Posted on September 21, 2009

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Community Foundation for National Capital Region Awards Second Round of Safety-Net Grants

The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region has announced $714,300 in grants to thirty-seven organizations working to meet the needs of vulnerable residents in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region.

Awarded on a competitive basis through the foundation's Neighbors in Need Fund, the grants will help food banks, homeless shelters, and clothing, meal, and foreclosure-prevention programs meet the escalating demand for safety-net services in the region. According to recent studies, Virginia has experienced an 18 percent increase in the number of applications for food stamps since the recession began, while 633,000 D.C. residents are experiencing or at risk of hunger. Indeed, the number of applications to the Neighbors in Need Fund jumped 40 percent over the number received for the previous round of grants, which were announced in March.

Established in late 2008 with $150,000 from the World Bank, the fund received an additional $2 million from the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation earlier this year. Next month, the Foundation for the National Capital Region will launch a campaign to raise an additional $2 million to meet immediate needs in the region, with the ultimate goal of raising $5 million for the fund. Before the year ends, the fund will award a third round of grants to organizations engaged in efforts to strengthen safety-net infrastructure and improve their service delivery.

"[Last] week's news may be that the recession is over, but I'd be hard pressed to tell that to the many low- and moderate-income residents of our area who are struggling to feed their families, find a job, or keep their homes," said foundation president Terri Lee Freeman. "Interviews with the nonprofits we are funding reveal some alarming trends — seniors who are forced to choose between paying their utilities and buying food, foreclosure prevention programs that have had to turn people away, [and] increasing numbers of teens showing up at shelters with a limited numbers of beds."

“Neighbors in Need Fund Deploys $714,300 to Help Area Safety Net Nonprofits Meet Unrelenting Demand.” Community Foundation for the National Capital Region Press Release 9/17/09.

Primary Subject: Human Services
Secondary Subject(s): Economic Crisis
Location(s): Washington, D.C.

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