2023 Community Fund Grantees
The Philadelphia City Fund is pleased to announce the 2023 grantees of its Community Fund.
From programs that address the health of formerly incarcerated women, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and low-income families, to organizations that serve immigrants and refugees, youth experiencing homelessness, and Black preemie families, this year’s grantees are improving life for the residents of Philadelphia by helping to make Health Equity a priority across the city.
This year’s Community Fund will award $250,000 to the grantees listed below, with awards ranging from $14,100 to $25,000.
The Community Fund is an annual grant opportunity made possible through the Philadelphia City Fund’s partnership with the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, which allocates a portion of its revenues toward this grant opportunity. Learn more about the Community Fund and our 2023 grant cycle.
Accessmatters
Philadelphia Health Equity Training Hub
AccessMatters is a public health organization with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and a deep commitment to advancing health equity and anti-oppression. AccessMatters has developed a reputation for being a leader in racial equity trainings and consulting, working to strengthen leaders’ and organizations’ competency to grapple with systemic barriers to overall health and wellbeing such as racism, classism, and disability.
Grant funds will support the skill development of Philadelphia’s healthcare workforce to advance health equity strategies through the launch of an online Health Equity Training Hub.
AccessMatters will utilize their Learning Management System to develop and host up to 10 webinars for healthcare providers, support staff, administration, and policymakers, on health equity topics informed by federal and city priorities, and AccessMatters’ existing primary and secondary research, including analysis of local and national trends and aggregate provider and community needs assessment data.
Grant Amount: $20,000
ACHIEVEABILITY
Vax Up, West Philly!
ACHIEVEability has served the Haddington and Cobbs Creek neighborhoods of Philadelphia for four decades, striving to permanently break the generational cycle of poverty for low-income and homeless families through higher education, affordable housing, supportive services, community and economic development, and accountability.
Grant funds will support ACHIEVEability’s Vax Up, West Philly! program to provide monthly vaccination clinics and education resources for low-income residents living in West Philadelphia zip codes with the lowest vaccination rates.
Strategies include vaccination events, listen and learn sessions, and training residents to serve as trusted messengers to educate neighbors about the benefits of the vaccine and to address concerns and misinformation.
Grant Amount: $24,300
Breastfeeding resource center
Virtual Support in the Fourth Trimester
The Breastfeeding Resource Center is a full-service breastfeeding organization with the mission of providing expert clinical and educational breastfeeding services to all.
Grant funds will support Breastfeeding Resource Center’s Virtual Support in the Fourth Trimester program, which provides free ongoing clinical lactation support to low-income families who deliver at Temple University Hospital once they leave the hospital, with the aim of increasing breastfeeding duration rates in North Philadelphia.
An experienced International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant will provide on-demand individual care to each family via telehealth for the first three months of their babies’ lives (their ‘fourth trimester’) based on their support needs.
Grant Amount: $15,000
COVENANT HOUSE PENNSYLVANIA
General Operating Support
Covenant House Pennsylvania is a non-profit organization that provides shelter and supportive services to young adults in Philadelphia who are experiencing homelessness. Covenant House meets immediate needs for food, clothing, safety, and medical and mental health care by providing the following services: street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, health clinic, education services, and vocation services.
This grant will provide general operating support to assist with the rising cost of programs and services as a direct result of the lingering pandemic, inflation, and the uptick of mental health factors that are the root of youth homelessness.
Grant Amount: $22,000
DOUBLE TRELLIS FOOD INITIATIVE (FISCAL SPONSOR: FEDERATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS)
General Operating Support
Double Trellis Food Initiative’s mission is to serve as an immediate stopgap for the most food-insecure individuals in marginalized communities of Philadelphia in a way that is both culturally relevant and grounded in human dignity, while also working to directly address some of the root causes of food insecurity through its workforce development program, nutrition workshops, and food justice advocacy work.
This grant will provide general operating funds to support the maintenance of DTFI’s Community Kitchen efforts to provide over 40,000 healthy meals to more than 12,000 community members across nine different zip codes. The meals will be distributed freely through a coalition of community fridges DTFI has designed based on need, along with BIPOC-led partners.
Grant Amount: $14,500
Education plus health
Comprehensive School Based Health Centers
Education Plus Health operates a network of school-based health centers to deliver a broader continuum to meet youth needs holistically to fulfill its mission providing on-site prevention and clinical services to schools. EPH serves over 7,000 students in 15 school-based health centers in public and charter schools in Philadelphia, and more than 100 middle and high school students in an after-school program integrated with its school-based health center.
This grant will provide general operating support for EPH’s school-based health centers to ensure “health equity for all” through the provision of trauma-informed, holistic healthcare in low income and low-resourced Philadelphia communities to improve outcomes around physical and mental health as well as decreased absenteeism and improved educational attainment.
Grant Amount: $22,000
fairmount soccer association
Creating a Long-term Youth Soccer Vision for Access, Equity, and Growth in the City of Brotherly Love
Fairmount Soccer Association serves boys and girls ages 2 through 18 residing in Philadelphia by providing soccer and life-enriching opportunities at Edgely Field in East Fairmount Park to players of all skill levels in an atmosphere of inclusion and fair play. FSA’s mission is to positively impact the development of youth in the community and help raise the level of soccer in the city, regardless of socioeconomic status.
Grant funds will support an increase in scholarships to ensure no player is turned away due to financial reasons, and to cover the costs of field lighting to enhance FSA’s capacity to serve more players.
FSA will partner with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and the Office of Immigrant Affairs to support equitable program enrollment of children from diverse backgrounds by working to make families of Philadelphia International Unity Cup members aware of FSA programs and scholarship opportunities. Additionally, FSA will use grant funds to purchase permanent field lighting fixtures that the club will own, which will allow FSA to increase registration numbers and provide a potential stream of income as lights can be rented to other recreational leagues that utilize Edgley Field.
Grant Amount: $25,000
NATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER
Health Access for Newcomers
Nationalities Service Center empowers immigrants and refugees to thrive in their communities and pursue a just future. NSC serves 5,000 immigrants and refugees each year from over 100 countries around the world by offering a wide range of services including legal services, health and wellness, food and housing supports, employment services, comprehensive case management and interpretation and translation services.
Grant funds will support the Health Access Program for Newcomers, which provides language accessible, culturally attuned care coordination to connect immigrants with healthcare services, including primary care, specialist care, dental treatment, and free and low-cost programs for health-related services.
Funding for the initiative will cover the partial cost of hosting year-long volunteers to provide direct client support, allowing NSC to serve a large volume of newcomers, while also providing training to future health care professionals.
Grant Amount: $24,997.27
Once Upon a PrEEMIE
Expanding Health Equity to Black Preemie Families in Philadelphia
Once Upon A Preemie is black women led and black family serving non-profit organization that leads pioneering health and racial equity education, advocacy, and family empowerment solutions for healthcare professionals by centering the lived experiences of Black Preemie families. Through its Once Upon A Preemie Academy, the organization provides accredited and interactive courses for healthcare professionals aimed at increasing competencies in health and racial equity, implicit bias, and family-centered care.
This grant will provide general operating funds that will allow OUAP to meet the growing need for its services for Black Preemie Families.
Grant funds will be used to hire a Philadelphia Engagement Lead to further expand health and racial equity training and family centered care models to healthcare professionals in Philadelphia. OUAP will engage local birthing hospitals and will provide 25 health professionals with 60 days’ access to Once Upon A Preemie, Inc’s accredited implicit bias e-learning courses for healthcare professionals serving black birthing women and families. Additionally, the Philadelphia Engagement Lead will raise awareness of the organization’s reading program and will encourage healthcare professionals to donate Once Upon A Preemie books to Black families to build better relationships and communication.
Grant Amount: $22,000
sparc philadelphia
The Park at SpArc
SpArc Philadelphia is a family of nonprofit organizations, including SpArc Services and The Arc of Philadelphia, benefiting people with disabilities. The mission of SpArc Services, its direct-service agency, is to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing programs and services that encourage inclusion, independence, and personal achievement.
Grant funds will allow SpArc to engage with a landscape architect to complete the concept design for The Park at SpArc, a new, green, outdoor space that will be built adjacent to SpArc’s building, fostering health and wellness for an often-marginalized and sedentary population.
The goal of building the space is to have an area to conduct outdoor activities for program participants for the benefit of their health, as well as the inclusion and well-being of the local community. The landscape architect and a student intern will transform student designs and program plans developed by students in Thomas Jefferson University’s Landscape Architecture and Occupational Therapy programs into the concept design, which will pave the way for the schematic design, including construction documents, to make the project ready to build.
Grant Amount: $14,100
STUDENTS RUN PHILLY STYLE
From Start to Finish: Supporting Philadelphia Youth Training for the 2023 Philadelphia Marathon and the 2024 Blue Cross Broad Street Run
Students Run Philly Style transforms lives through long-distance running and mentorship. SRPS pairs Philadelphia students in grades 6-12 with adult, volunteer Mentors to prepare them to train for the ultimate challenge: completing a long-distance race. SRPS youth and Mentors train side-by-side, three times per week, to reach their milestone goal. This shared challenge is transformative, helping students build confidence, connect with their community
and establish healthy habits for the long term.
Grant funds will help to increase access to physical activity and healing-centered mentorship for youth and adults through more than 50 neighborhood-based program sites in Philadelphia.
Funds will be used to support Mentor training, support, and culture building. Training focuses on running essentials such as injury prevention, nutrition and healthy habits specific to distance running. Mentors are also trained on the challenges youth face, such as poverty and marginalization, and how best to support students who have experienced, or are at risk for, trauma. Additionally, funds will help to cover running shoes, gear, and transportation (to and from race events) free of cost to all enrolled; pre- and post-race events for youth, their families, and Mentors; and program evaluations.
Grant Amount: $16,354
THERAPY CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA
Mental Health Access/General Operating Support
Therapy Center of Philadelphia is a non-profit mental health organization whose mission is to nurture the individual well-being and personal growth of its clients by providing high-quality, affordable psychotherapeutic services. TCP serves women, transgender, and gender non-conforming communities through short and long term individual and couples therapy; group therapy, and family psychotherapy.
This grant provides TCP with general operating support to help cover the costs of its direct service (provision of therapy services) for its lowest-income clients.
Funding will directly support the subset of TCP’s clients who contribute $40 or less per session. This will enable TCP to maintain its generous sliding scale, allowing these individuals to maintain consistent and ongoing engagement in therapy, which is vital to achieving positive mental health outcomes. This financial assistance helps to eliminate barriers to accessing mental health care, particularly for those who may struggle to afford such services.
Grant Amount: $15,000
Why not prosper
Healthcare Navigator Program for Formerly Incarcerated Women
Why Not Prosper is located in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and serves current and formerly incarcerated women throughout the City of Philadelphia. Its mission is to help women in the prison system to discover their own strength and to empower them to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and contributing members of the community. Programs and services include outreach (through its app and hotline), supportive services (through housing and a family reunification program), a Workforce Academy, and an Entrepreneur Academy.
Grant funds will support the pilot of Why Not Prosper’s Healthcare Navigator Program to promote health equity for formerly incarcerated women by facilitating their Medicaid enrollment and connection to physical and mental healthcare.
Funding will be used to hire a healthcare navigator, who will enroll formerly incarcerated women in Medicaid and connect them to physical and mental healthcare services by identifying healthcare partners and a pharmacy partner who can provide trauma-informed services, particularly to formerly incarcerated women. The healthcare navigator will maintain a navigation and case management record for each client to record progress in connection to services and identify gaps as needed. Funds will also be used to transport clients to their healthcare appointments and for project marketing materials.
Grant Amount: $15,000
To learn about next year’s grant cycle, check our Community Fund page in January 2024, or scroll to the bottom of any page on our website to sign up for our newsletter and receive updates about our grant opportunities.
For additional information, contact us at cityfund@phila.gov.