By Aviva Stampfer, Grants & Programs Director
In case you missed the announcement, WaWF made a big change this year, in response to the unique pressures on nonprofits in this time. We know the entire sector is under significant stress and decided that one way WaWF could meet this moment is by ending our grant process early and distributing our dollars to more organizations.
And so, we are proud to announce our 2025 Collective Grants! These unrestricted grants total $319,500 to 28 Washington organizations, with 15 $20,000 Collective Grants and 13 $1,500 Merit Awards. These amazing organizations work to increase equity in Washington State in our 2025 priorities: Adult Educational Opportunities, Youth Mental Health, and Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change.
2025 Grantees
Adult Educational Opportunities
Investing 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).
Afghan Advantage: AA+ builds learning communities and functional literacy skills to bridge the gap between newcomers and opportunity. AA+ nurtures communication, self-reliance, literacy and leadership by building community connections through increased access to information, experiences, and targeted life skills.
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.
Global Neighborhood: At Global Neighborhood, we offer pathways to employment for our neighbors who have come to the Inland Northwest as refugees.
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.
Youth Mental Health
Investing 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.
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.
Somali Health Board: The Somali Health Board’s mission is to reduce health disparities in King County’s Somali community.
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.
*those who identify as women or girls or were assigned female at birth
Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change
Investing in alleviating and reversing the effect of climate change on those communities most impacted by its effects in Washington State.
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.
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.
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.
Merit Awardees
Adult Educational Opportunities
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.
La Casa Hogar: La Casa Hogar connects and educates Latina families, to transform lives and our Yakima Valley.
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
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.
Mary’s Place: Mary’s Place mission is to ensure that no child sleeps outside by centering equity and opportunity for women and families.
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.
Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change
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 is devoted to promoting environmental justice and sustainability in an effort to build immigrant and refugee communities that can shape their environmental futures.
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.
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.
What’s Next
As a community, we are in conversation about what else we can do to meet this moment, collectively. We welcome your ideas! In the meantime, save the date for June 6th for a community celebration. More details and registration information are coming soon!