Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice Announces 2023 Mini-Grants Awards

HOLYOKE, MA | THE CARLOS VEGA FUND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE | May 12, 2023 – The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice (CVFSJ) presented the 2023 Mini-Grants Awards on Friday, May 12, 2023 at the Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitor Center.

Carlos Vega was an ardent activist for civil rights, communitybuilding, education, healthcare, and social justice in Holyoke. The donor designated fund, which is managed by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, was started in 2010 to honor Carlos on his 60th birthday and to continue his 40-year legacy by awarding small grants to nonprofit organizations through an annual competitive process.

Since 2012, the Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice has awarded mini-grants to fund initiatives that foster change and promote empowerment, self-help, and economic, political, and social justice. The mini-grants address injustice, oppression, and poverty in the greater Holyoke area particularly for those who are marginalized by our society/

Among some of the organizations recognized in the past are: The Gray House, Enchanted Circle Theater, Homework House, Holyoke Safe Schools Initiative, Western Mass Elder Care, Holyoke Public Schools, Holyoke Senior Center, OneHolyoke CDC, The Performance Project, Treehouse, Seeds of a Father, and the Wistariahurst Museum. The 2023 awardees are:

$1,000 for Give With Love’s Back to School Drive, for backpacks and school supplies for kids in need.

$1,000 to Holyoke Health Center’s expansion of its books for kids program that gives age-appropriate graphic novels that have been banned or challenged in some communities to preteens ages 10-12 at well-child visits.

$1,000 to El Colibrí/Amherst Shelter for a pilot program providing monthly passes to the Holyoke YMCA for unhoused women to give them access to showers, health and fitness classes, and other services to promote physical, mental, and emotional wellness.

$1,000 to Beyond Walls for their mural project in Holyoke this summer. The funds will be targeted for their community engagement program. This is an unsolicited “appreciation grant” initiated by the CVFSJ board.

“I think keeping that legacy alive is important because people that are doing the work today out there fighting for equity, fighting for social justice, tenant’s rights, are trying to get people engaged in civic process and get them registered to vote, and he [Carlos Vega] was doing all that work for so long,” Aaron Vega said. “I think it’s important for new people who are doing social justice work to recognize there’s a lineage and a legacy behind that work.”

Members of The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice Board of Trustees, and representatives of the organizations recognized

In addition to their grant cycle, the Carlos Vega Fund announced three new members to the CVFSJ advisory board: Amber Black, an Easthampton resident with more than two decades of communications and fundraising experience; Iris V. Crespo, a Chicopee resident with over 35 years of experience between the public sector and community-based organizations in Western Massachusetts; and Courtney Joaquin, granddaughter of Carlos Vega, who will finish her undergrad social work degree at Elms College this spring.

Other members of the Board include: Miguel Arce, Carey Baker, Jane Frey, Sylvia Galván, Tom Hidalgo, Orlando Isaza, Liz O’Dair, Idali Torres, Aaron Vega, and Debra Vega. For further information and/or to obtain an application, please visit the Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice website at http://www. carlosvegafund.org/ or contact Aaron Vega at carlosvegafund.413@ gmail.com.