By Southwester Staff
The Southwest Community Foundation announced the results of its first round of grants to local organizations. The Foundation awarded grants totaling $25,220 to eight organizations in its 2021-22 round of grantmaking. The foundation is a nonprofit founded in 2015 by Southwest community leaders to attract and distribute philanthropic dollars to help improve the lives of Southwest residents.
The foundation launched its grant program in 2021 with funds provided as a community benefit from Douglas Development. The amount and nature of the benefit package was negotiated by ANC 6D, which then requested the Southwest Community Foundation to hold the funds and distribute them for the benefit of the residents of Southwest DC living in ZIP code 20024. The Foundation advertised the program through a variety of media and requested proposals that met certain established criteria.
The first organizations to receive grants are working to prevent food insecurity, advancing the arts, connecting a diverse community and supporting education and small business skills.
The eight recipients are: 5000 Food Pantry, Capital Fringe, Friends of The SW Library, Kadampa Meditation Center, Richard Wright Public Charter School, Southwest Community Gardens, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly Scholarship Fund and the Washington DC Police Foundation.
Programs supported by the grants will include free meditation classes for residents enrolled in GOODProject’s Family Success Planning initiative, staple food pantry packages reaching up to 110 neighborhood families per month, classes for high schoolers and their parents to reduce the barriers to higher education for first-generation college students, and opportunities for the Harbor Patrol Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department to engage with young people and older adults by teaching them how to fish, as well as water and general safety skills.
A second round of grants is expected to begin with a call for proposals in September 2022. For more information about the current grantees, please visit https://sw-community-foundation.org.