The Omaha Community Foundation awarded $402,500 in Fund for Omaha grants to 18 local nonprofits with a focus on promoting racial equity and social justice.
The demand for operating support and flexible grant funding has never been higher. The Foundation received 110 applications for funding from the Fund for Omaha, totaling $2.5 million in requests.
The Fund for Omaha has granted more than $10 million to local nonprofits since the grant program started 35 years ago. Fund for Omaha is the largest grant program funded by the Foundation in partnership with local philanthropists.
Funding priorities include arts and culture, economic opportunity, health, neighborhoods, and vibrant communities.
2023 Grant Recipients
Arts & Culture
Bluebird Cultural Initiative provides enriching community programs to foster appreciation for the cultural beliefs and practices of the Great Plains Native American people, preserving their heritage and inspiring future generations. Award amount: $25,000
Carole’s House of Hope offers transitional living for young women and mothers who have aged out of foster care or become homeless. Their home-like environment and innovative programs address the mental health needs of up to 60 residents of color between the ages of 19 and 26. Award amount: $25,000
Nebraska Writers Collective is a nonprofit that fosters personal empowerment and community-building in the Midwest through creative writing and performance poetry. NWC programming stretches from Ogallala to Southwest Iowa. The organization works with young writers, adult writers, and writers of all ages experiencing incarceration. Award amount: $20,000
Refugee Women Rising, pictured above, is a women-led nonprofit working in partnership for social change co-creating opportunities for women from around the world to reach their full potential. The organization recognizes and uplifts the innate human dignity of refugee women and their families as they integrate into new livelihoods. Award amount: $22,000
The House of Afros, Capes and Curls connects community members from different cultural backgrounds, fostering empathy through role play and open dialogue while celebrating Black creativity, innovation, and excellence through games, science fiction, and fantasy. Award amount: $25,000
Health
A Mother’s Love is a pregnancy support agency built on empowering the birthing community by providing access to full spectrum doula services, basic life skills training, health/wellness, case management, childbirth education, and community outreach. Award amount: $12,500
Access Period provides free period products to anyone who needs them in Nebraska. Through partnerships with community organizations and schools, they are working to create a Nebraska where no one is held back from participating fully in life because they lack access to affordable menstrual products. Award amount: $25,000
Intercultural Senior Center welcomes seniors from around the world and enhances their dignity, quality of life, as well as their physical and mental well-being through education, access to healthcare and social services, and cultural enrichment. Award amount: $25,000
Economic Opportunity
Black & Pink National is dedicated to liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by the criminal justice system through advocacy, support, and organizing. Award amount: $12,500
Learning For ALL offers free ESL, GED, ABE, one-on-one tutoring, life skills, job readiness, career preparedness, financial literacy, and computer literacy instruction, both in-person and online, to residents, immigrants, and refugees aged 18 and older. LFA’s participants come from diverse backgrounds across the globe and belong to low-income, historically underserved populations. Award amount: $23,000
MAYS Foundation was established to support community initiatives that provide services to youth and help them develop the skills and talents necessary to become productive, contributing members of their community. Their primary focus is on reaching youth who may not have access to the resources needed for success. Award amount: $23,000
Vibrant Communities
Heartland Workers Center enhances the long-term self-sufficiency and growth of immigrant and underrepresented communities, aiming to create a more equitable leadership landscape in Nebraska. HWC organizer staff assist community members in improving their English proficiency, navigating complex systems, and self-advocating within various markets while addressing their immediate needs. Award amount: $25,000
Latino Center of the Midlands Founded more than 50 years ago as a small community center, the Latino Center of the Midlands has grown into a thriving hub of education, wellness, and opportunity. The center supports the vibrant South Omaha community through mentoring, internships, adult education, preventive health services, and civic engagement. Award amount: $25,000
Nebraska Tribes Addressing Violence Coalition is a tribal domestic violence/sexual assault coalition working to raise awareness and promote the prevention of intimate partner violence against Native Americans and tribal communities in Nebraska through education, training, technical assistance, and support. Award amount: $25,000
RISE works to break generational cycles of incarceration by delivering a six-month evidence-based program in Nebraska prisons and post-release services and programs in the community for justice-involved people and their families. Award amount: $12,500
University of Nebraska Foundation – The Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) assists Latino communities in Nebraska and the Great Plains in successfully engaging in the region’s political, economic, and social life. OLLAS is also dedicated to enhancing UNO’s institutional capacities and academic initiatives to improve our understanding of Latino/Latin American cultures. Award amount $25,000
World Speaks envisions a world where the voiceless are heard, the marginalized are included, and the vulnerable are safe. The prime objective of World Speaks’ work is to leverage language learning as a tool to promote a more culturally aware and diverse Omaha. Award amount: $25,000
Neighborhoods
Q.U.E.E.N.S. Butterfly House is on a Quest to Understand, Educate, and Empower Noble Sistahs (the underserved, formerly incarcerated woman population) by providing supportive housing, job readiness, and personal development to assist women in becoming the best version of themselves. Award amount: $25,000
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Applications are accepted annually July 1 – August 1. Learn more here.
