Grants Awarded in 2020
2020 Contributions
Affordable Housing Grants Awarded:
Bayside Housing & Services: $25,000 for essential services, including transitional housing, meals, and case management assistance in finding jobs and permanent housing, for two Jefferson County families of three for one year.
Jefferson Community Foundation’s Housing Solutions Network: $25,000 to promote Jefferson County’s economic recovery by protecting and expanding the availability of affordable housing for its workforce with “Housing Connections,” a program that trains new landlords, connects them to local lenders for renovations, and also helps match them to renters.
Kitsap Rescue Mission, $50,000 to rebuild the roof of Kitsap County’s only emergency, year-round, low-barrier shelter for homeless individuals and families. This grant will enable the Kitsap Rescue Mission, whose building had been closed, to reopen and resume providing on-site services.
Lydia Place, $50,000 to break ground this summer on Whatcom County’s Heart House, an 11-unit permanent, supportive, low-income housing project for homeless mothers with children from prenatal through age 5. Heart House will also provide on-site childcare and supportive services to promote long-term stability to disrupt the cycle of homelessness.
Parkview Services: $25,000 to provide no-cost HUD housing counseling services to prevent foreclosures for approximately 40 struggling homeowners in Whatcom, Kitsap, Clallam and Jefferson Counties.
Serenity House of Clallam County: $30,000 to purchase a service vehicle that provides the maintenance team a secure space for tools and materials, and the mobility required to maintain 75 units of low-income housing, a night shelter, three offices in Port Angeles, Forks, and Sequim, a youth drop-in center, and thrift store.
Community Development Grants Awarded:
Trinity United Methodist Church, $50,000 to make the 149-year-old building fully ADA compliant, doubling the number of community service organizations benefiting from their free and affordable function space, and continuing to serve as the only infant and drop-in childcare facility in Port Townsend.
Whatcom Family YMCA, $50,000 to support the construction of a new and larger early learning facility to alleviate the severe childcare shortage that Whatcom County is experiencing.
Community Support Grants Awarded:
Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network: $5,000 for the Grab & Go Meal Program, which provides prepared meals for distribution by three nonprofits on Bainbridge Island and in North Kitsap to people experiencing food insecurity as a result of the current economic crisis.
Bainbridge Island Boys & Girls Clubs: $5,000 for full-day childcare services and meet the growing need caused by COVID-19 for affordable childcare, remote learning support, peer connection, physical activity, and social-emotional growth opportunities.
Blue Skies for Children: $5,000 to provide bicycles and helmets, school-related computers and flash drives, tutoring, graduation fees and more for approximately 40 children, ages 6-18, who are homeless, low-income, or in foster care in Whatcom County.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula: $10,000 for the Learning Support Center in Sequim, funding increased staffing, upgraded technology for virtual learning, and new equipment to provide safe, direct educational support for more low-to moderate-income, disadvantaged children, ages 6-18.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County: $10,000 to fund scholarships for 40 children from low-income families to engage in online classes and receive additional academic, emotional, and social support in safe, equipped and supervised distanced learning sites.
Catholic Community Services of Western Washington: $5,000 to fund supplies for the volunteer Olympic Bluebill Builders, retired engineers who install life-saving safety equipment such as access ramps, grab bars, and handrails in the homes of the elderly and those with disabilities in Kitsap, Clallam, and Jefferson Counties.
Communities In Schools of Whatcom County: $10,000 to increase trauma-informed, one-to-one and group tele-mentoring for in-risk and at-risk, homeless, and extremely low-income students, connecting them to needed basic resources, technology and a caring adult who will coach them through these difficult times of isolation, frustration and other potential risk factors.
Helpline House, $10,000 to support Helpline House’s Kid’s Pantry Program. This program provides 100 bags of nutritious, kid-friendly foods to meet the weekly needs of Kitsap County’s children, which is particularly needed now that free or reduced-price lunch through schools is not available.
Jefferson County Farmers Markets Association, $10,000 to strengthen the food security of those with low incomes by offering a dollar-for-dollar match when shoppers use SNAP or other food assistance currencies to purchase nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables at any of seven farmers markets in Jefferson, Kitsap and Clallam Counties.
Kitsap Conservation District: $5,000 for the Farm-to-Food Bank Program, delivering fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms to the Kitsap County Food Bank Coalition, providing hungry community members with healthy food while also supporting a vibrant local farm economy.
Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center: $5,000 to serve immigrant families affected by the pandemic by providing rent, energy, legal and food assistance, and more.
Morningside: $5,000 for the High School Transition Program, a skill-building, weekly job club which prepares Clallam County students with disabilities, ages 16-21, for work, inclusion, and independence after graduation.
North Olympic Foster Parent Association, $5,000 to update the clothing closet with new and necessary items, purchase backpacks and school supplies, and furnish items needed for the Annual Holiday Dinner, all in support of Clallam County’s foster children and foster families.
Northwest Youth Services: $10,000 for the REVIVE Behavioral Health Program, which provides access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment for Whatcom County’s low-income youth and young adults experiencing housing instability and homelessness.
Olympic Angels: $5,000 to engage 80 new community volunteers to provide long-term relational support, and make deep connections with 30 new foster children and their caretakers in Jefferson and Clallam Counties in the year 2021.
Port Angeles Food Bank, $10,000 to support the food bank in optimizing their operations, developing staff and board capacity, and growing their volunteer program in preparation for an expected increase in usage caused by the pandemic, as well as the Food Bank’s upcoming move and facility expansion.
Puget Sound Voyaging Society’s Community Boat Project: $5,000 for Shelter From The Storm, a job, leadership and life skills training program, with paid internships for post-high schoolers, ages 18-25, in Jefferson County.
Scarlet Road: $5,000 to increase case management hours and serve more clients through the Aftercare Program in Kitsap County, which empowers survivors of sexual exploitation to achieve self-sufficiency.
Skookum Kids: $5,000 for the Academic Mentors program that serves 60+ Whatcom County foster families by providing weekly one-on-one mentoring for students with a safe and healthy adult to help them catch up and stay on track with their schooling.
Soroptimist International Of Port Angeles Jet Set: $5,000 for Live Your Dreams Awards, a grant program that provides women in Clallam County, who are the primary financial support for their families and who are overcoming enormous obstacles, with resources to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects.
The Answer For Youth: $5,000 for the STAR Lab, providing access to computer labs, 10 months of grade school and high school tutoring, and 12 months of job skills training and job search assistance to homeless, disadvantaged, and marginalized youth and young adults in Clallam County.
Washington State University Kitsap Extension, $5,000 to purchase a movable cold storage trailer system that will allow fresh produce to be transported to and from food access sites for use by Kitsap Harvest and other area nonprofits’ food programs.
Wild Bird Charity: $10,000 for the Wild Bird Starfish Food Bag Program that provides nutritious, kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare weekend meals for children who qualify for free or reduced meals in school districts in Whatcom County.
COVID-19 Emergency Response Grants Awarded:
Clallam Community Foundation (United Way of Clallam County), $25,000 for the COVID-19 Fund.
Jefferson Community Foundation, $25,000 for the COVID Emergency Response Fund.
Jefferson County Farmers Markets Association, $12,000 to extend the dollar-for-dollar match when shoppers use SNAP and other food assistance currencies at Farmers Markets in Jefferson, Kitsap and Clallam Counties. This additional funding doubles the value of food assistance currencies, strengthens food security and helps sustain local farms and farmers.
Jefferson Healthcare Foundation‘s Healthcare Worker Assistance Fund, $10,000 to underwrite a portion of the cost of childcare for Jefferson Healthcare staff, relieving some of the burden so they may continue working in pharmacy, nursing, registration, oncology and throughout Jefferson’s Healthcare System.
Kitsap Community Foundation and United Way of Kitsap, $25,000 for the Unity in the Community Fund.
Olympic Medical Center Foundation in Port Angeles, $16,000 to purchase COVID-19 testing equipment, increasing the region’s rapid testing capabilities for residents across the North Olympic Peninsula.
The Arc of the Peninsulas, $22,000 to fund the Full Circle Meals Program, providing meals to the underserved and those on the “front lines” during the COVID crisis, while supporting the Kitsap restaurant community and helping to restore the local economy.
Whatcom Community Foundation, $25,000 for The Resilience Fund.
Economic Development Grants Awarded:
Key City Public Theatre: $30,000 for the completion of the Facility Expansion and Improvement Project, to provide for better accessibility, address COVID-related safety issues, and reopen the Theatre, which contributes to the sustainability of Port Townsend’s historic districts.
Port Angeles Waterfront Center’s Field Arts & Event Hall: $50,000 to underwrite the construction costs to achieve LEED Certification, which directly contributes to reducing carbon emissions, energy and waste, conserving water, prioritizing safer materials, lowering community exposure to toxins, and reducing operating costs.
The Port Townsend Main Street Program: $65,000 for an events and marketing campaign that supports the sustainability of local businesses, increases Port Townsend’s visibility and attracts people and spending to the business districts that have been hard hit economically by the pandemic.
