Three GCRI Members Recognized in The Civic 50

by Posted in Corporate Citizenship, Global Philanthropy, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

On Tuesday, May 23, Points of Light announced The Civic 50 for 2023, including three GCRI members — CVS Health, Hasbro, and Point32Health.

All three are repeat winners, and Hasbro was also named a Civic 50 Sector Leader for the Consumer Discretionary Sector.

Only six New England companies made the list.

Points of Light is the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to accelerating people-powered change. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million people in 16.7 million hours of service each year.

Now in its eleventh year, The Civic 50 has provided a national standard for corporate citizenship and showcases how leading companies are moving social impact, civic engagement and community to the core of their business. More info

Rhode Island Foundation Invests in Social Justice

by Posted in Equity, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy
Two and a half years ago, the Rhode Island Foundation’s Board of Directors committed to a 3-year, $8.5 million investment to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and access.
In alignment with this critical commitment, the Foundation announced that it has invested more than $1.2 million to create designated endowments for 14 long-standing Rhode Island-based nonprofits that are led by, and primarily serve, people of color and that are working to reimagine systems that are built on structural inequity and racism. An endowment is a pool of donated assets that aims to make a percentage of the investment growth over time available for charitable purposes annually, which may help provide long-term stability, financial viability, alleviate some fundraising pressure on nonprofits annually, and position organizations to continue their mission well into the future.
In addition, the Foundation has also awarded nearly $2.2 million to help six organizations address systemic racism through its Racial Equity and Social Justice Grants program. The funding supports work to dismantle the fundamental causes of systemic racism that impact historically marginalized populations in Rhode Island.

United Way Invests $10 Million to Build Racial Equity and Opportunities for all Rhode Islanders

by Posted in Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Nonprofit Capacity Building, Philanthropy, Policy

With a focus on achieving the goals of its LIVE UNITED 2025 plan to build racial equity and opportunities for all Rhode Islanders, United Way of Rhode Island announced an investment of $10 million in the work of community organizations over three years. These latest grants,  awarded from United Way’s Community Impact Fund, benefitted 45 local nonprofits, following what were intentional changes to the organization’s grantmaking program.

In 2021, United Way made the commitment to invest $100 million over five years to build racial equity and opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. With this round of funding, the organization’s contributions through programs, grants, and philanthropy now total more than $71.25 million toward that goal in just three years. Additionally in 2023, United Way will offer more opportunities for funding with a focus on summer learning, opportunity grants, equity initiatives, and family stabilization, among others.

United Way’s overhaul of its grant program was designed to better serve organizations whose work is rooted in actively advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Among the changes are three years of funding rather than two, awarding only unrestricted grants, instituting nontraditional reporting, and addressing the funding inequities faced by nonprofits led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) leaders. On average, these organizations have less than half of the staff and budget as non-BIPOC-led nonprofits.

Aligning with United Way’s strategic priorities, the focus areas of the awarded grants include out-of-school time and experiential learning opportunities for students in underserved communities, housing, job training and economic empowerment, and community-based advocacy to advance social justice and racial equity.

Among the grantee organizations, two — Inspiring Minds and Mt. Hope Learning Center — were funded at the recommendation of United Way’s Women United group.

Organizations were invited to apply for up to $75,000 in annual funding for the three-year period of 2023 to 2026. Proposals went through a multiphase review process, in which a committee of 29 took a holistic approach to reviewing each application. Proposals were scored on alignment with United Way’s mission; organizational readiness to invest; population served and geographical reach; justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion plans; and proposed activities. There were 238 grant applications received, totaling $17.8 million in funding requests.

$20 Million in ARPA Funds Distributed to Address Housing, Hunger, and Behavioral Health

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

The Rhode Island Foundation has completed awarding $20 million in grants for hunger, housing and behavioral health to 240 nonprofits across the state. State leaders tapped the Foundation to distribute the funding from Rhode Island’s $1.1 billion share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation for COVID-19 recovery.

The $20 million the Foundation has awarded since December is the single largest pool of grants in the organization’s 107-year-history.

The grants targeted organizations that experienced negative economic impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation gave priority to community-based nonprofits serving communities where the need is highest.

The Mt. Hope Community Center in Providence, the East Bay Community Action Program in East Providence, the Galilee Mission in Narragansett, the James L. Maher Center in Middletown, YWCA Rhode Island in Woonsocket and Westbay Community Action in Warwick, where the announcement was made, are among the organizations that received funding. Here is the full list of recipients.

The Foundation announced the first $8.3 million in grants to 91 nonprofits last December. The final $11.7 million in grants were awarded to 149 organizations over the past four months.

New Housing Report Released

by Posted in Community Development, Housing and Homelessness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Policy
Rhode Island Foundation recently released a study of Rhode Island’s housing environment by the Boston Consulting Group, entitled “Housing Supply and Homelessness in Rhode Island.”
Under the guidance of a steering committee consisting of funding partners Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, the Partnership for Rhode Island, and Rhode Island LISC, and with staff support from the United Way of Rhode Island, the effort engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including key providers and leaders in the homelessness and housing sectors, around housing strategy, development, finance, and organizational design across the private, public, and social service sectors. The work was done in collaboration with, and in support of, the state Department of Housing.
Going forward, the Department of Housing will engage stakeholders further around the facts and options in the study and implement next steps in a transparent and accountable manner. In addition, the study will inform, but is separate from, the strategic plan the Department is developing.

Citizens Gives LISC $1.25 Million For Digital Inclusion

by Posted in Basic Need, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Education, Equity, Financial Literacy, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Technology

The Citizens Charitable Foundation announced today a $1.25 million grant to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to fuel digital inclusion in historically marginalized communities, helping residents build the skills they need to compete for jobs.

Supporting work at eight LISC Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) partners, the funding will help launch and expand digital services that prepare people for growth industries, including the information technology field. LISC FOCs are community-based programs that integrate services related to employment training and career coaching, job placement, financial coaching, and wrap-around social support like child-care, housing and transportation so that people can achieve long-term financial stability.

The $1.25 million grant from Citizens builds on a pilot program, also supported by the bank, that tested approaches to bridging the digital skills gap. The grant is supporting one-on-one training, digital literacy workshops, ongoing digital coaching, and job training for the information technology field.

Since FOC services are delivered by experienced community-based nonprofits, the digital training is tailored to local economic and employment conditions, with a particular focus on people and communities where job loss, discrimination and underinvestment have limited opportunities. Importantly, the experience gained from these efforts can then be replicated throughout LISC’s national network of more than 120 FOCs, which serve 25,000 people each year.

The funding directly benefits people who face the steepest structural barriers to opportunity. More than 83 percent of FOC clients are people of color, and 60 percent are women. They take advantage of a range of FOC programs—including the Bridges to Career Opportunities program, which focuses on foundational skills like math and reading, as well as technical training—so they can move into better-paying jobs and build a more stable financial future.

Citizens has been a long-time supporter of LISC and FOCs, with more than $4 million in funding since 2018.

Bank Newport 2022 Philanthropy Tops $1.7 Million

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Education, Employee Engagement, Health and Wellness, Housing and Homelessness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Pictured left to right: Carmen Diaz-Jusino, Vice President, Community Development Officer, BankNewport and a member of the board of directors of the RI Community Food Bank; Andrew Schiff, CEO, RI Community Food Bank; Jack Murphy, President & CEO, BankNewport; Kathleen Charbonneau, Vice President, Director of Community Relations, BankNewport.

In 2022, Bank Newport philanthropic efforts resulted in over $1.7 million awarded to over 400 organizations and over 8,500 service hours performed by employees.  The funding was inclusive of charitable grants and contributions, community event sponsorships, community contributions from local branches, and year-end proactive and holiday support to nonprofits that meet basic needs for the underserved throughout Rhode Island. The giving culminated with a $100,000 grant for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

According to the RI Community Food Bank’s 2022 Status Report on Hunger in Rhode Island, nearly one in three Rhode Island households can’t afford adequate food and the risk is especially high for low-income families with children and for communities of color.  According to findings from the latest RI Life Index, conducted between April and June 2022, 31% of households were food insecure and unable to afford adequate food.  By comparison, 9.1% of Rhode Island households were food insecure in the years 2017-2019.

Organizations in every county of Rhode Island benefitted from the giving effort, with areas of impact focused on basic human needs, children & families, education, economic security, healthy living, arts and culture and the environment.  Over the past ten years, BankNewport has awarded nearly $8 million in grants, sponsorships, and donations to a wide range of nonprofits and community organizations to help strengthen and enrich lives and communities throughout the state.

Financial education and community involvement by Bank employees in 2022 totaled over 8,500 hours. Through BNWise, BankNewport’s financial education program, 1,250 students and community members were engaged in interactive financial education presentations on a variety of topics, from saving and budgeting to credit and entrepreneurship, which were made available in-person and virtually.

BankNewport also generated statewide awareness for organizations serving Rhode Island’s homeless population through the Kind Heart Fresh Start campaign, which collected hundreds of pieces of new bedding, including pillows, pillowcases, pillow protectors, twin and full-size sheet sets, and crib sheets, from its employees and members of the community, for agencies around the state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhode Island Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund Awards $110,000 for Services to RI’s Black Community

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Education, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Nonprofits serving the state’s Black community have received nearly $110,000 in grants through the Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation.

The fund, established in 2007 to address the needs of the Black community in Rhode Island, supports nonprofits that offer youth development and mentoring, promote the history and achievements of Blacks in Rhode Island, preserve the culture of the Black community and strive to uplift low-income Black Rhode Islanders.

Nineteen organizations received grants:

  • African Alliance of Rhode Island
  • Oasis International
  • Sankofa Community Connection
  • Youth Moving Forward
  • AS220
  • Everett: Company, Stage & School
  • Inspiring Minds
  • MAP Behavioral Health Services
  • New Bridges for Haitian Success
  • New Urban Arts
  • Power Up RI, Inc.
  • Rhode Island Black Storytellers
  • Rhode Island for Community & Justice
  • Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education
  • Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts
  • Urban League of Rhode Island, Inc.
  • Stages of Freedom
  • WattsNatural Tutoring
  • Youth In Action

The fund also offers scholarships for Black students who are pursuing or advancing a career in health care in college or a technical school. Last year, the fund awarded $54,500 to 25 recipients. The deadline to apply for 2023 scholarship assistance is April 10.

The Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund is just one of the grant programs the Foundation uses to support nonprofits that serve Rhode Island’s community of color. Recent initiatives include creating a capacity-building program to support nonprofits led by Asian, Black, Latino or Hispanic, Indigenous or multi-racial executive directors or other decision-makers within an organization; and launching a grant program to help nonprofits create anti-racist organizational cultures.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Celebrate 20 Years of Grants with $740,000 in Housing-related Health Equity Grants

by Posted in Basic Need, Community Development, Corporate Citizenship, Health and Wellness, Housing and Homelessness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island caps 20 years of community grants with $740,000 for organizations addressing health inequities tied to housing

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) awarded $740,000 in 2023 — $335,000 in grants to five organizations that improve access to safe, stable, and affordable housing throughout Rhode Island and $405,000 for successful 2022 grantees working on housing-related health inequities. Funding for these organizations comes from BCBSRI’s cornerstone grant program, BlueAngel Community Health Grants, which celebrated its 20th year in 2022.

BCBSRI’s philanthropic focus on housing is guided by responses to the annual RI Life Index, a statewide survey of Rhode Islanders administered by the Brown University School of Public Health in partnership with BCBSRI. The RI Life Index has consistently shown that access to safe, stable affordable housing is a top concern for Rhode Islanders in nearly every community. In fact, the 2022 score for affordable housing worsened – dropping from 40 to 33 on a scale of 100 – amid high inflation, high interest rates, and high prices and rents.

The 2023 awards extend BCBSRI’s investments in affordable housing to a fourth year, totaling $2.1 million since establishing housing as the sole funding focus in 2019. In total, since the BACHG program’s inception in 2002, BCBSRI has donated more than $6 million to local organizations, funding critical work that has impacted the lives of more than 333,000 Rhode Islanders. 

Grantees were Adoption Rhode Island, South County Habitat for Humanity, Jonnycake Center for Hope, West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, Westbay Community Action, Inc.

Another $405,000 in grants were awarded to 2022 grant recipients who applied for an additional year of funding. Recipients included DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), Housing Network of Rhode Island, NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, ONE Neighborhood Builders, Pawtucket Central Falls Development, and Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. Grant recipients can apply for transitional funding when successful performance outcomes have been achieved in the first year.

Blue Angel funding is made available through the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Community Health Fund maintained at the Rhode Island Foundation.  More information about the BACHG program is available at bcbsri.com/about/blueangel.

Point32Health Provides $700,000 to New England Food Banks; Giving Tuesday Contributions Total Over $800,000

by Posted in Basic Need, Corporate Citizenship, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Point32Health Foundation announced today grants totaling $700,000 to seven food banks in New England. Each organization will receive $100,000 to increase capacity to respond to the growing community need for emergency food support.

These investments support general operations, including staff salaries, the purchase of fresh and non-perishable food, and fuel costs for distribution. Funds also will go to advocacy efforts that promote system and policy changes addressing root causes of hunger, and aligned with the new National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank received a grant of $100,000.

On Giving Tuesday,  Point32Health Board and colleague donations to nonprofit organizations were nearly $300,000. With the double match from the Foundation, a total of more than $800,000 will be distributed to community organizations advancing their mission of healthier lives for everyone.

The team also organized on-site and remote service activities for colleagues. Overall, colleagues packed 198 hygiene kits and wrote 200 well-wish notes for Heading Home and Services for the Elderly of Farmington; crafted 18 fleece blankets with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley to support people experiencing homelessness; painted murals with Foundation for Hospital Art to soften hospital environments; and created cards for children served by Cradles to Crayons. In all, 80 colleagues volunteered their time on #GivingTuesday.

Point32Health colleagues also donated more than $12,000 in gifts and essentials during the company’s annual Wish Drive.

Goods will go to people experiencing economic uncertainty across the region through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, Casa Project Worcester, the New England Center and Home for Veterans, Webster House, and the Pawtucket YMCA.