Ford Fund awards $1 million in grants in West Tennessee. Here are the recipients.

Omer Yusuf, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read

Ford Fund — Ford Motor Co.’s philanthropic arm –– announced on Friday the recipients of its new $1 million capital grants program to benefit the West Tennessee region surrounding BlueOval City.

There were 17 winners from six West Tennessee counties. The capital grants were available for nonprofits and municipalities in Haywood, Fayette, Tipton, Lauderdale, Shelby and Madison counties.

“As we met with communities, especially those around the (BlueOval City) plant, there were just a lot of projects that we learned about, that if we could seed them and catalyze them it might actually help in a bigger way,” said Ford Fund President Mary Culler, on the grantees. “That’s the whole impetus of the capital grants program is to start to help those communities, seed some of these projects and opportunities that they’ve been wanting to try to find funding for.”

The grants are designed to enable capital improvements such as building renovations, land preservation and other community-based construction projects like playgrounds, parks, community centers and food banks.

Ford Fund shared more details about the capital grants program at a BlueOval City event on Friday morning at the project site in Stanton.

Culler added Ford Fund also plans to look at helping assist in essential services and helping to build the pipeline for community members to be able to access BlueOval City jobs. The $5.6 billion electric vehicle and battery campus is expected to open in 2025 and create 5,800 new jobs.

Ford Fund did not offer specifics on the amount of funds each grantee received or what the funds would go toward but previously said the grants would range from $25,000 to $100,000.

Here are the 17 grantees and where they are located.

Ford Fund President Mary Culler speaks during an event at BlueOval City on Friday, March 24, 2023. The Ford Fund has announced the recipients of it $1 million capital grants program to benefit the West Tennessee region surrounding BlueOval City.
Ford Fund President Mary Culler speaks during an event at BlueOval City on Friday, March 24, 2023. The Ford Fund has announced the recipients of it $1 million capital grants program to benefit the West Tennessee region surrounding BlueOval City.

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Haywood County

  • The Brownsville Haywood Fire Department

  • Douglass Community

  • The Town of Stanton

  • Haywood County Ambulance Authority

Madison County

  • Boys & Girls Club of Jackson

  • Exchange Club – Carl Perkins

Lauderdale County

  • Gates Volunteer Fire Department

  • Lauderdale County Council of Arts

  • Tennessee State Parks Conservancy

Shelby County

  • Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South

  • Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute

  • Code Crew

  • Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

Tipton County

  • Tipton County Government

  • Mason Fire Auxiliary

Fayette County

  • Fayette Cares Inc.

  • Fayette County Citizens for Progress.

Omer Yusuf covers the Ford project in Haywood County, FedEx, tourism and banking for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached via email Omer.Yusuf@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @OmerAYusuf.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ford Fund awards West Tennessee grants: These are the recipients