We are pleased to announce the fourth round of grant distributions from the Community Stabilization Fund. An initial investment of $200,000 from our Community’s Endowment, combined with the generous investments of local donors, allows us to assist in setting the stage for recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community Stabilization Fund targets three priority areas that were identified in conversations with local nonprofit partners: financial stability, health, and education.
This month’s funding was focused on both of our Financial Stability strategies:
- Preventing people from slipping into poverty – primary strategy is focused on stabilizing ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households, in particular by helping keep people in their homes through rent payment assistance and home foreclosure prevention.
- Continued basic needs supports – primary strategy is providing basic needs support targeted to those who haven’t (or won’t ever) receive the federal stimulus financial supports.
In preparation for each month’s decisions, our Community Impact staff and leadership team connects with the various nonprofit organizations striving to meet the needs within the strategy we have identified that month for investment. In September, we met with 23 organizations working to keep people from slipping into poverty and providing basic needs support.
In response to all that we learned and understand about the needs right now, the Community Stabilization Fund awarded $236,000 to thirteen organizations during the fourth round of grants.
Community Action House
to Increase Resource Navigation, Case Management, and Community Kitchen Capacity
Amount Awarded: $75,000
Community Action House (CAH) is one of our core safety net providers working to assist people who are struggling to meet their basic needs and to help ALICE households maintain stability. CAH is currently serving nearly three times the number of people they had in the past and 30-40% of people served each week are seeking help for the first time. This funding will assist CAH in increasing resource navigation capacity through additional staff and case management tools. It also provides supplies for the Community Kitchen, operating in partnership with Western Theological Seminary, to continue serving daily meals in a take-away format as necessitated by the pandemic.
Harvest Stand Ministries
for Food Assistance, Micro-Pantry Initiative, and Freezer Capacity
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Harvest Stand Ministries, located at City on a Hill Ministries, is the Zeeland hub for basic needs assistance. This grant will support their food assistance efforts which have stepped up in response to the pandemic as well as support a new creative partnership to bring a micro-pantry model to four local churches.
Holland Rescue Mission
for their Food Pantry
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Holland Rescue Mission is our community’s only homeless shelter and serves men, women, and children. A major source of food for the meals they serve their guests, the Postal Service Food Drive, was cancelled due to the pandemic. This grant will help fill the need for food that occurred as a result of the cancellation.
Kids’ Food Basket-Holland
for the Sack Supper Program
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Kids’ Food Basket (KFB) has been adapted quickly to different food distribution processes in partnership with local schools to ensure hungry students continue to receive healthy sack suppers. Childhood hunger is an increasing concern and sack suppers are a low barrier to access way to address this. Their services are targeted to area schools with the greatest numbers of vulnerable students.
Resilience: Advocates for Ending Violence
for the Housing and Empowerment Fund
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Housing is essential to preventing victims of domestic violence from slipping into poverty or returning to live with an abuser. This grant will help ensure Resilience has flexible dollars to combine with other available resources to reach stable and safe housing solutions for their clients.
St. John’s Episcopal Church
for the Immigrant Relief Fund for Holland/Zeeland Area residents
Amount Awarded: $20,000
This grant will provide flexible funds to help meet housing and other basic needs for many of our most vulnerable community members who did not receive any federal aid.
Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates
for Remote Renewal Services
Amount Awarded: $15,000
This program ensures that individuals can remain legally eligible to work by renewing their immigration status. This is essential for these individuals and their families to maintain their household income. Lapsing in status can have negative ripple effects on the household that greatly increase the likelihood of falling into poverty.
Salvation Army-Holland
for Rental Assistance Expansion
Amount Awarded: $15,000
Salvation Army is one of the key places local residents can turn to for rental assistance and many other basic needs agencies refer clients there for this purpose. This grant will be used to provide greater flexibility and increase the dollars available for this program.
Hand2Hand
for the Weekend Meal Program
Amount Awarded: $10,000
Hand2Hand’s (H2H) model of providing backpack meals for students to take home over the weekend has been well-suited to meet the challenges of the current service environment. As childhood hunger is increasing, these direct forms of support provided through schools are more important than ever. H2H’s services are broadly available to area schools whether they have a large or small number of students in need.
Nestlings Diaper Bank
for Monthly Diaper Distributions to Community Partners
Amount Awarded: $10,000
Nestlings provides diapers for Community Action House, Holland Rescue Mission, Resilience, Harvest Stand Ministries, and many more. Diapers are a significant expense for struggling families with small children and in high demand at area agencies. Centralized procurement and distribution through Nestlings allows all of the partner organizations to meet this need more efficiently.
Feeding America West Michigan
for Mobile Food Pantries coordinated with Ottawa Community Schools Network
Amount Awarded: $5,000
Mobile Food Pantries are a valuable “tool in the toolbox” for our community to meet basic needs. Ottawa Community Schools Network coordinators play a pivotal role in organizing these mobile pantries, often hosted in school parking lots or other nearby sites. While many families of students are served, these mobile pantries are also available to the surrounding community and are a low barrier way for people in need to access assistance and well suited to the service delivery constraints of the pandemic.
Ottawa County Department of Health and Human Services
for Beds, Cribs, Mattresses and Bedding
Amount Awarded: $3,000
DHHS is another hub for basic needs and their staff is highly adept at piecing together supports for families in need. In particular when they are helping a household with housing, beds, cribs, mattresses, and bedding are gaps they often struggle to fill with existing community resources. This grant will provide flexible funding to help address this unmet need.
Zeeland Neighbors
for Winterizing/Repairs in partnership with Solid Rock Ministries
Amount Awarded: $3,000
These two grassroots organizations in Zeeland are working together to help people who live in substandard housing make basic improvements to ensure they can stay safe and warm in their current homes.