During its September board meeting, the board of directors of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation approved six grants totaling more than $24 million.

“This collection of grants represents a cross-section of the foundation’s giving areas and supports meaningful steps forward in addressing housing affordability and financial inclusion for Westside residents, access to renewable energy for low- and moderate-income households and work-based learning opportunities for young people,” said Fay Twersky, president, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. “Together with our grantee partners in Georgia and Montana, we aim to both address immediate needs while taking a long-term view of what it takes to make a difference in the communities that we serve.”

The board-approved grants are:

Atlanta’s Westside

Westside Future Fund (WFF): $10 million to support WFF’s Our Next Chapter campaign aimed at reaching its goal to establish 1,750 new units of affordable housing. This grant will specifically support WFF’s affordable housing projects in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods and is aligned with the foundation’s Westside economic mobility strategy through the affordable housing pathway.  

CareerRise: $6.2 million for the Westside Works neighborhood-based workforce collaborative, which provides career services to residents in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods. This grant is aligned with the foundation’s Westside financial inclusion pathway, offering critically needed workforce development programs and services.

Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund: $6.2 million to support the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund’s In Her Hands program to provide 200 female residents in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods with guaranteed income over three years to increase their income and level the playing field for women, who are most likely to experience income inequity and financial insecurity. This grant is also aligned with the foundation’s Westside financial inclusion pathway. 

More about these Westside Atlanta grants can be found here.

Environment

Capital Good Fund: $1 million for the Georgia BRIGHT (Building Renewables, Investing for Green, Healthy, Thriving communities) pilot project, which will use innovative financing to bring the benefits of renewable energy to low- and moderate-income families in Georgia. The project utilizes new, direct payment tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of leasing rooftop solar systems to low- and moderate-income homeowners. 

Youth Development 

Accelerate Montana: $400,000 to support Accelerate Montana to better understand and serve young people and employers in rural and Indigenous communities. Accelerate Montana partners with nonprofit organizations, high schools, and public and private colleges, including Tribal Colleges and Universities, to provide skill-based trainings to young people across Montana. 

Reach Higher Montana: $375,000 to support Reach Higher as the lead convener of the statewide Montana Work-Based Learning Collaborative (“the Collaborative”). The Collaborative is comprised of representatives from a diverse cross-section of public and private sector organizations advancing work-based learning throughout Montana.