Taste Project was one of the organizations that benefited from the first round of North Texas Cares funding.
North Texas foundations and United Ways are launching a second phase of North Texas Cares grants to support response to needs related to COVID-19, and have broadened eligibility to include a social justice category.
North Texas Cares launched in late March with 15 partners and grew to 30, making 1,400 grants totaling more than $40 million to 630 North Texas nonprofits through a uniform online application between April and mid-July.
The foundations and United Ways have re-opened applications on their website, with submissions being accepted through Oct. 2. The various funders will review the applications and make decisions using their own timelines and processes. Demand is likely to be robust again, given high unemployment, expected evictions, and nonprofits that weren’t able to run their major spring fundraisers and probably will lose their big fall events, said Rose Bradshaw, president and CEO of the North Texas Community Foundation.
“I think there’s a whole lot of significant need that’s going to be emerging in these next several months,” Bradshaw said in an interview.
The funders added the social justice category, recognizing the issues brought to light following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minnesota, Bradshaw said.
Laura McWhorter, the North Texas Community Foundation’s chief philanthropy officer, said funders and nonprofits have reported benefits from the single site.
Nonprofits report “this has given them exposure to funders who may not have considered them in the past; it has resulted in some new funding for some of our nonprofits,” McWhorter said in an interview. “On the flip side, funders have also mentioned to us they had made grants to some organizations they had never considered before.”
In a post-COVID world, Bradshaw envisions funders and nonprofits using the uniform platform in perpetuity. “I hope so,” she said. “That is my own, personal goal with this.”
Leah King, president and CEO of the United Way of Tarrant County, said “the funding has been a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of families in the Tarrant County community. The ongoing efforts of the partnership continues play an important role as we work toward meeting the urgent needs of our friends and neighbors.”
Nonprofits eligible for grants:
HEALTH
· Organizations and programs focused on providing access to health services of all kinds, including those focused on addressing disparities, mental health services for children and youth, and supporting COVID testing and access to testing/tracing
ECONOMIC SECURITY
· Organizations and programs focused on preparing people for living wage jobs in the COVID-19 environment (e.g., via rapid re-employment, upskilling or reskilling through partnerships with community colleges/schools and/or moving to online adult learning)
· Organizations that provide supportive services for workers, such as childcare or transportation
· Providing safe, stable housing for families or individuals
· Organizations that provide services to re-entry populations to assist them as they are returning to the community during this very challenging time
SAFETY & WELL BEING
· Programs focused on personal safety from violence in the home
· Programs focused on public safety in the community and eliminating violence directed at people of color, disenfranchised, and marginalized populations
EDUCATION
· Programs working to reduce learning loss and close the racial achievement gap
· Programs focused on supporting teachers/students given current online learning challenges
· Programs addressing the digital divide
· In- and out-of-school engagement programs for children and youth
· Programs that focus on education to cultivate anti-racism
· Parent engagement programs to support learning at home
SOCIAL JUSTICE
· Programs that focus on education to cultivate anti-racism
· Community organizing and movement building
· Creative community engagement to promote equity, access, participation, and rights, including through the arts
· Programs that foster and build leadership for people of color within nonprofit organizations
The funders as of Aug. 11 include The Addy Foundation, American Prosperity Fund, Bank of America, The Boone Family Foundation, The Catholic Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, DuBose Family Foundation, Embrey Family Foundation, Hersh Foundation, Hoblitzelle Foundation, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Mavs Foundation, The Meadows Foundation, Muse Family Foundation, North Texas Community Foundation, Oncor, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, The Rees-Jones Foundation, State Fair of Texas, Mike & Mary Terry Family Foundation, Tolleson Wealth Management, United Way of Grayson County, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, United Way of Tarrant County, United Way of West Ellis County, and six anonymous.