Two Ohio nonprofits to receive prestigious Gannett grant funding

Two Ohio nonprofits will receive national grants from the USA TODAY Network's Gannett Foundation as part of the company’s A Community Thrives program.

A total of 16 nonprofits from around the country were selected to receive a portion of the $800,000 in grant funding.

OpenDoor Columbus, a program designed to help women going through addiction sustain their recovery. An award of $50,000 will be distributed to the non-profit and help support 10 families participating in the program's Open Table initiative which provides support to each family going through the addiction and recovery process.

News: OpenDoor-Columbus receives $50,000 grant in Gannett Foundation's A Community Thrives

Akron Cooperative Farms, located in the North Hill area of the city, will receive a $25,000 Gannett grant. The non-profit is a community farm that serves a wide range of residents and provides urban farming opportunities. The grant money will go towards strengthening the organization's mission of helping to educate and provide the opportunities for people to grow their own food.

What is 'A Community Thrives'?

A Community Thrives awards grants to worthy causes and organizations across the United States aiming to improve their local communities according to the release from Gannett announcing the winners.

The program, in its sixth year, with support from the Gannett Foundation, encourages non-profits to promote their ideas and efforts on a national platform leveraging USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network’s more than 200 local brands to garner attention and support through donations, the release states.  After receiving over 760 submissions from organizations across 45 states and Washington, D.C., A Community Thrives is awarding more than $6 million to nonprofits. The $2.3 million in grants will be allocated as follows: $800,000 in national project grants, $1.3 million in local operating grants, and $200,000 in fundraising incentive grants. The program’s crowdfunding effort through Mightycause raised an additional $3.7 million, according to Gannett.  “A Community Thrives and the Gannett Foundation are thrilled to announce the admirable recipients of this year’s national project grants,” said Gannett Foundation Director, Sue Madden, said in the release. “For six years running, we have been inspired by organizations working so diligently to support their local communities.” 

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Gannett Foundation, Michael Reed, saluted the winning nonprofits and offered continued support for their missions to help the communities they serve.“Congratulations to this year’s A Community Thrives recipients,” Reed, said in a statement. “The Gannett Foundation is honored to support these vital organizations that work tirelessly to empower their communities to thrive.”

Which nonprofits were chosen?

The recipients chosen for the 16 national project grants are as follows:

• House of Hope Green Bay, Inc. – Green Bay, WI — $100,000 House of Hope, supports young parents and children experiencing homelessness. With this grant, they will open a Drop-In Center for at-risk youth at its shelter facility and coordinate comprehensive prevention and diversion strategies in collaboration with community partners to ensure that youth in the Greater Green Bay area will gain and maintain self-sufficiency and thrive well into adulthood.

• Crisis Line & Safe House of Central Georgia – Macon, GA — $100,000 Crisis Line & Safe House provides community crisis intervention, safe shelter, comprehensive support and recovery services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence with community education. The grant will help launch one of Georgia’s first family justice centers, One Safe Place Macon. The center will serve victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder and dependent adult abuse, and human trafficking through coordinated services provided by multiple co-located agencies in a centralized building.

• Tandem Community Birth Center and Postpartum House Inc. – Bloomington, IN — $100,000 Tandem plans to open Bloomington’s first community birth center and postpartum house. The birth center will be focused on providing high touch, low tech care in a comfortable environment. The grant will support the completion of the Tandem Birth Center and Midwifery Clinic in an underserved community.

• Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis – Memphis, TN — $50,000  The grant will support the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis’ Food Justice Program to expand community gardens and farmers markets in under-served neighborhoods in Memphis to address food insecurity. The Collaborative is a collective voice of the Black Church in Memphis focusing on economic empowerment, civic engagement, and criminal justice reform and provides programming to address those issues.

• Fayetteville Justice for Our Neighbors – Fayetteville, NC — $50,000 Fayetteville Justice for Our Neighbors program provides large scale legalization efforts and low-cost legal immigration services in North Carolina through a network of partners. The grant will support immigration classes across the state at partner offices and training across the state to increase awareness of available services. 

• Foster 360 – Mesa, AZ — $50,000 Foster360’s Culver Campus helps homeless youth break the cycle of homelessness and poverty, not just through safe housing but with a focus on trauma-informed care. The grant will support its partnership with the city of Mesa to open a second location in the downtown area, serving an additional 10 residents. Foster 360 is a partnership with Helen’s Hope Chest.

• Keeping Our Promise Inc. – Pittsford, NY — $50,000 Providing a new start for families who have assisted the United States military, the grant to Keeping Our Promise will provide ten Afghan families with rent, furniture and wrap around services to assist with their assimilation.

• Gainesville For All – Live Oak, FL — $50,000 This group focuses on addressing racial and economic inequities and pushes for systematic change and solutions to help the community achieve its best potential. The grant will support physical plant needs for All’s Gainesville Empowerment Zones’ Family Learning Center.

• Oasis Center – Nashville, TN — $50,000 The grant will support the hiring of an additional counselor for the Oasis Center’s Just Communities Project, which aims to strengthen mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth, while creating open and affirming spaces for youth within families, schools and communities in Tennessee. The grant will also transform systems that impact youth (schools, foster care, etc.) through training and consultation for 200 providers to build communities of equity and inclusion.

• OpenDoor-Columbus – Columbus, OH — $50,000 Open Door provides programs to women in recovery from addiction, supporting their transition to a healthy, drug-free life. This grant will support 10 families participating in the Open Table program, which involves a team of community volunteers for each family facing addiction and recovery, providing support during treatment, recovery and transition to independent lives.

• Prism EDC – Milwaukee, WI — $25,000  The grant to Prisms EDC will enable the expansion of its UpStart Kitchen & Brigade MKE programs. Upstart Kitchen supports young food service entrepreneurs and the Brigade MKE initiative trains youth for careers in food service. The mission of Prism EDC is to foster sustained economic growth for the Sherman Park Community in Milwaukee.

• Memphis Library Foundation – Memphis, TN — $25,000 The Memphis Library Foundation grant will support the expansion of the Foundation’s neighborhood-based Teen After School STEM program.

• My Cup of Tea Inc. – Memphis, TN — $25,000 Addressing work force pathways for women in Memphis, the grant to My Cup of Tea will fund the architectural and soft costs associated with the planning for four rent-to-own homes on a plot of land donated to the organization. The homes will be built using government funds.

• Fox Valley Memory Project Inc. – Menasha, WI — $25,000 Fox Valley Memory Project implements programs for the aging in Menasha and the surrounding communities for patients with Alzheimer’s and their care givers. The grant will enable the program’s expansion.

• Spencer Pride – Spencer, IN — $25,000 Spencer Pride provides health support to LGTBQ+ youth. The grant will fund the physical completion of Spencer Pride’s Health Program Space to provide confidential health and education services to the LGBTQ+ community in rural Indiana.

• Akron Cooperative Farms – Akron, OH — $25,000 The grant will support the completion of a market Pavilion providing coverage to farmers in inclement weather and a space for community education programming. Akron Cooperative Farms transforms underutilized land into urban farms for community gardens and entrepreneurial enterprises designed to strengthen the social and economic fabric of Akron through agriculture.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Two Ohio nonprofits to receive prestigious Gannett grant funding