Community Foundation Announces More than $3.2 Million in Third Quarter Grants

Friday, October 6th, 2023

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta announces $3,239,762 in grants to nonprofits during the third quarter of 2023. Funding to the 104 organizations comes from a combination of grants informed by open grant application cycles and community needs.

Grants support the Foundation’s TogetherATL blueprint for a collaborative approach to equity, working with community stakeholders and nonprofit partners to create solutions for the most complex challenges the region faces in order to build a thriving region. In keeping with the Foundation’s commitment to racial equity, more than 70 percent of organizations funded in this quarter are founded and/or led by Black, Indigenous or other people of color.

“These grants are in direct response to community needs,” said Ayana Gabriel, vice president, Community Impact at the Community Foundation. “We are directing grants to large and small organizations that have a direct impact for both broad, regional issues and hyper-local needs. Our aim is to continue to gain feedback from the communities we serve to shine a light on positive impact and, we hope, enable grant recipients to leverage our grants for additional funding toward their work.”

The Foundation awarded grants to organizations through multiple funds that support its wide-ranging focus areas. Grants aim to support place-based and system-level efforts to drive positive change in areas that include the arts, community engagement, economic prosperity and housing. Grants are typically awarded as general operating support, allowing nonprofits to direct funds where they are most needed.

Among the grants are awards from the TogetherATL Arts, Culture and Creative Enterprises Fund to 38 small and mid-size arts organizations, determined through an emergency grant application cycle, to address the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback from arts organizations indicates that they continue to face challenges, including fewer ticket buyers, increasing costs for rent, utilities and supply chain volatility, all of which can lead to internal cost reductions including cutting staff positions. These grants include:

Actors Express: $10,000

Amario’s Art Academy for the Gifted and Talented: $10,000

Art Papers: $10,000

Arts Clayton: $10,000

Atlanta Listening Collaborative dba ATL Collective: $10,000

Independent Media Artists of Georgia Etc., Inc. dba Atlanta Film Society: $10,000

Atlanta Workshop Players: $10,000

Burnaway: $10,000

Cam Kirk Foundation: $10,000

Caribbean American Cultural Arts Foundation: $8,500

Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society: $7,500

Conyers Rockdale Council for the Arts: $10,000

Culture Centers International: $10,000

Dad’s Garage Theatre: $5,000

Dance Canvas: $10,000

Dancial Productions: $10,000

Djoli Kelen: $10,000

Essential Theatre: $10,000

eyedrum: $5,000

Georgia Ensemble Theatre: $10,000

Giwayen Mata: $10,000

gloATL: $10,000

Joel Chandler Harris Association (The Wren’s Nest): $10,000

MINT: $10,000

Marietta Theatre Company: $10,000

Out Front Theatre Company: $10,000

Pianos for Peace: $10,000

Praise House Project: $10,000

PushPush Arts: $10,000

Reforming Arts (Creative Becoming): $10,000

Seven Stages: $10,000

Stage Door Theatre: $10,000

Synchronicity Theatre: $10,000

T. Lang Dance: $10,000

Theatrical Outfit: $10,000

True Colors Theatre Company: $10,000

VOX ATL: $10,000

Youth Enrichment Services: $10,000

The TogetherATL General Fund supports equity strategies, with a focus on racial equity. This work is done alongside stakeholders on issues that inequitably affect Asian, Black and Latine communities and nonprofits. Recent grants include:

Atlanta Regional Commission: $50,000

Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund): $40,000

Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta: $10,000

The Community Foundation also administers the Heisman Trophy Development Fund that provides grants to sports-based youth development organizations that integrate organized sports, academics and youth development activities. Recent grants include:

East Atlanta Kids Club: $25,000

Field of Dreams: $25,000

Fugees Family Academy: $30,000

GA Favor House: $25,000

Girls on the Run Atlanta: $40,000

L.E.A.D. Center for Youth: $40,000

Los Ninos Primero: $25,000

YMCA of Metro Atlanta: $25,000

The TogetherATL Housing and Neighborhoods Fund supports the creation of 5,000 units of affordable housing in the region by 2026 and uplifts organizations that are helping people stay in their neighborhoods or find new, affordable homes. Recent grants include:

Georgia Grantmakers Alliance: $10,000

The TogetherATL Income and Wealth Fund reduces income and wealth gaps, increasing opportunities for economic mobility and wealth building, especially among Asian, Black and Latine communities. This Fund supports career and workforce development and access to capital for individuals and families in the region. Recent grants include:

Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative: $85,000

Amani Women Center: $20,000

Black Child Development Institute: $20,000

Braven, Inc.: $50,000

Business and Immigration for Georgia Partnership (Center for Victims of Torture & Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies): $75,000

The CodeHouse: $50,000

Diversity Cyber Council: $15,000

Freedom University (The Praxis Project): $50,000

Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: $75,000

Helping Empower Youth (Hey!): $20,000

Hunger & Hope: $20,000

Latin American Association: $50,000

Latino Community Fund: $20,000

March of Dimes: $300,000

Next Generation Men and Women: $20,000

Passion for Life: $20,000

Refugee Women’s Network: $20,000

Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link: $20,000

Women's Entrepreneurial Opportunity Project: $20,000

Placed-based Grants serve- residents of College Park/East Point in South Fulton County, Fair Oaks in southern Cobb County,-and Historic Thomasville in the City of Atlanta, a-where residents face issues related to housing affordability and economic mobility. The Community Foundation works with residents and community stakeholders to determine how to prioritize the most pressing needs and lays the groundwork for intentional power and leadership building in communities. Recent grants include:

5 Strong Scholarship Foundation: $60,000

ArtsXchange Community Cultural Center: $58,376

Close Ties: $25,572

Essential 2 Life (E2L): $59,246

Feeding GA Families: $22,600

InspiredU: $75,000

Leap Year: $50,000

Odyssey Family Counseling: $25,000

The STEAM Generation: $40,340

Youth Empowerment through Learning, Lending, and Serving (YELLS): $98,508

Women Engaged: $100,000

The TogetherATL South Fulton Fund serves legacy residents of south Fulton County. Recent grants include:

Aerotropolis Alliance: $25,000

The Community Foundation has maintained a focus on Atlanta’s Thomasville community for the last five years. ItsTogetherATL Thomasville Fund conducted a strategic-directed grantmaking cycle to continue to support displaced residents of the Forest Cove apartments who were forced to relocate in 2022 when their community was condemned. Recent grants include:

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation: $324,500

COR, Inc.: $16,400

Center for Interrelational Services and Pediatrics (Girassol Wellness): $247,040

In addition, the Foundation established the THRIVE Thomasville Fund to give members of the Historic Thomasville community direct input on resources to address community concerns. Grant awards are informed by an advisory council of neighborhood residents and include:

BK International Education Consultancy: $5,000

Carver Early College: $5,000

Divas in Defense: $5,000

Grind House University: $5,000
Mr. Harris Foundation: $5,000

Nichole Milan Beauty & Wellness: $5,000

Norwood Manor Civic Association: $4,500

Slay University: $5,000

Thomasville Heights Civic League: $5,000

Thomasville Heights Historical Society: $4,080

The TogetherATL Power and Leadership Fund ensures that everyone in the region has a voice and is empowered to use it. This fund aims to increase civic engagement and voter participation rates in communities of color up to or exceeding the national average by 2026, while shifting power into the hands of the community and fostering a sense of belonging through get-out-the-vote efforts and community organizing. Recent grants include:

TCG Community Impact Fund: $10,000

WABE: $57,600 for “Coffee Conversations” with “Closer Look” host Rose Scott