This January and February, the 2025 Collective Grants Committee has been deeply engaged in the work of reviewing Letters of Inquiry and discussing our three priorities: Adult Educational Opportunities, Youth Mental Health, and Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change. As always, we enjoy diving deep into these complex topics, including learning from community experts at our 101 series. If you missed them, watch the recordings here: Youth Mental Health 101, Adult Ed Opportunities 101, Mitigating Climate Change 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 28 organizations moving forward to the next phase of our grants process. Please take a moment to learn more about these incredible organizations across Washington State.
Adult Educational Opportunities
We will invest in non-traditional adult education programs and educational opportunities in support of adults navigating the requirements of employment and civic participation (this may include immigrant and refugee education services). We are interested in learning more about non-traditional adult education programs and services designed to support adults (ages 18 and older) as they navigate the requirements of employment and civic participation.
Afghan Advantage: AA+ builds learning communities and functional literacy skills to bridge the gap between newcomers and opportunity.
FEAST World Kitchen: Feast World Kitchen is a downtown Spokane restaurant that empowers Immigrants and former Refugees as leaders as they share their culture through excellent international cuisine.
Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (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.
Global Neighborhood: At Global Neighborhood, we offer pathways to employment for our neighbors who have come to the Inland Northwest as refugees.
La Casa Hogar: La Casa Hogar connects and educates Latina families, to transform lives and our Yakima Valley.
Literacy Source: Literacy Source partners with adults working to gain skills and education to create new opportunities for themselves, their families, and the community.
Palmer Scholars: Palmer Scholars exists to bridge the gap between potential and opportunity for young adults of color in Pierce County.
Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA): ReWA is a non-profit, multi-ethnic organization that promotes inclusion, independence, personal leadership, and strong communities by providing refugees and immigrant women and their families with culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
Voices of Tomorrow: Voices of Tomorrow (VOT)’s mission is to preserve immigrant & refugee children’s identity through culturally responsive child-focused programs.
Whatcom Working Waterfront Foundation: The mission of the Whatcom Working Waterfront Foundation is to provide educational and enhancement programs to benefit Whatcom’s waterfronts.
Youth Mental Health
We will invest in culturally relevant mental health and connection-building services for young people (ages 26 and younger) including organizations with counseling staff or working with a network of external providers. We are interested in learning more about systems of mental healthcare and how young people (ages 26 and younger) interact and heal within these systems, including systems designed to address youth addiction recovery.
Asians for Collective Liberation in Spokane: ACL Spokane centers the power of Asians and Asian Americans to build a just, healthy, and thriving community for all.
International Community Health Services: Deeply rooted in the Asian Pacific Islander community, ICHS provides culturally and linguistically appropriate health and wellness services and promotes health equity for all.
Mary’s Place: Mary’s Place mission is to ensure that no child sleeps outside by centering equity and opportunity for women and families.
Somali Health Board: The Somali Health Board’s mission is to reduce health disparities in King County’s Somali community.
Vamos Outdoors Project and National Alliance on Mental Illness Whatcom (joint submission): Vamos Outdoors Project’s mission is building community through connection to the land and access to the outdoors. NAMI Whatcom’s mission is to provide hope and improve the quality of life for those who are affected by mental health conditions through support, education, and advocacy.
WA Therapy Fund Foundation: To eliminate barriers to healing for those who have been historically excluded.
Yakima Neighborhood Health Services: YNHS’ mission is to improve the quality of life and equity in our communities by providing accessible and integrated health and social services, ending homelessness, and offering unique learning opportunities for students of health professions.
Young Women Empowered (Y-WE): Young Women Empowered cultivates the power of diverse young women* to be creative leaders and courageous changemakers through transformative programs within a collaborative community of belonging.
Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change
We will invest in alleviating and reversing the effect of climate change on those communities most impacted by its effects in Washington State. We are interested in learning more about how climate change has impacted communities in Washington State and the solutions those communities are creating.
Community Land Conservancy: A people of color-led land conservancy that acquires land for parks in historically underserved communities so that community voices are heard and centered in land use decision-making.
ECOSS: ECOSS has a mission to educate and empower businesses and diverse communities to implement environmentally sustainable practices.
Front & Centered: Front and Centered is a diverse and powerful coalition of communities of color-led groups across Washington State who come together to advance equity, climate justice, and environmental justice.
Hip Hop is Green: Hip Hop is Green (HHIG) is a Black-led and Seattle-based organization that uses the power and influence of Hip Hop culture to speak to youth and spark positive health and wellness changes in their lives.
Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County (HDC): HDC is the nonprofit membership association for the affordable housing sector, and the leading advocate for expanding affordable housing.
Mason County Climate Justice: Mason County Climate Justice envisions and co-creates local climate solutions that regenerate healthy ecosystems, benefit everyone in our rural community, and align with climate justice movements around the world.
Sacred Land Collective: Sacred Land Collective’s mission is to center and cultivate healing for Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.
Spark Northwest: Spark Northwest engages with communities to build an equitable clean energy future, prioritizing working with people facing racial and economic injustice.
Tacoma Tree Foundation: The mission of Tacoma Tree Foundation is to empower, educate, and support equitable community greening to mitigate the effects of climate change on our region’s most impacted neighborhoods.
The Common Acre: The Common Acre is an Indigenous-led organization with a mission to connect BIPOC people to land and culture.
Next Steps
Next up, the Grants Committee will learn more about these organizations through research. Stay tuned for another update in April and save the date for our Grant Award Celebration on June 6th!