Posted on August 27, 2010

Prudential Foundation Awards $3.5 Million in Grants

The New Jersey-based Prudential Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $3.5 million to nonprofits working to promote quality public education, enhanced community-based economic development, and sustainable livable communities.

The grants include $700,000 to New Leaders for New Schools for general operating support and to help expand the group's regional work in Newark, New Jersey; $500,000 to the D.C.-based Public Education Network to support implementation of its new strategic plan; $500,000 to the Trust for Public Land to develop Newark Riverfront Park as part of its Newark City Spaces initiative; and $400,000 to the YouthBuild Network in Somerville, Massachusetts, which works to encourage unemployed young adults to engage with their communities and commit themselves to work, education, responsibility, and family.

Grants of $300,000 each were awarded to Teach for America, which will use the funds to support its School Leadership Initiative and increase the number of alumni who enter school leadership positions in low-income communities, and Living Cities, which will use the grant to support revitalization strategies that address housing and business development, asset building, education, and health care.

In addition, the foundation awarded $875,000 to the Prudential Youth Development Initiative, which will award capacity-building grants to four youth development organizations in Newark working to address the need for quality out-of-school time opportunities for middle and high school-age youth: $250,000 to ASPIRA of New Jersey; $300,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newark; $250,000 to Unified Vailsburg Service Organization; and $75,000 to the Youth Development Clinic, which works to provide behavioral health prevention and treatment services to children and families in the greater Newark, New Jersey, area.