Grants Awarded from Inception through November 2022
Strengthening Our Communities Since 2015
First Fed Foundation (formerly First Federal Community Foundation), a private charitable corporation, began making grants in 2015, thanks to a generous gift valued at $12 million from the parent company of First Fed, when the bank was converted to a publicly traded company.
Committed to creating broad impact that benefits low- to moderate-income, disadvantaged, and/or marginalized persons or families in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, and the city of Bellevue, the Foundation has awarded, from 2015 through 2022, $6,101,500 in grants to nonprofits, government and tribal organizations and school districts in the following funding priorities:
$1,531,300 to organizations addressing homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing;
$2,380,000 to community development projects;
$950,200 to organizations providing a wide array of necessary support to our communities;
$1,020,000 to efforts that stimulate and support economic development;
$220,000 to organizations that addressed hardships caused and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For a full list of grants awarded since our inception in 2015, click here.
2022 Contributions
Housing & Homelessness Grants Awarded:
Clallam-Jefferson Pro Bono Lawyers: $25,000 to provide legal advice and representation to low-income Clallam and Jefferson County renters who are at risk of losing their housing and having an eviction on their record, making it nearly impossible to find safe, affordable housing in the future.
Eastside Legal Assistance Program: $25,000 to provide legal services to 60 individuals facing civil legal problems that impact the stability of their housing in Bellevue in 2023.
Housing Resources Bainbridge: $50,000 to support 31 households with approximately 65 individuals to become owners of new, permanently affordable homes located on Bainbridge Island, near shopping, schools and parks.
Kulshan Community Land Trust: $30,000 to provide the support necessary for approximately 15 low- to moderate-income households in Whatcom County to purchase affordable homes of their own in 2023-2024.
Mercy Housing Northwest: $100,000 to fund construction of Millworks Family Housing & Early Learning Center, 83 units of permanently affordable family housing and a 6-classroom early learning center in Bellingham’s downtown waterfront.
Road2Home: $25,000 to provide six months of funding for the Allyship Program, assisting those living on the streets in Bellingham with navigating social services, developing sustainable life skills, and providing support for healthcare, transportation and emergencies.
Scarlet Road: $25,000 to house 12 or more victims of sex trafficking and their dependents in Kitsap County in 2023 with a flexible rental assistance program, while supporting long-term stability through wraparound case management.
Community Development Grants Awarded:
Bainbridge Island Child Care Centers: $25,000 to fund capital improvements, allowing the Center to continue its programs at its current rates in a safe and secure facility.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County: $25,000 to purchase the childcare facility and surrounding property on Yew Street in Bellingham, ensuring the expansion of affordable, quality childcare services.
Clallam County Fire Protection District No. 4: $25,000 to fully fund the purchase of a gurney with a battery-operated lift capability, decreasing the risk of injury to volunteers and patients.
North Olympic Healthcare Network: $25,000 to support the renovation of the new Eastside Health Clinic, which provides community members, regardless of ability to pay, with full-spectrum primary care, behavioral health services and nurse care management, expanded COVID testing/vaccination and telehealth capacity, and eye care services.
Community Support Grants Awarded:
Assistance League of Bellingham: $5,000 to support Operation School Bell, with the goal of improving confidence and encouraging school attendance by providing low-income and homeless students from seven Whatcom County school districts and The Lummi Nation with new clothing and shoes, so they can focus on school and not their need for basic clothing.
College Success Foundation: $5,000 to provide emergency funding to low-income students in Port Angeles and Bremerton, helping to stabilize their families and supporting them to stay on track in school.
Communities In Schools of Whatcom-Skagit: $7,500 to provide clothing, school supplies, personal care items, learning resources, counseling support and more to 4,000+ students of five middle and high schools in the Bellingham and Ferndale school districts.
Feiro Marine Life Center: $5,000 to support a place-based, hands-on experiential education program for approximately 400 students from 18 fourth grade public, homeschool, and alternative classes from Crescent, Port Angeles, and Sequim districts.
Financial Beginnings Washington: $5,000 to fund the delivery of the free Financial Foundations program to 1,000 youth and young adults in Clallam, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, providing detailed information on key financial concepts and resources intended to increase financial literacy, stability, and independence.
Foster Hearts: $5,000 to provide 100 children in foster care in Whatcom County with funding for sports fees, athletic equipment, classes/lessons, school field trips, GED fees, high school graduation expenses, and more, so that they’re able to participate in extracurricular activities during the 2022-2023 school year.
Growing Veterans: $7,500 to refurbish the damaged hoop house and procure accessible tools and equipment, increasing the sustainability and impact of the Dirt Therapy Program and donations to Whatcom County food banks.
Jefferson Teen Center: $5,000 to launch a new summer program and maintain programming for middle and high schoolers during the 2022-2023 school year.
Kitsap Regional Library Foundation: $5,000 to fund the purchase of backpacks, books and transportation so that more than 2,500 third-graders from 38 Kitsap County schools can connect with their local library branch, get excited about all the library offers, and feel supported during the developmental milestone of transitioning from learning to read to reading to learning.
Kitsap Sexual Assault Center: $5,000 to provide emergency assistance for 165 victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes in Jefferson and Kitsap Counties in 2023.
Lutheran Community Services Northwest: $10,000 to support the Healthy Families Project, providing basic needs assistance, eviction mitigation, financial education, and employment support to 10-15 families, or 30-50 individuals in Clallam County who are low-income and homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, in 2023.
New Day Ministry: $5,000 to provide individualized food and meals at no cost to elderly Kitsap County community members experiencing food insecurity.
North Olympic Foster Parent Association: $5,000 to provide backpacks, school supplies, gifts for the Magical Gift Program and items for the Annual Holiday Dinner, to support Clallam County’s foster children and foster families.
Olympic Angels: $5,000 to recruit and match 16 or more community volunteers with Clallam and Jefferson County foster kids and their foster families, providing long-term mentorships, relationships and support.
RE Sources: $10,000 aimed at improving the lives of underserved and impoverished youth and adults in Whatcom County, funding will support the recruitment of eight to ten trainees and provide them with individualized workforce and job seeker training, one-on-one mentoring, and coaching to collectively design and build reclaimed and upcycled products and secure living-wage jobs in 2023.
South Kitsap Helpline: $5,000 to rent two temporary storage units so that Helpline can continue distributing nearly one million pounds of food to Port Orchard area residents in 2023, while undertaking a capital campaign to build a new, larger and better-equipped food distribution and service center.
The Coffee Oasis: $15,000 to respond to the Surgeon General’s December 2021 Advisory stating that “the effect of COVID on the mental health of America’s adolescents has been devastating,” by providing staff to reach out to and support 300 youth in crisis in Kitsap County.
Trinity United Methodist Church: $15,000 to fund the roof replacement for the areas used by two preschool programs, making it safe, warm and dry, without passing along the costs to the families being served.
Vamos Outdoors Project: $5,000 to provide summer programs, in partnership with the Lynden and Bellingham School Districts, for 80 Latine, migrant, and multilingual youth.
Whatcom Center for Early Learning: $7,500 to offer children with disabilities and developmental delays, ages 0-3, opportunities for socialization, developmental support and peer learning, helping them live to their fullest potential, and provide their caregivers with skills, information and support.
Whatcom Family YMCA: $7,500 to help fund the free food delivery program which will, in 2023, deliver 62 boxes of quality food each week, mitigating the dire food insecurity crisis sweeping through Whatcom County.
Working Image dba New Image: $5,000 to purchase new and gently-used plus-sized clothing and undergarments for donation to 40 to 50 women in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties who are unable to adequately clothe themselves because of unemployment, underemployment, homelessness, or other factors, including fleeing domestic violence.
Economic Development Grants Awarded:
Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship: $50,000 to support up to 60 underserved Clallam and Jefferson County entrepreneurs in starting small businesses that will generate revenue, create jobs and contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient community.
Northwest Maritime Center: $80,000 to help fund the pilot year of expanded fleet operations, supporting workforce development opportunities for Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap County youth, and stimulating economic development and enhancing visitor experiences in Port Townsend’s business districts.
Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding: $30,000 funding a dedicated Financial Aid Officer to help incoming classes access federal student aid, veterans’ benefits, third-party scholarships, and other sources of tuition assistance, creating access to workforce skills for students from Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties.
Olympic College Foundation: $35,000 to expand the Promise Program to an additional Kitsap County high school, so that 30 additional low-income students can complete their first year of college tuition-free.
Port Angeles Waterfront Center dba Field Arts & Event Hall: $50,000 to fund the costs associated with achieving LEED Certification, which will lower operating and maintenance costs by as much as 20% compared to typical commercial buildings, reduce energy use, emissions and waste, conserve water, prioritize safer materials, lower the community’s exposure to toxins, and qualify Field Hall for several large grants from Washington State.
Roxy Bremerton Foundation dba Historic Roxy Theater: $25,000 to complete the acquisition of the Historic Roxy Theater and sustain its cultural, entertainment and economic development role in the redevelopment of downtown Bremerton/4th Street as Quincy Square.
For a full list of grants awarded since our inception in 2015, click here.
