We’re excited to share another update from the 2024 Collective Grants Committee! Since our last update, the committee has been working to thoughtfully research 30 organizations in 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 continue to lean into the trust-based philanthropy practice of doing the homework by conducting our own research instead of asking for a full proposal. To aid in our research, organizations were invited to share a current budget as well as any materials they had on hand, including applications to other funders, annual reports, recordings of events and more.
After their research, the grant committee gathered to discuss and select 5 organizations in each priority to move forward to the next phase of our grants process, conversations. We’re honored to share a bit about the 15 organizations that the committee will connect with later this month. If you’re interested in learning more about what the committee found as part of their research, check out the Research Summary Booklet, which will be shared in the member newsletter.
Expanding Access to Arts in Schools
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.
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.
Tieton Arts & Humanities: Tieton Arts & Humanities enriches and celebrates our community through artistic and cultural programming.
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
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.
Foundation for Youth Resiliency and Engagement: FYRE’s mission is to advocate for equitable opportunities that allow all youth to thrive.
New Beginnings: New Beginnings’ mission is to empower survivors and mobilize community awareness and action to end domestic violence.
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
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.
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 conducting conversations with these organizations to learn more about their work and select two in each category (6 total) to move forward to the Ballot. All organizations that do not move forward at that time will receive a $3,000 grant. Register for our Grant Award Celebration on June 6th to celebrate together!
Merit Awardees
The following organizations were considered in the Research Phase of the grant process but will not advance to the Conversation Phase. In recognition of their investment in our grant process, they have been awarded a $1,500 Merit Award. As wonderful organizations doing important work in our community, we hope that you will learn more about them and consider supporting them individually!
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.
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.
Spark Central: Spark Central ignites the creativity, innovation, and imagination necessary for people to forge the path to their best future.
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.
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.
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.
Hope Street: Hope Street provides women a safe home, community, and support as they discover their most fulfilling lives in long-term recovery.
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.
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.
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.