Seventeen organizations led by and serving Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are getting some grant money.
The Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) has partnered with the African American Empowerment Fund of Delaware (AAEFD) to distribute $287,200 in grant money.
“In our programming, we’re always looking to focus grants at different times and to communities that have a particular need or where we think we can make a particular difference," said Stuart Comstock-Gay - the president and CEO of the DCF. "And philanthropy has learned that we haven’t always been great at reaching some communities and that some communities haven’t always felt that they’ve been able to get access to philanthropic dollars.”
Comstock-Gay says this program was created in an effort to try and determine what needs to be done to reach people who may otherwise be missed.
He says that in the application process, they were looking for communities that already have programs in place with a high likelihood of delivering a positive impact to people that they serve.
“There are so many wonderful programs here," said Comstock-Gay. "I think of Delaware College Scholars that provide social emotional learning for their high school student scholars. (Then there’s) the Choir School of Delaware, which in this case is doing strategic planning to create a workforce development program for a pipeline - and this is really cool - a pipeline of people of color in music professions.”
Comstock-Gay says $20,000 is going to One Village Alliance to conduct strategic planning and ensure it can continue to meet the evolving needs and challenges of the community it serves.
And Mom’s House of Dover will get $2,000 to upgrade its website in order to better serve and connect with the community.
Comstock-Gay says $16,200 is going to the Love-In-Deed Community Development Corporation to support the RISE Independent Living Program for youth out of foster care.
And Pathways to Success is getting $10,000 to provide organizational leadership with skill-building, training and mentorship to improve delivery of services to BIPOC youth.
For a full list of the funds, clickhere.
