State Arts Council Awards $750,000 in Grants to Artists, Arts Organizations

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Creative Placemaking, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Policy

Arts and culture organizations, arts education programs, teaching artists in healthcare, folk artists and related community projects received $750,192 in grants distributed by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA). These 120 grants, approved by the Arts Council’s Board in December, will support arts and cultural activities throughout the state during this fiscal year.

These grants depend on support from the Rhode Island General Assembly and federally funded National Endowment for the Arts, in addition to matching dollars raised through contributions from businesses, individuals and earned income from ticket sales and admissions.

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BankNewport Awards Over $250,000 in Year End Funding

by Posted in Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

BankNewport has awarded $255,000 in proactive year end funding to dozens of community organizations throughout Rhode Island to aid in their efforts to support those in need.

BankNewport awarded $125,000 to 27 organizations to help meet basic needs for families during the holiday season including: Adoption RI, Boys Town New England, five Boys & Girls Clubs locations, the Center for Southeastern Asians, Child and Family Services, Children’s Friend, five Community Action Program agencies, the Corliss Institute, Crossroads Rhode Island, the Elisha Project, Family Service of RI, the Federal Hill House, Galilee Mission, Genesis Center, Goodwill Industries of Southern New England, the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale, Lucy’s Hearth, McCauley Ministries, Mae Organization for the Homeless West Warwick, Operation Stand Down, Progreso Latino, Ronald McDonald House of Providence, three Salvation Army locations, Silver Lake Community Center, two St. Vincent dePaul Society locations, the J. Arthur Trudeau Center, and the Welcome House of South County.

In addition, BankNewport’s Community Fund Committee awarded $130,000 in proactive grants to 25 organizations that have had operations and outreach negatively affected by COVID-19 and that focus on food insecurity, mental health, distance learning, minority-owned small businesses, and underserved populations.

United Way, Hasbro Award Summer Learning Grants

by Posted in Children & Youth, Corporate Citizenship, Education, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The Summer Learning Initiative (SLI), supported by Hasbro and United Way’s Women United announced four summer learning grant awardees — Central Falls School District, Cranston YMCA, Newport Partnership for Families, and Connecting for Children and Families.

Working with nearly two dozen local nonprofits, awardees will provide summer learning programs to young people across Rhode Island.

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CVS Health and Rhode Island Foundation Donations Provide Computers and Wi-Fi Hotspots for RI Students for Distance Learning

by Posted in Children & Youth, Corporate Citizenship, Disaster Philanthropy, Education, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

GCRI members Rhode Island Foundation and CVS Health led almost 70 donors in support of Rhode Island Department of Education’s (RIDE) Distance Learning Initiative.  RIDE estimates that the more than $400,000 raised will fund the purchase of approximately 400 hotspots and 1,200 computers to close technology gaps for students and families.

Rhode Island Foundation made an initial challenge donation to the initiative of $100,000. CVS Health donated $150,000 to enable the Woonsocket Education Department to purchase 750 Chromebook laptops for students in grades three through five. The assistance will round out the effort to ensure that every Pre-K through grade 12 student in the district has access to technology for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statewide, the majority of students are able to access Distance Learning opportunities using technology provided by local education agencies. However, RIDE has identified pockets of need in some school communities, including families with multiple students or households without access to internet connectivity. The donations will be distributed to those school communities or used directly to purchase Chromebooks and hotspots.

The Fund will continue to accept charitable contributions in any amount at rifoundation.org/RIEducation as long as the need continues.

COVID-19 Behavioral Health Fund Makes $3.7 Million in Grants

by Posted in Children & Youth, Corporate Citizenship, Disaster Philanthropy, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The new COVID-19 Behavioral Health Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation, funded by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Tufts Health Plan, as well as Neighborhood Health Plan and United HealthCare, has awarded $3.7 million in grants to more than three dozen organizations, including the Samaritans of Rhode Island, Bradley Hospital and Newport Mental Health to help Rhode Islanders cope with the behavioral health challenges of COVID-19.  More information 

RI COVID-19 Response Fund Awards $1.2 Million to Local Nonprofits

by Posted in Basic Need, Children & Youth, Disaster Philanthropy, Health and Wellness, Housing and Homelessness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

United Way of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Foundation have announced the first round of funding for local nonprofit agencies at the forefront of COVID-19 response.

$1.2 million in grants will be distributed to 27 local agencies in the coming days.

Grantees will use the funding to provide direct service to Rhode Islanders impacted by COVID-19. Funds will go toward food, personal care products, and assistance with household expenses. Additionally, funding was awarded to health centers, community centers, and shelters as they face unprecedented challenges to maintaining operations and delivering services to those most in need.

Read the full list of grantees.

A joint grants review committee — composed of team members from United Way and the Foundation — are working together to review applications and make funding decisions in real-time.

“We are hearing from the nonprofit community every day about the disruption to services caused by this pandemic. Being able to quickly support them, and Rhode Islanders with their most basic needs, has the ability to not only provide comfort but also to save lives,” said United Way of Rhode Island president and CEO Cortney Nicolato.

“As this health crisis will continue for some time, I am grateful for every donor who has stepped up so far, for the donations to come, and to every nonprofit employee who continues to show up, every day, to take care of our families and neighbors.”

Together, United Way of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Foundation established the COVID-19 Response Fund on March 17 and have raised more than $5.2 million in contributions.

“Throughout the entire state, nonprofit organizations are stepping up to assist neighbors in need during this unprecedented and uncertain time. It’s truly heartening to see the response,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the Foundation.

“We’re committed to getting this funding to where it is needed the most. Thanks to our generous donors, these grants will provide a safety net to support many Rhode Islanders. We also welcome more donations to the fund, so that we are able to continue meeting community need.”

Gifts to the fund can be made in any amount. Donations will be accepted as long as the need continues.

 

Rhode Island Foundation Supported Over 2,000 Nonprofits with Over $50 Million in Grants in 2019

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Education, Member Highlights, Member News

The Rhode Island Foundation awarded a record $56 million in grants to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations last year.

“We are grateful for the passionate and committed donors who have worked with us for more than a century to tackle the challenges and issues of the day,” said Neil D. Steinberg, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “Partnering with nonprofit organizations to support their crucial work in the community, engaging generous donors and providing leadership around key issues for our state all played a role in our outstanding growth as we rise to meet the needs of all Rhode Islanders.”

Of the $56 million in grants awarded last year, 72 percent were donor-directed awards and 28 percent were Foundation-directed. Many of the grants aligned with the Foundation’s three strategic priorities: educational success, healthy lives and economic security. Through these, the Foundation invests in organizations and programs that strive for long-term solutions to significant community issues.

“Working with committed nonprofit partners, our support helps to move every Rhode Island student closer to achieving educational success, encourages all Rhode Islanders to lead healthier lives and puts economic security within reach of even more of our state’s residents,” said Steinberg.

The Foundation also made grants to nonprofits doing critical work in a wide variety of sectors, such as arts and culture, basic human needs, the environment and housing.

In addition to grant-making and fundraising, community leadership is central to the Foundation’s work.

In 2019, the Foundation raised a record $620,000 for its Civic Leadership Fund (CLF). The annual fund enables the Foundation to go beyond traditional grant-making to meet emerging opportunities and challenges, and engage Rhode Islanders in civic and civil dialogue.

Last year, the CLF supported Foundation-led initiatives such as the creation of 10-year strategic plans to improve health and public education in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Foundation to Provide $1 Million to Support Public Education

by Posted in Advocacy, Children & Youth, Education, Equity, Leveraging to Multiply Impact, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

The Rhode Island Foundation announced that it is committing $1 million – above and beyond the Foundation’s annual grantmaking in education – to support improvements to the state’s pre-K to 12th grade public education system.

The funding announcement comes as the Long Term Education Planning committee, convened in late 2018 and led by the Foundation, releases final recommendations for improvements. The Foundation’s investment of $1 million will align with the recommendations in the report. The report includes input provided by more than 300 parents, students, educators, policymakers and leaders from the nonprofit and for-profit sectors at the Make It Happen: A World Class Public Education for RI brainstorming session at the R.I. Convention Center in December.

The Long Term Education Planning Committee, a 26-member group of educators, policymakers and leaders from the nonprofit and for profit sectors convened at the request of the Foundation, developed the 10-year plan for improving education in Rhode Island. Click on a link below to read the plan, “Chart a Course, Stay the Course: Rhode Island’s Path to a World Class Public Education System.”

“Participants at the Make it Happen event were extremely vocal about the need to amplify the role of student and family voice. These voices are fundamental and critical to making improvements in the system,” said Steinberg, who served on the committee. “We encourage all Rhode Islanders to work together on this effort – be ambitious and bold, display strong support for educators and continue to demand more for all students, in every community.”

In addition to a vision for the future of public education in Rhode Island, the final plan includes a set of four priorities and accompanying strategies, including aligning the state funding formula with both state and local needs and sustaining a rigorous, statewide assessment system.

Full report

Aetna Foundation Grants $500,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence

by Posted in Children & Youth, Education, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

As part of its commitment to building healthier communities, the Aetna Foundation today announced it will be donating a total of $500,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence over the next five years.

The new funding from the Aetna Foundation, a private foundation affiliated with CVS Health, will help the Boys & Girls Clubs to reach hundreds of additional young people through innovative and effective programming. The grants will support programs that are focused on preventing underage substance misuse, including tobacco and vaping products, while also providing guidance on how to improve the overall health of youth in these communities.

“We know how important it is to teach healthy behaviors from a young age in order to ensure that young people have the tools and refusal skills they need to stay away from harmful habits like smoking,” said Dr. Garth Graham, Vice President, Community Health & Impact, CVS Health and President, Aetna Foundation. “We believe the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence and Hartford are uniquely equipped to help us evaluate the best approaches to educate young people about the dangers of substance misuse and teach healthy lifestyle choices. From there, we’ll aim to replicate the successful approaches across other relationships and geographies.”

The majority of the funding will help deliver “Positive Action” – a nationally acclaimed prevention program originally developed through partnerships between prevention specialists and Boys & Girls Clubs around the country to more young people in these communities. Participants in the “Positive Action” program are exposed to a variety of activities designed to hone their decision-making and critical thinking skills and help them learn how to avoid and resist alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and premature sexual activity.

“Positive Action is a comprehensive strategy that helps young people better navigate the challenging path from childhood to adulthood,” said Nicole Dufresne, CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence. “We are confident that the youth and teens who participate in this program will be armed with the crucial knowledge needed to lead a healthy lifestyle and have a great future. And we truly appreciate the support from both the CVS Health Foundation and Aetna Foundation, who have consistently been great community partners to us over the years.”

These grants are part of CVS Health’s commitment to help deliver the first tobacco-free generation. Through Be The First, the company and its foundations have committed to invest $50 million over five years to help deliver the first tobacco-free generation. These grants support efforts around healthy behavior programming for young people to ensure they have the tools and refusal skills they need to lead the healthiest lifestyle.

 

 

Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation Awards Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale $150,000

by Posted in Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Housing and Homelessness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation awarded a $150,000 grant to the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale, for major renovations of a 120-year-old schoolhouse that was recently purchased to house the Center’s food pantry, social service department, and administrative offices, as well as to provide community space for workshops, special programs, and wellness initiatives.

Executive Director Kate Brewster said,  “The new space will provide our visitors with an enhanced, dignified experience. The ‘Jonnycake Market’ will recreate a true grocery store experience. Social service staff will be co-located with the Market, allowing for regular interactions and timely assistance with visitors, including those with disabilities who currently cannot climb our stairs.”

“Centreville Bank prides itself on supporting the local Rhode Island community by partnering with organizations that help serve our state’s less fortunate,” said Centreville Bank President and CEO Harold Horvat. “We are very happy to be in the financial position to support the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale as they strive to fight hunger, provide critical social services, and offer those in need improved accessibility, and ultimately, a greater sense of hope.”