Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa Grants $448,300 to Nonprofits

CFNEIA

January 12, 2023

The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa (CFNEIA) held its fall 2022 grant awards celebration at the Waterloo Center for the Arts on Jan. 12, announcing the distribution of 32 grants totaling $448,300 to organizations serving Black Hawk County.

“Grant funding through the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa would not be possible without the generosity of community-minded people and the 60 funds that provided this financial support,” said Ras Smith, CFNEIA’s director of community impact. “Nonprofits are the backbone of our community, and the Foundation is excited about the impacts that are being made and the possibilities that exist to do even more good in Black Hawk County and beyond.”

Grant recipient organization, what the grant will fund and grant amount is listed below by funding area.

Arts & Culture

• Bel Canto Cedar Valley, Bel Canto Cedar Valley: Celebrating 10 Years of Community Choral Collaboration, $6,500
• Metro Community Concert Association, Operations Support, $6,500
• Metropolitan Chorale, 2022-2023 Concert Season, $5,000

Community Betterment

• Afro American Community Broadcasting, Afro American Community Broadcasting Operational Support Request, $12,800
• City of Janesville, Furnishing Janesville's New Public Library, $10,000
• Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, Operations Funding - Black Hawk County, $35,000
• North End Update, Ms. Rocki n Chaveevah's North End Update LIVE!, $10,000
• PaTi's Libelulas, Operations Support, $20,000
• Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, Service-Learning: Engaging Youth in Service to the Cedar Valley, $8,000
• Waterloo Electrical JATC, Pre-Apprenticeship Program, $5,000

Education & Youth Development

• Boy Scouts of America – Winnebago Council, Field Staff Retention, $5,000
• Cedar Valley Angels, Love Box and Dare to Dream Program Growth, $10,000
• Hawkeye Community College Foundation, Hawkeye Community College Family Literacy Program, $15,000
• Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa, Creating a World of Possibilities, $5,000
• Marching Against The Darkness, Excellence Expo Program, $10,000
• Waterloo Public Library, Update to Children's and Teen Areas, $15,000

Health

• Iowa Black Doula Collective, Operations Support, $5,000
• SuccessLink, Together For Youth (TFY) Adolescent Sexual Health Programming, $10,000
• UnityPoint Health – Allen Memorial Hospital, Allen Child Protection Center, $15,000

Human Service

• Black Hawk Foster and Adoptive Parent Association, Black Hawk County Foster and Adoptive Parent Support Group, $5,000
• Cedar Valley Hospice, Cedar AIDS Support System, $5,000
• Exceptional Persons, Inc., EPI's Employment Services, $15,000
• Family & Children's Council of Black Hawk County, Parent Education: Strengthening Families & Preventing Child Abuse, $15,000
• Friends of the Family, Black Hawk County Housing Project, $20,000
• House of Hope, Case Management Program, $30,000
• Little Iron Mom, Operating, $7,500
• Lutheran Services in Iowa, Black Hawk County HOPES, $15,000
• North Star Community Services, Creating Connections: Inclusive Theatre Project, $9,000
• Northeast Iowa Food Bank, General Operations, $60,000
• Operation Threshold, OT Refugee Services, $20,000
• Waypoint Services, Waypoint Domestic Violence Safety Net Project, $8,000
• YWCA of Black Hawk County, Multicultural Services, $30,000

Grants are awarded through CFNEIA’s competitive grant process. Decisions on grant awards are determined by CFNEIA’s grant distribution committee, which consists of volunteers from Black Hawk County. Committee members include: Nancy Beenblossom, Stacie Brass, Ken Cutts, Kaye Englin, Susan Entriken, Andrew Finnegan, Anesa Kajtazovic, Chawne Paige, Jeffrey Seamans, Brooke Trent, Eashaan Vajpeyi, Sherman Wise and ReShonda Young.

Grant applicants must be a 501(c)(3) designated organization or government entity serving Black Hawk County in order to be considered for funding. Requests can be made for operations, programming, materials, equipment and capital projects. Priority is given to funding requests that align with the Foundation’s community initiatives of advancing racial equity, expanding child care, enhancing the arts, strengthening workforce readiness, and building nonprofit capacity, or address its areas of focus including arts and culture, community betterment, education and youth development, environment and animal welfare, health and human service.

The first of two 2023 grant cycles for Black Hawk County are currently open through Jan. 15. The grant guidelines and application can be found at www.cfneia.org/bhcgrants. For questions or to discuss a project’s eligibility prior to submitting a proposal in Black Hawk County, contact Ras Smith, director of community impact, at 319-243-1356 or rsmith@cfneia.org.