In June, the Omaha Community Foundation (OCF) celebrated 24 local organizations who were the most recent recipients of the Foundation’s African American Unity and Futuro Latino Funds. In total, $370,750 was awarded between the two Funds.
The evening’s program also recognized the 18 neighborhood groups which had been awarded grants from the Omaha Neighborhood Grants Program earlier this spring.
Projects funded by this year’s grants include programs ranging from health services offering mammograms and screenings within the African American community, to neighborhood revitalization programming, and college scholarships for DREAMers.
The two annual grant programs are part of the Foundation’s Community Interest Funds, which each serve to support nonprofits that specifically serve, support, and strengthen the region’s communities of color. The grant recipients are chosen by a committee of professionals and community leaders comprised of individuals representing the populations served by each fund.
Sara Boyd, OCF’s President and CEO, welcomed this year’s grant award winners to the reception and thanked them for their commitment to serving the needs of our region’s African-American and Latino communities, highlighting the passion and energy on display by the grantees.
This year’s grant award celebration, held at The Venue at Highlander, also provided a chance for staff and volunteers from the funded organizations to connect, network, and share more about the innovative programs and services their nonprofits offer.
The 2018 funded organizations and projects are:
African American Unity Fund
- Banister’s Leadership Academy, $10,000
Project: The Night LIFE (Leadership in a Fun Environment) - Black and Pink, Inc. , $20,000
Capacity Building: Intersectional Community Re-entry Development - HALLINS Corporation, $20,000
Project: Love of Art and Music Festival - I AM Dance, $20,000
Project: Dance is for Everyone - Life Connections Omaha, Inc., $15,000
Project: Global Leadership Group Community Revitalization Plan - More Than Just a Village Academy, $10,000
Capacity Building: Capacity Building and Organization Expansion - My Sister’s Keeper, $5,000
Project: Celebration of Life - Nebraska Independent Film Projects, Inc., $5,000
Project: ‘A Time for Turning: 50 years of African-Americans in Omaha’ - North Omaha Area Health, $16,000
Project: Let Good Grow: NOAH Summer Internship Program - Omaha Housing Authority Foundation, $10,000
Project: OHA Youth INCYTE Program - Prospect Village Neighborhood Association, $14,000
Project: Prospect Village Neighborhood Wellness Initiative - Salem Baptist Church, $25,000
Project: A Work on a Wheel - Urban League of Nebraska- Young Professionals, $20,000
Project: Professional & Leadership Development for Black YP’s - Wright Track, $10,000
Project: Equal Access Athletics Program
Futuro Latino Fund
- Boys Town, $11,000
Project: Common Sense Parenting (La Crianza Practica de los Hijos) - Centro Latino of Iowa, $25,000
Project: Centro Latino HiSET & Family Support and Capacity Building - Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim Reinforcing Our Roots, Living Our Maya Heritage, $50,000
Operating: CMPI Core Mission Support and Capacity Building - Heartland United for Puerto Rico, $10,000
Project: Immediate-Relief, Assimilation and Long-term Solutions for Hurricane Victims - Latinas Unidas, $2,250
Project: Empowering Latino in their careers, families, and communities - Matters on Tomorrow, $25,000
Project: True Potential Scholarships - Metro Young Latino Professionals Association, $17,500
Project: MYLPA Professional Development & Civic Engagement Operational Grant - Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen SD, $5,000
Project: Presentation Sisters LIVE Leadership Camp for Junior High Latina Girls - Victory Boxing Club, $25,000
Project: Victory Boxing Club & Community Center Youth Programs
To learn more about the African American Unity and Futuro Latino Funds, click here. The next grant cycle for each fund will open in early 2019.