Dear Community Foundation Fundholders,
I hope you and your family are enjoying the beautiful fall weather!
Thanks to the continued generosity and care of our community of givers, we collectively awarded more than $21 million in grants last quarter to nonprofits working to strengthen our region and beyond.
In August, we were proud to release our 2020-2021 Annual Report and share how we mobilized $40 million in community support to help our neighbors facing hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the incredible donors, nonprofit partners, and community leaders who stepped up to help us meet this challenge. In case you missed our 2021 Annual Meeting or the release of our Annual Report, you can find the recording and resources here.
Last quarter, our community impact work included:
A new partnership between our Food for Montgomery initiative and Feed the Fridge to provide meals for families in need at Mary’s Center.
Our Partnership to End Homelessness participated in the White House Eviction Prevention Summit and invested in Housing Counseling Services to help more tenants apply for and access rental assistance.
Historic investments to address the infrastructure needs of 17 Black-led organizations, enabled through a generous $1 million gift from Facebook.
Additional investments from Arts Forward Fund totaling nearly $1.7 million to help 89 arts and culture organizations recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Welcoming new funds like America Remembers Fund, which supports the “In America: Remember” art exhibition that blanketed the National Mall with 660,000+ white flags, each honoring a person lost to COVID-19.
We were proud to welcome new and diverse leaders to our Board of Trustees, Advisory Boards, and staff.
Sarah Moore Johnson, founding partner at Birchstone Moore, was elected to serve as a Trustee.
Anna Behnam, Christopher J. Martin, and Ana Morales joined our Montgomery County Advisory Board, and Glenda Wilson joined the Prince George’s County Advisory Board.
Darcelle Wilson joined our staff as the new Senior Director for Prince George’s County.
This month, we are excited to release our new 10-year strategic vision with a sharpened focus on closing the racial wealth gap in our region's underinvested neighborhoods where racialized disparities are the greatest. As we begin this journey, our intent is to engage you and our entire community in conversation to inform our learning journey and align our understanding about the root causes and the most effective solutions for closing the racial wealth gap.
With the end of year approaching, our staff can assist with carrying out your philanthropic goals for 2021. Please be mindful of our December 17 deadline for your year-end grantmaking activities to ensure your nonprofit partners receive their funds by December 31.
Thank you for your continued partnership in serving our community’s needs today, and in building a better tomorrow for the Greater Washington region.
Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO