Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Ends 2022 with $2.3+ million in Grants to 40 Organizations

Staff Report

Wednesday, December 21st, 2022

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is closing 2022 by awarding $2,380,555 in grants to 40 organizations in keeping with TogetherATL, the Foundation’s five-year strategic plan and commitment to advance equity and shared prosperity throughout metro Atlanta. Most of the grantee organizations are led by or serve Black Atlantans or other people of color.

“Atlanta’s wealth gap is well-documented, and we know that this disparity skews along racial lines,” said Ayana Gabriel, vice president, Community Impact for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. “Children born in two different zip codes two miles apart in Atlanta have a 10-year difference in life expectancy. Our goal through TogetherATL, and through these grants specifically, is to provide support to those organizations doing the hard work on the ground, day in and day out, to close those gaps so that everyone who lives in the metro Atlanta region can have a fair shot at a good life.”

TogetherATL is comprised of two main focus areas: place-based work and systems change. The Foundation’s placed-based work centers community voice in the areas of South Cobb, South Fulton and Thomasville. Systems change aims to reimagine the systems that have perpetuated inequity, taking a longer-range view for driving change. The Foundation’s grants vary in scope and focus on arts, culture and creative enterprise, housing and neighborhoods, income and wealth, and power and leadership. Individual grants are detailed below within these categories. The Foundation will announce its grants for arts organizations in January.

TogetherATL General Fund
This fund supports equity strategies, with a focus on racial equity across our region.

Atlanta Partners for Education and Business: $40,000 to support three projects at Atlanta Public Schools
Ivy Preparatory Academy: $32,600 to support mental health counseling for students and staff
Nana Grants, Inc.: $93,000 to provide childcare for student parents to complete career training programs.

Housing and Neighborhoods Grants
These grants support the creation of 5,000 units of affordable housing in the region by 2026.

Enterprise Community Partners: $25,000 for non-partisan housing advocacy for the 2023 Georgia General Assembly session
Georgia Appleseed: $25,000 to support the statewide Georgia Healthy Housing Coalition
Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC): $25,000 for general operating support
Quest Community Development Organization: $25,000 for general operating support

Income and Wealth Grants
These grants target organizations that work to reduce income and wealth gaps and increase economic mobility and wealth-building for Asian, Black and Latino communities.

Ada Developers Academy Atlanta: $50,000 for general operating support
Per Scholars Atlanta: $70,000 for general operating support
The Knowledge House Atlanta: $20,000 for general operating support
Year Up Greater Atlanta: $20,000 for general operating support

Neighborhood Fund
The Neighborhood Fund supports residents, neighborhood groups, and 501(c)(3) organizations as they organize hyper-local community improvement projects.

Feeding GA Families: $10,000 to implement The Soul of South Fulton Community Advancement & Arts Festival
HOPE Family Resource Center: $5,000 to expand food distribution to the food insecure in Cobb County
Life is an 8 Count!: $10,000 for a youth summer dance and mental health/wellness program in South Cobb
The Extension: $10,000 to implement the Bridge to Possibility Speaker Series in 2023
The Simple Vue Charter Academy: $10,000 to support two-week STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and math) camp for youth
The STEAM Generation: $10,000 for Project STEAM Ahead for youth
We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association: $10,000 to increase civic engagement and participation among renters in South Cobb

Placed-based grants
Cobb Collaborative: $35,000 for The Basics Cobb County program, a cross-sector collaborative that addresses emerging community needs
Family Life Restoration Center: $100,000 for two-year general operating support
FCS Urban Ministries: $100,000 for two-year general operating support
Ubuntu Community Catalyst: $66,000 for two-year general operating support
Zion Hill CDC: $100,000 for two-year general operating support
Ser Familia: $1,000,125 for coordinated, multidisciplinary family, social, and mental health services for more than 65,000 Latino families in the Fair Oaks community of South Cobb.

Field of Interest Grants
Grants awarded through the Thomas Warren Shulman Endowment Fund, which supports mental health services, housing assistance, food assistance, and education provided by Jewish and under-resourced organizations.

· Atlanta Land Trust: $50,000 for general operating support
· Grove Park Foundation: $50,000 to support capacity building for affordable housing
· Our House: $50,000 for the Healthcare Services – Mental Wellbeing Program
· Repair the World: $95,000 for general operating support
· Ser Familia: $95,000 to support the food pantries of Pearson Middle School in South Cobb


Discretionary fund grant:
· Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF): $30,000 for the sponsorship of the 2022 AVLF Holiday Celebration for recently relocated families from Forest Cove. The grant covered the purchase of $150 gift cards for each of the 200 families who transitioned from the condemned apartment complex to properties throughout metro Atlanta.