National Service Agency to Award ‘Challenge Grants’ to 6
Organizations
$2.6 Million in Grants Expected to Leverage $5.2 Million in
Non-Federal Funds
WASHINGTON, D.C – The Corporation for National and Community Service
announced today that it will award a total of $2.6 million in
“Challenge Grants” to six state, regional, and national nonprofit
organizations to expand programs that engage volunteers in meeting
community needs. The grants require that each Federal dollar awarded
be “matched” by $2 in private funding.
The six organizations are: City Cares of America, a national
organization based in Atlanta, Ga., that recently changed its name
to the Hands On Network; Jumpstart, a national organization based in
Boston, Mass.; United Way of America (for a project in Michigan);
Plus Time New Hampshire; The Potter’s House of Dallas, Tex.; and
Youth Friends of Kansas City, Mo. (for projects in Kansas, Missouri,
and Michigan). The grants will support such activities as organizing
and managing community volunteers; providing children with preschool
training and after-school tutoring; working with ex-prisoners to
facilitate their re-entry into society; and involving more minority
women and girls in philanthropic and volunteer efforts.
“These grantees are some of the very best at both service innovation
and financial sustainability,” said David Eisner, CEO of the
Corporation for National and Community Service. "We are excited
about the work they do and look forward to working with them to
develop new sources of funding and to build effective and
sustainable service and volunteer programs."
Each of the six organizations will receive a grant of between
$400,000 and $500,000. All told, the grants are expected to support
the efforts of more than 100,000 community volunteers, and
“leverage” an additional $5.2 million in non-Federal funds.
The Corporation received 31 Challenge Grant applications, requesting
nearly $18 million. The six organizations that will receive grants
had requested slightly more than $4 million. A summary of the
specific projects to be funded, and the amounts awarded, is
attached.
The Corporation for National and Community Service provides
opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve
their communities and country, primarily through its Senior Corps,
AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. Together with the
USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of
citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more
information, visit
www.nationalservice.org.
Corporation for National and Community Service
Fiscal Year 2004 Challenge Grants
City Cares of America
($450,000) National
CityCares of America, an alliance of volunteer management and
mobilization organizations that recently changed its name to the
Hands On Network, will use the Challenge Grant funds to expand into
12 new cities across the country, creating 48,000 service
opportunities in 450 community-based nonprofit partner agencies.
CityCares affiliates increase the capacity of nonprofit
organizations by organizing and leading meaningful volunteer
projects.
Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc.
($400,000) National
Jumpstart will use the funds to expand into new areas of the country
and mobilize a large number of corporate volunteers. Expansion will
initially focus on the Southwest, with the establishment of a new
regional office in Houston to oversee the development of new sites
in surrounding states. The expansion plans also include increasing
the scope of the existing program in Boston to reach a greater
number of at-risk children. Jumpstart plans to mobilize 60,000
corporate volunteers through enhancing an existing partnership with
Starbucks.
Plus Time New Hampshire
($450,000) NH
Plus Time New Hampshire is able to help communities identify the
needs of youth and mobilize local resources to develop and sustain
appropriate afterschool programs by providing direct support,
training, information, and funding assistance. The New Hampshire
Governor's “3 to 6 Challenge” is a statewide initiative to provide
29 afterschool programs with funding and volunteers. Funds from the
Corporation will be used to provide funding for seven demonstration
sites in the initiative.
The Potter's House of Dallas, Inc.
($400,000) TX
The Potter's House will increase public health and safety in
Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, by mobilizing
volunteers – especially from faith-based communities – to work with
ex-prisoners to facilitate their re-entry into society and to reduce
ex-prisoner relapse and recidivism. The Potter’s House will
accomplish this by working with or developing Texas Reentry Offender
Partnerships in the target cities to improve access to health and
social services in addition to implementing reconciliation and
restorative justice projects.
United Way of America
($400,000) MI
Women and Girls in Service to Children and Youth in Michigan
recruits, prepares, and involves more women and girls in
philanthropic and volunteer efforts in Michigan. The program
operates through local United Ways and their Women's Initiative
program. New volunteers, with an emphasis on women of color, will be
engaged to help local Michigan communities meet the Five Promises to
Youth, as identified through America's Promise.
YouthFriends
($500,000) KS, MI, MO
YouthFriends, along with the Volunteer Center of Johnson County
(KS), will provide and support a software program to build volunteer
management skills and the organizational capacity of new
organizations, including school districts and community and
faith-based organizations, in Kansas, Missouri and Michigan. The
centerpiece of the project is YouthFriends Volunteer
Information-Management and Analysis, a secure, Internet-based
software program currently utilized by 100 school districts in the
three-state area.
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