Marguerite Casey Foundation Announces $15.8 Million in Grants for Families, Youth and Children

New Foundation Seeks to “Put Families First” With Funding For Education, Advocacy and Activism Among Parents, Caregivers and Community Organizations Nationwide

SEATTLE, WA (January 13, 2003) – The Marguerite Casey Foundation today announced it has awarded $15.8 million in new grants to help families and communities across the United States become stronger, more resilient and less dependent on public systems.

Marguerite Casey Foundation grants were awarded to 43 organizations in 11 states and the District of Columbia – including a number of communities and neighborhoods that have been hard hit by recent cutbacks from philanthropic organizations. Grant recipients range in size and scope from small neighborhood groups with budgets of less than $500,000 to larger regional and national organizations with annual revenues over $5 million.

According to the Foundation, most of the grants awarded were for core operating support, a non-traditional approach in grantmaking which enables grant recipients use the funds for basic organizational needs and capacity building, rather than for project support or specific programs. The grants also reflect an important infusion of new foundation funds for organizing work, an area which has suffered from under-funding for many years.

“The goal of Marguerite Casey Foundation is to put families first,” said Marguerite Casey Foundation President and CEO Luz Vega-Marquis. “We are proud to take this important step toward building a constituency of parents and caregivers who can work together to improve the lives of America’s families, youth and children,”

“In selecting these grantees, we have looked for places where large numbers of families interact or have the potential to come together to effect change,” Vega-Marquis said. “We have selected organizations which seek to develop the potential advocacy voice of families and youth, and we have tried to identify regional partners who can help us best navigate the needs of the local communities we will serve.”

Marguerite Casey Foundation is presently focusing the bulk of its efforts in three regions of the United States: the Southern Belt states; California and the Southwest, including the U.S.-Mexico border; and the Midwest, starting in the Chicago area. Over time, the Foundation plans to broaden its reach to serve more regions and communities throughout the country.

Among the 43 grants announced by Marguerite Casey Foundation are the following:

• Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). A two-year $1 million grant to support the organizing of low-income families in the western, southwestern and the southern United States on issues that include predatory lending, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization and public education.
• Southern Echo, Inc. A three-year $500,000 grant to support organizing of low-income families in the deep South in addressing issues of concern including government accountability and public education.
• Clinica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero. A three-year $400,000 grant to support community empowerment, organizing training and capacity building of low-income immigrant families in the Los Angeles area.
• Chicago Children’s Museum. A three-year $300,000 grant to support the Chicago-area museum’s Community Initiatives and to maintain museum accessibility for low-income families and their children.
• La Mujer Obrera. A three-year $210,000 grant to support capacity building, regional networking and public policy research and advocacy for low-income women of Mexican heritage and their families in the El Paso border region.
• Center for Community Change. A two-year $1.5 million grant to support the strengthening of grassroots organizations and community leadership in the western, southwestern and the southern United States.

For a complete list please see our Grants Database.