Grants That Make a Difference
July 8, 2008
"Grants that Make a Difference" highlights grants given to Southeastern organizations that have helped make a difference in people's lives. Getting the grant is only the beginning of the story. At least once a month, "Grants That Make a Difference" will profile these important grants and what their recipients are doing with them.
The Unified Summer Grants Collaborative has awarded a total of more than $974,000 to fifty-two summer programs serving more than fifteen thousand children and youth in the greater New Orleans area.
The collaborative, which includes the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, the Afterschool Partnership for Greater New Orleans, and the Wallace, New York Life, and Emeril Lagasse foundations, is working to increase the availability of summer programs in the six-parish region since The New Orleans Recreation Department and so many recreational facilities were damaged or destroyed in 2005 by back-to-back hurricanes. The programs are designed to provide children, from preschool age through their teens, with access to a range of summer activities — from literacy and hurricane preparedness to sports and the arts — and help them better cope with their still-changing environment. With funding from the collaborative, agencies can hire staff, buy food, pay for transportation, and cover other operational costs. .
The Wallace Foundation has awarded $700,000 to the United Way and will provide an additional $150,000 to the Afterschool Partnership to train workers and evaluate the programs. "Research shows that two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities." said Afterschool Partnership executive director Gina Warner. "Summer is a great time to experiment with new teaching techniques and environments that may encourage deeper learning and greater retention of information."
"The New York Life Foundation is proud to partner in this effort to increase the availability of positive opportunities for children affected by the loss of productive programs and services as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita" said Chris Park, president, New York Life Foundation. “Increasing the availability of summer programs that offer youth an opportunity to participate in a safe, recreational and educational experience will positively effect the children and the New Orleans community."
To be eligible, proposals had to be submitted by public or charitable, non-profit (tax exempt) organizations or sponsored by such an organization operating within one or more of the six-parish areas of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St Tammany, and Tangipahoa and the Summer activities must be in operation between June 1 - August 31, 2008.
The selection of organizations for the "Grants that Make a Difference" is based on criteria such as programmatic interests, geographic focus, and size of funding programs to ensure the broadest possible representation of the region's nonprofit sector.
If you'd like to see support for your organization featured in "Grants that Make a Difference," e-mail a detailed description of the grant, including the name and contact information of the funder and of your organization, the amount given, and how the grant made a difference. For your convenience, we have provided a template to follow. We welcome press releases in addition to, or as a substitute for, the information in the template.
Email the description or press release to
atweb@foundationcenter.org, with "Grants that Make a Difference" in the subject line.
Recipient Name:
Project Name:
Organization Mission and how it relates to the project:
Beneficiaries or Community Impact:
Funding Partner(s): (Grantmaker Names)
Grant Amount:
Recipient Contact: Name, Address, Phone, Fax, E-mail, URL
Grantmaker Contact: Name, Address, Phone, Fax, E-mail, URL
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