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

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

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

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.

$500,000 in ARPA Funds Awarded to12 Providence Arts Nonprofits

Twelve arts and/or culture-based non-profit organizations have been awarded a total of $500,000 in grant funding through the Providence American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Additionally, the City celebrated the continued prioritization of public art, while also recognizing its Sidewalk Tattoo project.

The 12 non-profits selected for grant funding through the ARPA Special Events Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) are Providence Children’s Film Festival, DESIGNxRI, Southside Community Land Trust, Educational Center of Arts and Sciences (ECAS), The Steel Yard, FirstWorks, Federal Hill Commerce Association, D’High Class Human Development Agency, Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA), Oasis International, the Wilbury Theatre Group, and Quisqueya in Action, Inc.

Applicants were able to apply for up to $50,000 of demonstrated need. To be eligible for funding, these Providence-based, art and culture-based organizations had to (1) currently provide public special events programming and (2) have experienced negative impacts or disproportionate impacts of the pandemic as demonstrated by a year-to-year financial comparison with the fiscal year ending prior to March 2020.

Additionally, the Department of Art, Culture, + Tourism celebrated its the Sidewalk Tattoo public art program, made possible in part by the Art in City Life Ordinance. In early 2021, ACT and the Art in City Life Commission invited RI-based writers and artists to submit poetry or word-based art for permanent display on City sidewalks. Following the open call, the Art in City Life Commission awarded 30 artists $1,000 each, for a total of 30 poems or designs. The awarded poems were printed on reusable stamps, and the first two poems were installed into newly-repaired sidewalks in September of 2022. The first two tattoo installations can be found on Sharon Street, with many more to be applied in the future as funding and site conditions allow.

For more information on public art in Providence, please visit ACT’s website.

Schott Foundation for Public Education Grants over $500,000 in Support of Public Schools

Between April and June, the Schott Foundation for Public Education awarded $589,710 across ten grantees to support parent, youth, and community organizations working to defend and improve public schools and fight for race and gender justice in their communities — more than $1.5 million in 2022 so far. Schott grants this quarter have gone to longtime Schott partners like the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools and One Voice, as well as newer grantees like Village of Wisdom and Being Black in the Burbs.

Several of the grants this quarter were made as part of the multi-partner Invest Together Fund – which is a national organizing effort to defend public education locally with NYU Metro Center and Race Forward’s H.E.A.L. Together Initiative.

More information

Guest Post — The War in Ukraine Requires a Major Philanthropic Response and Overall Increase in Peace and Security Funding

Originally published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 1, 2022

“The Molotov cocktails are the worst,” says my 99-year-old grandmother, reflecting on the violence erupting in her homeland of Ukraine. She remembers dodging them in the streets of Odessa as she fled invaders eight decades ago. “But,” she sighs during our weekly Skype chat from her home in Germany, “what can we actually do at this point?”

The short answer for everyone, but especially philanthropy, is quite a lot.

First, grant makers must respond to the immediate humanitarian crisis in Ukraine by providing much-needed rapid-response funds to help those on the ground. Millions of people are likely to need shelter, food, water, and medical care. Foundations and individual donors that can give rapid-response grants should connect with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy or their philanthropy colleagues who are in direct touch with Ukrainian grantee partners and who can most effectively channel funds to meet immediate needs.

Grant makers that have not established flexible-funding approaches should take this opportunity to embrace the notion that timely philanthropy is the most effective philanthropy — especially during a crisis.

Pushing Back on Misinformation

Second, philanthropy can play an important role in pushing back on the warmongering, misinformation-driven narrative woven into the conflict itself and the debate surrounding it. Much has been written about Russia’s use of disinformation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, most recently, its characterizations of Ukraine and its government. In both cases, Russian disinformation was amplified by conservative news outlets and politicians in this country, fueling the partisanship that stands in the way of genuine policy debate and consensus building. Such misinformation also feeds narratives that peace, diplomacy, and compromise are weak.

One of the most effective ways grant makers can respond is by supporting independent journalism and analysis that counters these narratives. For example, the 762 Project, which is run by volunteers in Ukraine and elsewhere, has been collecting, analyzing, and posting information about the buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s borders since last spring. Supporting local news sources in Ukraine, such as the English-language news site the Kyiv Independent, is especially important to ensuring that propaganda from outlets like the Kremlin-funded RT and social-media misinformation campaigns don’t drive decision making about the invasion.

Bolster Peace and Security Funding

Finally, philanthropy must increase its investment in peace and security broadly, and diversify who receives that funding. Without meaning to sound insensitive, this step is more important and more difficult than the short-term response to the war in Ukraine. It is the only way to achieve lasting peace and security in both Ukraine and future conflicts — and to identify and spotlight innovative, peace-focused solutions.

Peace and security funding accounts for just 1 percent of all grant making, which is as lopsided as the funding disparity between the State Department and the Department of Defense. The State Department’s $65 billion budget is 1 percent of the overall federal budget, while the Defense Department’s is 10 times that, or $773 billion. In a recent op-ed about American militarism, Patrick Hiller, director of the War Prevention Initiative at the Jubitz Family Foundation, noted that “diplomacy is the sidekick of the U.S. war machine when it comes to relations with the rest of the world.” Is it any wonder that diplomacy doesn’t have much of a fighting chance?

The 57 members of the Peace and Security Funders Group, which I manage, make up a passionate and strategic bunch, but we struggle to get adequate funding for our issues. Why?

During my 14 years of working in this area, I’ve heard three perennial reasons from grant makers for avoiding peace work:

Peace is a long-term investment, with payout measured in decades, and boards lack the vision and patience to stay the course when there aren’t quick wins to showcase at quarterly meetings.  Peace work can feel too political because many of the issues involve policy or legislation.  It’s difficult to claim credit for avoiding a future nuclear terrorist attack or for preventing a conflict that would have happened absent locally led peace-building efforts.

In reality, hundreds of examples demonstrate how investing in peace building can stop or reduce conflict. And, as the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to investments in peace versus war. As for those concerned about crossing too far into direct political involvement or lobbying, there are many options in the advocacy toolbox that both grant makers and nonprofits can deploy to effectively and legally engage in this work.

The peace and security arena is itself at a crossroads. One foundation colleague of mine often jokes that the field is mostly “pale, male, and stale.” Some have called the lack of diversity a national security crisis, and myriad initiatives are pushing for more diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism efforts. For instance, the nonprofit group Organizations in Solidarity “seeks to diversify the fields of peace and security, foreign policy, and national security,” with the goal of making the work more inclusive and equitable.

The field is beginning to grapple with a toxic culture that dismisses new ideas, as well as its role in upholding a white dominant system that favors solutions for only some of the world’s people. This is necessary and long overdue. As philanthropist and financier Frank Giustra observed, “Without peace and security, you can forget about advancing any of the other social issues philanthropy is trying to address. … It’s impossible to implement solutions in issue areas like health, education, and poverty unless you have a peaceful and stable environment to work in.”

The tragic and unnecessary war in Ukraine is unlikely to end anytime soon — and philanthropy has no excuse for sitting on the sidelines. Funds should be directed toward immediate humanitarian needs while also supporting organizations that are charting a more inclusive, equitable, and just path forward. We all need to learn to talk about peace in a way that’s empowering, inspiring, and radically feminist. For those grant makers who aren’t yet in the peace game, this is your chance. We have an opportunity to change history’s trajectory and prevent another devastating war.

Over 90 Charitable Sector Leaders Join United Philanthropy Forum in Urging Senate Action on Voting Rights

United Philanthropy Forum sent a letter to all 100 Senate offices urging action on voting rights during the final year of the 117th Congress. Joining the Forum as signatories of the letter were over 90 philanthropic and charitable sector leaders from across the country, including 40 Forum members.

Specifically, the letter asks the United States Senate to prioritize passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in 2022. The Forum endorsed the legislation last year and has continued to work with partners like Independent Sector to uplift the issue to the broader sector.

After the Senate failed to act on voting rights last month, the Forum recognized the need to continue to call on legislators to do act on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement and the critical importance of the measures the bill takes to ensure equity in the voting rights process.

If you have any questions about philanthropy’s work on this issue or the Forum’s commitment to uplifting equitable public policy solutions, please feel free to contact Matthew L. Evans, the Forum’s Senior Director of Public Policy.

$450K in American Rescue Plan Funds for RI Arts Organizations

Representative David Cicilline announced that six Rhode Island arts organizations have been awarded a total of $450,000 in competitive grant funding from the American Rescue Plan. These grants, awarded through the National Endowment for the Arts, will support payroll costs and pandemic-related expenses. The grants were awarded as follows:

  • Alliance of Artists Communities, Providence – $100,000
  • Dirt Palace Public Projects, Providence – $50,000
  • DownCity Design, Providence – $100,000
  • Spectrum Theatre Ensemble, Providence – $100,000
  • Everett Arts Incubator, Providence – $50,000
  •  Riverzedge Arts, Woonsocket – $50,000

The pandemic and safety measures have hit arts organizations here in Rhode Island and around the country hard. These American Rescue Plan grants will help Rhode Island’s cultural institutions weather this storm and continue to enrich Rhode Island communities.

State Arts Council Awards 74 Grants to RI Artists, Arts Organizations and Nonprofits

Arts and culture organizations, arts education and healthcare programs, individual and teaching artists, culture workers, and related community projects benefited from $215,011 in funding announced by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA). The 74 grants, of which 34 went to individual artists, were approved by the Arts Council’s Board on Dec. 13, and will assist RI’s arts and culture community throughout the 2022 fiscal year.

The next cycle of arts and culture grants will open on Feb. 1 with a deadline of April 1. Several grant programs have been updated to align with the agency’s ongoing work to ensure that arts and culture continue to be an essential part of Rhode Island life and thrive in our communities. For more information, visit RISCA’s grants webpage.

$5.4 Million in CARES Act COVID-19 Aid Awarded to More than 160 Nonprofits

The Rhode Island Foundation announced the distribution of $5.4 million in federal CARES Act funding for COVID-19 relief to more than 160 nonprofits across the state. The grants cover the cost of housing, behavioral health services, health care, job training, food pantries and child care among other uses.

The Rhode Island Nonprofit Support Fund II was established jointly by Governor Dan McKee, through the Rhode Island Pandemic Recovery Office; and the Foundation last month. The grants average more than $32,000 and target services or direct assistance that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on vulnerable individuals or communities.

The $5.4 million in grants includes an additional $900,000 in funding that became available after the Foundation began taking applications November 30.

Full list of grant recipients

Grantmakers Council of Rhode Island