Posted on October 17, 2009

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Community Foundation Update (10/17/09)

Alabama

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has announced four workshops for organizations serving Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Walker, or Blount counties that are considering applying for a grant. The ninety-minute sessions — which are required for organizations that have never before submitted a grant to the foundation — will be held on January 28 and February 10, 16, and 24.

California

The Mountain View-based Silicon Valley Community Foundation has announced grants totaling $427,000 to support organizations working to combat payday lending, which is disproportionately concentrated in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. A payday loan is a transaction in which borrowers use their paychecks as collateral for a short-term, high-interest loan. Grants include $100,000 to the Center for Responsible Lending to conduct research on the impact of payday lending and to raise awareness about predatory lending and support policy efforts, and $72,000 to the Insight Center for Community Economic Development to work with local advocacy groups in San Mateo County to determine which cities have high concentrations of payday lenders and research existing local ordinances and possible new approaches to combating predatory lending practices.

The Fresno Regional Foundation has announced twenty-six grants totaling more than $601,000 to help improve the quality of life in the central San Joaquin Valley region. The grants will provide support for social, educational, economic, health, and environmental projects, including five designed to improve the flow of the San Joaquin River and ten to address the challenges of teen pregnancy.

Maine

The Ellsworth-based Maine Community Foundation has announced that it is working with donors to explore the connections between their philanthropic interests and public, private, and nonprofit efforts to promote and grow healthy food and healthy communities. In partnership with its donors, the foundation will work to make funds available while contributing to the groundswell of awareness about the role that local food production plays in providing a sense of place, fostering economic opportunity, improving health and well-being, and building community.

Michigan

The Community Foundation for Livingston County, an affiliate of the Detroit-based Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, has announced grants totaling $27,500 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Livingston County ($10,000), the City of Howell ($10,000), and the Judson Center Inc. (two-years, $7,500).

North Carolina

The Wilmington-based Community Foundation of Southeastern North Carolina is becoming an affiliate of the North Carolina Community Foundation, the Wilmington Star News reports. While the CFSENC board will remain in place, Steve Dillon, the foundation's first full-time executive director, will give up his post.

Pennsylvania

The Erie Community Foundation has awarded twenty-two grants totaling nearly $325,000 during the third-quarter, the Erie Times News reports. The recession and Pennsylvania's 101-day budget standoff, the longest in the nation, have resulted in the foundation seeing more requests from nonprofits for emergency grants in 2009 than in the past twenty years. Grants include awards of $25,000 each to the Erie Shriners Hospital for Children, the Erie County Diabetes Association, the Community Blood Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, and Sarah Reed Children's Center.

Cantwell, Si. “Local Foundation to Become Affiliate of Statewide Agency.” Wilmington Star News 10/08/09.

“Community Foundation for Livingston County Announces $27,500 to Livingston County Nonprofit Organizations.” Community Foundation for Livingston County Press Release 10/08/09.

“Fresno Regional Foundation Award $601,000.” Fresno Regional Foundation Press Release 10/14/09.

Weiss, Gerry. “Erie Community Foundation Grants $324K to Nonprofits.” Erie Times News 10/14/09.

“Community Foundation and Public Interest Law Firm Release Report on Payday Lending; Foundation Also awards More Than $400,000 in Grants.” Silicon Valley Community Foundation Press Release 10/15/09.

“2010 Sessions for Area Nonprofits.” Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Press Release 10/13/09.

“Farms, Food, and Philanthropy.” Maine Community Foundation Press Release 10/16/09.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Secondary Subject(s): Community Improvement/Development, Children and Youth, Human Services, Environment, Health
Location(s): Alabama, Birmingham, California, Ellsworth, Erie, Fresno, Maine, Michigan, Mountain View, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wilmington

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