Over $105,000 in Grants Will be Awarded to Local Community Leaders
Faith-based organizations and places of worship have played an important role during the COVID-19 crisis in our country. These organizations and their volunteers and staff have been on the frontline, mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and providing communities with much needed guidance and support. To support them, the American Heart Association is awarding up to $105K in grants to faith institutions seeking to make sustainable change in their community.
The Faith-Based Accelerator request for proposals was open to institutions of faith and places of worship in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Institutions who focused their work on social determinants including bias, income, education, healthcare access, pollution, housing availability, transportation and access to healthy foods were considered, and the window of submission opportunity closed on April 30, 2021.
The American Heart Association is pleased to announce that five organizations will advance to the Accelerator finale on July 22. They will present their business models for four grant funding opportunities including a fan favorite award. Register for this online experience here.
Those advancing are:
Word of Life International, New York, New York: Word of Life International aims to sustain lives and empower communities by providing short and long term services that foster stable and independent lives. Word of Life International (WOL) is a not-for-profit community outreach agency that currently runs domestic programs that serves the Bronx community and its surrounding neighborhoods. WOL envisions strong communities and individuals without the immediate threat of hunger, homelessness, and unemployment.
Shiloh Community Development Corporation, Trenton, New Jersey: Shiloh’s mission is to improve the quality of life of residents in Trenton and neighboring communities through family life services, cultural arts, education, and financial literacy. Shiloh CDC is committed to helping its constituents by building a pathway to their success.
Bible Center Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Bible Center Church aspires to not simply be “in” the community but to be “for” the community. Their mission is to create places of peace, prosperity, and happiness during trouble or difficulty. This work focuses on three key rungs on the ladder of economic advancement and opportunity—education, employment, and entrepreneurship. The church recognized the importance of the environment, in which people attempt to learn, seek jobs, and build businesses and its impact on their likelihood of success.
The Center of Transformation (TCOT), Brooklyn, Maryland: The overall goal and mission of TCOT are to provide prevention-oriented programs to strengthen families in the Western corridors in Anne Arundel county. The center focuses on Community-oriented services, child-care, elementary school education, health and wellness partnerships, and community engagement activities. TCOT’s wide range of programs have been expanded to serve the entire family unit with blood pressure information, health questionnaires, family wellness initiatives, child development, church/business development, elementary school education, parenting education, and food distribution programs weekly.
Kingdom Kare, Inc., Odenton, Maryland: Kingdom Kare Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to nurture children and their families so they feel empowered to pursue their dreams. Kingdom Kare focuses on three areas: early childhood education; mentoring; parenting & family support.
Three grants and a fan favorite grant will be awarded. Voting is open until July 22 and can be done daily at: https://faithvote.empoweredtoserve.org/.
For More Information:
https://www.empoweredtoserve.org/en/capital-access-grant-funding/eastern-states-faith-based-accelerator
Submitted by: Lauren Rose, Senior Director of Communications & Marketing, American Heart Association