2024 Collective Grants Committee Update: Top 30 Organizations 

by Aviva Stampfer

This January and February, the 2024 Collective Grants Committee has been deeply engaged in the work of reviewing Letters of Inquiry and discussing our three priorities: Expanding Access to Arts in Schools, Mental Health & Housing, and Re-Entry Support. This is the third year of our re-imagined grants process, and we are enjoying diving deep into these complex topics, including learning from community experts at our 101 series.  Check out the recordings here: Expanding Access to Arts in Schools 101, Mental Health & Housing 101, and Re-Entry Support 101.

With our grants we seek to support organizations that are reflective of and embedded in the communities they serve, draw on the strengths and assets of these communities, and are accountable to these communities in order to achieve the long-term goals of increasing equity and reducing disparities.  

We are delighted to share with you the 30 organizations moving forward to the Research Phase of our grants process. Please take a moment to learn more about these incredible organizations across Washington State.   

Expanding Access to Arts in Schools 

Arts Corps: Arts Corps revolutionizes arts education by igniting the creative power of young people through culturally engaging learning experiences.  

Carnegie Picture Lab: To deliver dynamic art experiences for all young people through innovative and transformative programs. 

Inchelium Language & Culture Association: The mission of the Inchelium Language & Culture Association (ILCA) is to foster and sustain a dynamic community of Salish language speakers whose daily lives are expressed through a commitment to Lakes and Colville culture and a connection to their traditional territories.  

Key to Change: Key to Change’s mission is to inspire underserved youth of color through world-class violin and viola instruction and to support their development as self-aware leaders.  

Seattle JazzED: Through jazz education that liberates and inspires, Seattle JazzED increases access in the music room, celebrates student expression and builds lasting connections rooted in community.  

South End Stories: South End Stories’ mission is to ignite joy and justice in classrooms and communities using arts-based learning, anti-racist education, and social activism.  

Spark Central: Spark Central ignites the creativity, innovation, and imagination necessary for people to forge the path to their best future. 

Tieton Arts & Humanities: Tieton Arts & Humanities enriches and celebrates our community through artistic and cultural programming.  

Urban ArtWorks: Urban ArtWorks’ mission is to engage youth, artists, and communities in the creation of public art that inspires connections and honors their voices. 

Yakima Music en Acción (YAMA): Yakima Music en Acción (YAMA) grows confident young leaders throughout the neighborhoods it serves by widening access to professional-level music learning, igniting collective pride, and empowering and unifying students and families.  

Mental Health & Housing 

Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program: Providing and facilitating access to justice in Clark County for low-income individuals and marginalized communities through advocacy and civil legal services. 

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center): Our mission is to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. 

Elizabeth Gregory Home: Elizabeth Gregory Home provides a welcoming and respectful refuge where women who are experiencing homelessness, trauma, or economic insecurity have access to a caring community and critical resources. 

Foundation for Youth Resiliency and Engagement: FYRE’s mission is to advocate for equitable opportunities that allow all youth to thrive.  

Hope Street: Hope Street provides women a safe home, community, and support as they discover their most fulfilling lives in long-term recovery. 

New Beginnings: New Beginnings’ mission is to empower survivors and mobilize community awareness and action to end domestic violence. 

New Phoebe House Association: Through housing, services, support, and treatments, we serve Pierce County mothers and children impacted by chemical dependency, homelessness, and trauma.  

The Arc of King County: The Arc of King County (AKC) promotes and protects the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) so they can live, learn, work and play in the community–improving the quality of life for us all.  

Triumph Treatment Services: Triumph Treatment Services provides a multifaceted, integrated continuum of care with a mission to respond to the substance use disorder and mental health needs of the Central Washington region.  

YWCA of Kitsap County: Kitsap YWCA’s mission is to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, equity, and dignity for all.  

Re-Entry Support 

Arms Around You: The mission of Arms Around You is to partner with and support individuals as they reintegrate, heal, and build their lives after experiencing incarceration.  

FEPPS: FEPPS provides a rigorous college program for incarcerated women, trans-identified and gender nonconforming people in Washington and creates pathways to higher education after students are released from prison.  

Living with Conviction: Living with Conviction’s mission is to secure economic and racial justice with and for marginalized communities, especially formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, through community-driven research, advocacy-based storytelling, and legal empowerment strategies.  

RECLAIM: RECLAIM (formerly University Beyond Bars) provides reintegration support that centers the mental, emotional, and relational health of individuals and families impacted by the criminal legal system to better prepare them for the return home.  

The Black Rose Collective: The Black Rose Collective is a group of dedicated volunteer community organizers and support specialists who are directed by and accountable to their community – Black, Brown, Indigenous, and people of the global majority who are incarcerated, impacted by gun violence, or who face ongoing barriers of the “Reentry” system after being released from prison.  

Revive Center for Returning Citizens: The Revive Center for Returning Citizens (Revive Center) is rooted in advocating for inclusion and opportunities for the justice-involved population. We are a peer-led organization that provides training, community building, advocacy, and support to impacted individuals and families. 

TeamChild: TeamChild upholds the rights of youth involved, or at risk of being involved, in the juvenile justice system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing and other supports they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives.  

The IF Project: The IF Project is a gender responsive non-profit organization that prioritizes the experiences of those impacted by incarceration. Through truth telling, empathy and awareness— we heal, empower and transform ourselves, our families and our communities.  

The Way to Justice: The Way to Justice’s mission is to pave the way to justice through community empowerment, advocacy, and access. With legal services as a nucleus for programming, comprehensive wraparound services make our approach whole. To prevent recidivism and reduce harm in the system, The Way to Justice focuses on community healing work and reentry navigation, through which we help clients and their families access all the supports they need.  

Yoga Behind Bars: We share trauma-informed yoga and meditation with our community behind and beyond bars to support individual healing and a more just society for all. 

Next Steps 

Next up, the Grants Committee will be researching these 30 organizations to learn more about their work and select five in each category (15 total) to move forward to the Conversations phase. All organizations that do not move forward at that time will receive a $1,500 grant. Stay tuned for another update in April and save the date for our Grant Award Celebration on June 6th!  

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