The Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded about $2 million in Community Impact and COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund grants to local nonprofits.
More than 60 organizations working on a broad variety of needs in the community, including arts education, community building, education, food insecurity, health, supporting senior citizens and other vulnerable populations, and youth development received this funding, made possible by generous community contributions.
Funding was mainly unrestricted, giving organizations an opportunity to address the challenges of economic uncertainty due to the pandemic and inflation. Unrestricted grants in this round provide the flexibility organizations need to use the funding where it is most needed, which will help them build financial and programmatic resiliency.
“These nonprofits are doing impactful work in region, helping the most vulnerable among us,” Jeffrey Vega, CEO and president of the Community Foundation, said. “We are able to award these grants thanks to generous donors who have created funds over the last 30 years to support our community grantmaking and leadership.”
More than 40% of the funding was awarded to organizations working on education and youth development programs, followed by those working to help vulnerable populations and alleviate food insecurity.
Among the largest grants were $150,000 to the Foundation for Educational Administration for its Healing Centered Engagement program focused on supporting schools, to help staff identify and help children experiencing trauma; a $115,000 grant to Arm In Arm, which is working with Housing Initiatives of Princeton to prevent evictions; and a $100,000 grant to Mercer Street Friends, which is working with the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County to expand its Community Schools model in Trenton.
A list of grantee partners is available here. Nine of the grants were awarded from the COVID-19 Fund, because vulnerable residents are still dealing with the lingering effects of the pandemic, such as learning loss and the mental health crisis among young people. The remainder of the grants were funded through the Community Impact Grants program.
