Access to Economic Opportunities Grant Program

ECONOMIC WHAT DOES FUNDING ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES LOOK LIKE

Economic Opportunities

In 2016, the Foundation shifted its grant strategy to focus on funding programs and organizations providing access to economic opportunities. This decision was not made lightly – it was the result of a year-long process that began with community convenings and ended with the Foundation’s Grant Committee and Board of Trustees wrestling with answers to the following questions:

• How can we ensure our limited grant dollars are going as far as they can in the community? • How can we integrate grantmaking in a way that would create systemic change across all sectors in our community? • What role does philanthropy play in partnering with our local businesses? • How can we effectively address the root causes of so many issues our community faces?

Creating this overarching grant theme allowed us to address these questions while moving the needle towards prosperity and self-sufficiency for more Albuquerque residents. The wording of this strategy was critical: we sought to provide access. We understood as a community foundation, we alone could not create economic opportunity nor could we provide economic opportunity, but we could provide access to economic opportunity. We could work with organizations in breaking down the barriers that prevent incarcerated adults from gaining employment. We could support organizations that bolster the creative and environmental economies, increase skills-based learning, promote job training and address mental health needs to reduce homelessness and addiction.

Since integrating this strategy, we have seen organizations respond with creative proposals and innovative programs. We have learned nonprofits are eager for new opportunities to tell their stories and are committed to supporting Albuquerque’s economic growth in the same way companies, funders and donors are.

When we started this process, we asked ourselves: what could providing access to economic opportunities really look like in all of its forms? We had ideas, but we also cautioned ourselves not to be a prescriptive funder. While we offered examples, we also wanted nonprofits to be free enough and creative enough to come to us with their ideas. And they did. Nearly two years into this strategy, we are now starting to see the results of our grantmaking.

LOOKS LIKE THIS IS WHAT IT

COMPETITIVE GRANTS

The 2017 Competitive Grant Program awarded nearly $410,000 in grants to 38 organizations. Organizations submitted some of the most innovative and competitive proposals the Foundation has reviewed in years. Nonprofits showed how they boost the creative economy through public-private partnership with Albuquerque’s growing brewery scene, build employee pipelines in the healthcare industry, teach homeless youth entrepreneurial skills and train local urban farmers. All of this – and much more – contributes to a vibrant, growing Albuquerque.

Each year, the Foundation receives more proposals than can be funded through the Competitive Grant Program – but we know these proposals represent important nonprofit programs and initiatives in our community. When a proposal does not receive funding through the Competitive Grant Program, we take those unfunded proposals to donor-advised fund holders to offer them more options for their annual grantmaking. We are pleased to report that of the applications received through the 2017 Competitive Grant Program, 80% were funded in some capacity.

ARTS &CULTURE

African American Performing Arts Center

Operating support for the African American Performing Arts Center (AAPAC). Initiatives covered under the grant include: recruiting UNM engineering students in the National Society of Black Engineers and advisors from Sandia National Labs to improve the technical systems of the theater and revitalizing the Charlie Morrisey Research Center for African American History and Culture.

($5,200)

Albuquerque Philharmonic

Funding for operating costs of the Albuquerque Philharmonic’s 2017-2018 performance and education season, including 11 free community concerts for over 4,000 concert goers and support the Art & Music Program engaging over 350 APS students to live symphonic works at no cost.

($7,500) Basement Films

Funding to expand Basement Films’current operations, including working with APS on a student filmintern program, supporting the Experiments Basement Films in Cinema Festival, updating and cataloging an archive of 8,000 films. ($5,000)

Duke City Repertory Theatre

Funding for operating costs of Duke City’s one-of-a-kind Shakespearean Bard Crawl at five local breweries. The Bard Crawl breaks down conventional barriers between audience members and Shakespeare by removing all the pomp and circumstance of a traditional theatrical show and replacing it with an intimate, interactive performance of a Shakespearean classic. ($3,750)

Harwood Art Center

An operating grant to Harwood Art Center will be used to support: Creative Roots outreach programs for students at Garfield Middle School and Hayes Middle School; the Galleries & Exhibitions Program that provides resident, emerging and established artists from New Mexico with opportunities, professional development, awards, commissions and exhibitions. ($15,000)

Keshet

Funding to support Keshet’s operations in four focus areas: 1. Social Justice through the Arts; 2. Supporting the business of art through the Keshet Ideas and Innovation Community (KIIC); 3. Strengthening Albuquerque’s global arts community through the Keshet International Dance Festival; 4. Community programs which provide approximately 50 weekly open community classes to nearly 1,000 students of all ages, experiences, and physical/developmental abilities. ($15,000)

Vortex Theatre

Operating funds for the Vortex Theatre will support programs benefiting Albuquerque residents who cannot afford admission-based events, are elderly and are developmentally disabled adults with limited access to the arts. These programs include Shakespeare on the Plaza – 16 free Shakespearean performances on Civic Plaza and the Creative Age Program.

($10,000)

&ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORKFORCE

Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce Foundation

EmprendeNM’s high-tech accelerator/co-working space, specifically for Hispanic entrepreneurs. AHCC is developing employment opportunities (both physical and digital) to assist accelerator graduates in recruiting local talent as they scale their businesses. ($15,000)

Three Sisters Kitchen Casa de Salud

Casa de Salud

Funding for Casa de Salud’s Health Apprentice Program, in which approximately 30 young people will gain handson experience in a clinical setting prior to pursuing graduate/professional degrees in medical fields. This program builds a pipeline of healthcare workers, specifically focused on supporting medical careers of low-income populations. ($15,000)

Three Sisters Kitchen

Funding for the pilot season of Three Sisters Kitchen’s Food Business Entrepreneurial Training Program for low-income entrepreneurs. Three Sisters Kitchen serves as a hub for early stages of food business development and a local food shop. ($10,000)

COMMON GROUND 4 7

EDUCATION

Amy Biehl High School Foundation

Seniors participate in a 100-hour Senior Fellows Service Learning Project or an internship where they are learning new skills such as teaching, building websites and developing program curricula. ($10,000)

APS Title I Homeless Project

Funding for APS Title I Homeless Project’s after-school program in six elementary schools. Programs supplement academics outside the regular school day, motivate students to stay in school, provide safety and stability, emphasize the acquisition and development of literacy skills and afford students opportunities for career exploration. ($10,000)

Amy Biehl High School

Generation Justice

Funding for Generation Justice’s (GJ) radio and Facebook live broadcast productions that are youth led, community based and structured from a critical race/equity theory lens. Since its inception 11 years ago, 92% of GJ members have pursued higher education and more than 35% are studying and working in media/journalism fields. ($4,400)

Horizons Albuquerque

Funding will support a second Horizons site at Manzano Day School and will serve a total of 112 students and their families from APS partner schools. ($6,525)

Pegasus Legal Services

Funding for the Education Justice Project (EJP), a program that works with the juvenile justice system, schools and families in Sandoval County to address issues that result in proven referrals of students with disabilities for discipline to the juvenile justice system. ($15,000)

Oasis Albuquerque

Funding for the Intergenerational Tutoring literacy monitoring program, targeting K-3 students in Title 1 schools. Senior volunteers mentor their student(s) for one hour, one day a week. ($6,300)

Prosperity Works

Funding to support 40 low-income students, immigrants, low-income families, Native American students, survivors of domestic violence and previously incarcerated individuals in developing financial education skills while saving for the future through Individual Development Accounts. ($10,000)

Great Grants

&ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Audubon New Mexico

For a pilot project to establish a transaction program in which Native American farmers on the Isleta Pueblo and municipal water users can transfer water to the Rio Grande through leases or donations, creating an alternative use for water, economic opportunities and supporting New Mexico’s biodiversity. ($15,000)

Hubbell House Alliance

Funding for the development, production, and installation of interpretive signage at the Gutierrez Hubbell House History and Culture Center, a 5,700 square foot adobe home located on 10 acres of Bernalillo County Open Space land, the majority of which is a working farm. ($7,000)

Manzano Mountain Art Council

Funding to support the restoration of a historic building in Mountainair that serves as an art and community center and offers artist studios, a public garden, performance and event space, display areas and offices for educational and entrepreneurial workshops. ($10,930)

NM Acequia Association

Funding for the Semrando Semillas Project, a program to engage younger generations in the continuation of agriculture and land-based traditions. In partnership with Think Like a Bee, a pollinator initiative, and Cornelio Candelaria Organics, a four-acre NMDA certified farm in the South Valley, this grant will focus on “food as medicine.” ($15,000)

NM Wilderness Alliance

To support a public/private partnership with the United States Forest Service (USFS) to recruit, train and utilize community volunteers in and around Albuquerque to participate in a range of monitoring, restoration, beautification and stewardship activities based within the Cibola National Forest. ($5,000)

Rio Grande Community Farm

Funding for the Las Huertas program, a skills development program dedicated to training both current and aspiring producers in certified organic farming techniques, specific to the arid environment of New Mexico and assisting them to become small-scale food entrepreneurs.

($10,000)

Rio Grande Community Farm

The NM Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society

Funding will support the restoration of the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Locomotive 2926 to operational status, specifically the boiler jacket being manufactured locally. Upon completion of its restoration, the locomotive will serve as a moving museum, exhibiting New Mexico railroad history on historical trips from Albuquerque to Las Vegas, NM. ($10,000)

HEALTH

Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless

Funding for the Therapist of the Day program, which increases access to behavioral health services by creating a streamlined and client-centered triage process. The program will serve 1,350 individuals who are experiencing homelessness and in need of behavioral health services. ($10,000)

All Faiths

Funding for the Family Wellness Program to reduce long-term results of trauma and break its cycle. ($10,000)

Centro Savila

Working to address the behavioral health and social services provider shortage in the South Valley, Centro Savila is partnering with higher learning institutions to provide students with community-based internships, residency rotations and supervision. ($15,000)

Crossroads for Women

The Day Program offers 30 psycho-educational groups per week providing a comprehensive set of skills for formerly incarcerated women with mental health and addictive disorders to build stable, self-sufficient lives. ($15,000)

New Mexico Asian Family Center

Funding for mental health services for Pan-Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigrants and refugees in the International District who have experienced trauma due to war in their home countries, displacement via refugee camps and/or resettlement. With mental health support, NMAFC sees clients move forward to obtain jobs, maintain current positions, earn promotions and career fulfillment. ($15,000)

Paws & Stripes

Funding for the Helping Dogs, Helping Heroes program, supporting veterans experiencing debilitating PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. Graduates have gone on to become teachers, own businesses, attend (and graduate) law school and have been hired by Paws and Stripes. ($10,000)

HUMAN SERVICES

Catholic Charities

The Team Refugee program, which works with refugee individuals and families who are struggling to resettle. Participants in this program learn cultural orientation and English language skills, while obtaining and maintaining employment and developing a five-year career plan. ($9,293)

Family Promise

Funding to support the Job and Literacy Center assisting homeless families with one-on-one job searching, life skills and parenting classes, assessing reading and math levels, tutoring, intensive case management and a safe community.

($5,000)

Fathers Building Futures

Fathers Building Futures is the only social enterprise managed by and for formerly incarcerated parents. Grant funding will provide a pipeline and training for financial stability including employment, budgeting, savings programs and financial education coaching. ($15,000)

Locker 505

Catholic Charities

Grant to clothe homeless or in-need Bernalillo County students in grades K-12. With Locker 505’s support, students can focus on their education. Reports show an improvement in grades and self-esteem which sets them up for a more stable and independent life trajectory. ($4,500)

New Day Youth and Family Services

Funding for New Day’s Life Skills Academy’s newest initiative, the Food Cart “First Jobs” Program, an in-house job training program where youth/young adults (16-24) in transitional housing can practice and perfect the job skills they need for success in the formal job market. ($15,000)

Resolve

Grant to provide 150 youth in Bernalillo County with 4-16 hours of experiential, role play-based violence prevention classes that focus on anti-bias/anti-bullying skills, ally behavior, boundary-setting and de-escalation. ($4,300)

Supportive Housing Coalition

To support the Service Coordination program which connects clients to services to maintain housing stability, maintain or increase their income and prevent a return to homelessness. ($16,870)

Saranam

Saranam takes a “two generational” approach to ending poverty and homelessness. Foundation funding will provide transitional housing to eight homeless families, with 75% of adults working toward completing education and employment goals. ($15,000)