice News Network.
Girls
Write Nashville, Brentwood, TN -- $50,000
The
mission of Girls Write Nashville is to use songwriting and mentorship to
empower young female voices. Its expansion project in Title 1 eligible
schools will amplify the organization’s impact by growing existing
services and adding in new initiatives that will reach students with
less access to creative extended learning time programs.
HomeFront
Resource Center, St. Cloud, MN -- $25,000
This
investment will support Minnesota Remembers Vietnam’s Community Resource
Center for Service Members, Veterans & their Families. The Center’s
project of a multi-media concert to be produced in 5 cities will provide
an opportunity for veterans to connect with other veterans and
strengthen support for service members, veterans and their families.
Low
Income Housing Institute, Seattle/Kitsap, WA -- $100,000
The
organization serves approximately 1100 homeless throughout Seattle and
in Olympia in 2019, including families and individuals. The grant will
support the building of 20 Tiny Houses and transitional services aiding
its clients’ placement in permanent housing. The Tiny House villages
provide safe and secure locations for homeless people to stay while case
managers work to find them permanent housing, employment, and connect
them to needed social services.
Move
For Hunger, Red Bank, NJ (Asbury Park) -- $50,000
Funds
from this grant will be used to advance the Apartment Food Rescue
Program which provides pathways for food donation during the move-out
process. The program will add up to 800 new partners this year and run
more than 350 food donation events.
Nashville
Launch Pad, Inc., Nashville, TN -- $100,000
Launch
Pad is a 'street free sleep' initiative, fueled by a collective of
concerned citizens within the LGBTQ and allied community, which strives
to provide safer sleeping shelters for homeless youth in Davidson
County. The mission of Launch Pad is to create a network of temporary
safer sleeping shelters for homeless youth 18-24 years of age. The grant
will support the professionalization of its staff enabling program and
organizational growth.
Nevada
Center for Civic Engagement, Reno, NV -- $50,000
With
a goal of increasing civic engagement for Nevada Youth, the grant to the
Nevada Center for Civic Engagement (NVCCE) grant will support the
participation of 800 youth from 34 high schools across the state in its
We the People: Congressional District Competition.
Read
Early and Daily (R.E.A.D.), Arlington, VA -- $50,000
This
grant will launch R.E.A.D.'s Book Bus project to offer a mobile book
'store' to the low-income community served and the community at large.
Grant funds will purchase a used vehicle, outfit it to transport/display
children's books, and provide gas, permits and taxes for the first year
of operation. The Book Bus will allow R.E.A.D. families to choose new,
free, high-quality, culturally-relevant books, giving participants a
sense of 'shopping ‘and building community through reading clubs, pop up
events and gatherings in book deserts.
Share
Our Strength, Washington, DC/Los Angeles, CA -- $25,000
One
out of every five kids in California is growing up in a family
struggling with the burden of hunger. This grant will be focused on the
execution of its No Kid Hungry Los Angeles regional breakfast strategy,
enabling the non-profit to provide technical assistance aimed at
supporting schools with Breakfast After the Bell implementation, as well
as making direct investments in schools for successful implementation.
St.
Johns County Education Foundation, St. Augustine, FL --
$25,000
Investing in Kids (INK!) provides innovative programs
and classroom resources to support academic success for all St. Johns
County schools. This grant will support the expansion of its Five
Learning Years (FLY), in 4 new schools. FLY is a kindergarten initiative
that helps close the gap between struggling students and their peers
through literacy intervention.
The
Resilience Education Training and Innovation Center,
Brooklyn, NY -- $100,000
The Resilience, Education, Training
and Innovation (RETI) Center's mission is to create environmentally
sound and just ways to live and work on the water's edge. Its Blue City
Lab will be the first US based community center serving as a magnet and
model for innovative approaches to building community resilience and
changing the future of urban coastal environments. The grant will
support the development of a lab prototype.
Young
Writers Project, Burlington, VT -- $25,000
The
Community Journalism Project supported by the grant is a statewide,
community-building project that will immerse middle and high school
students across Vermont in the skills of researching, interviewing,
writing, and editing stories about their communities -- and their own
lives as teens within those communities -- for publication in authentic
media, including Gannett's Burlington Free Press.
For more information, visit A Community Thrives.
About A Community Thrives
A Community Thrives is a grantmaking and crowd-funding program from the USA TODAY NETWORK and is part of the Gannett Foundation. A Community Thrives supports non-profit organizations with projects focused on community building and has helped to contribute more than $6.5 million since 2017.
About USA TODAY NETWORK
USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co, Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is the largest local-to-national media organization in the country, powered by our award-winning newsrooms and marketing solutions business. With deep roots in local communities spanning the U.S. with more than 100 brands, plus USA TODAY, we engage about 126 million people every month through a diverse portfolio of multi-platform content offerings and experiences. For more information, visit www.gannett.com.