WRF 2016 Grants List

Arkansas Community Colleges – $125,000
To provide support to the Arkansas Community Colleges – Center for Student Success in its collaboration with member colleges to change institutional practices and inform state policy to increase completion rates for students enrolled in Arkansas’s community colleges.

Arkansas Foodbank – $75,000
To provide support for the successful implementation of the merger between the Arkansas Foodbank with the Arkansas Rice Depot.

Arkansas Community Foundation – $45,000
To provide local matching dollars for a $45,000 grant from the Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency, and Emergency Partnership (PPREP) Fund to strengthen the capacity of the Arkansas Community Foundation to respond to natural disasters in the state of Arkansas.

Arkansas Community Foundation – $50,000
To support the participation of WRF grantees in the ArkansasGives campaign as a tool to increase organizational fundraising.

Arkansas Community Foundation – $225,000
To continue to support the day-to-day management and implementation of the strategic plan for the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Arkansas Community Institute; Central Arkansas Development; Mississippi County, Arkansas Economic Opportunity Commission; United Way of Northeast Arkansas; and United Way of Northwest Arkansas: VITA Plus – Earn It, Save It, Grow It – $251,700To increase the effectiveness of asset-building strategies in Arkansas through organizations providing Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and other financial services to low-income individuals and families.

Arkansas Hunger Relief – $100,000
To provide support to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance (the Alliance) to develop and implement a comprehensive communication and outreach strategy in support of local adoption of the Community Eligibility Provision as part of ForwARd Arkansas.

Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub – $100,000
To support the documentation of outcomes from hands-on learning experiences in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) provided to Arkansas students and increase participation of low-income students in North Little Rock.

Associated Industries of Arkansas Foundation – $30,000
To support the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas’s Be Pro Be Proud initiative and its mobile tour promoting high-skill, high-wage jobs in Arkansas communities.

Attendance Works – $100,000
To support the continued implementation of the Make Every Day Count initiative to reduce chronic absence in Arkansas elementary schools as part of the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Auburn Theological Seminary – $120,000
To support the re-imagining of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College to support students and Central Arkansas residents to act as champions for social justice in the US South.

Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce – $65,000
To support the implementation of the IMPACT Independence County strategic plan.

Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center – $150,000
To support the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center, Inc., in its mission to create a healthy and safe community with a strong education system while diversifying funding and planning for the next generation of leadership.

Capacity for Change – $200,000
To support the organizational development of nonprofits working on Moving the Needle 2.0 goals.

City Connections – $20,000
To support City Connections as it implements outreach strategies and programs to address the needs of the Latino community in Central Arkansas.

Credit Counseling of Arkansas, Inc. – $40,000
To provide salary support for effective asset-building strategies designed in partnership with Marshallese communities in Northwest Arkansas.

Culinary 3D Program – $40,000
To provide operational bridge funding to complete the academic accreditation process for the Culinary 3D program at Pulaski Technical College.

Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color – $25,000
To leverage support from a national network of funders for Central Arkansas Boys and Men Opportunity Success Team partners and other Arkansas organizations who support young men of color.

Financing Ozarks Rural Growth and Economy (FORGE) – $120,000
To build the capacity of FORGE to deploy affordable financial products in underserved Arkansas communities.

Henderson State University – Education Renewal Zone – $60,000
To support the continued implementation of a college preparatory program for high school students in Southwest Arkansas.

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) USA – $72,000
To develop and pilot a home visiting curriculum for two-year-old children in support of the school readiness goal of the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation – $500,000
To provide matching grants to two community-based lenders, Hope Credit Union and Southern Bancorp, Inc., so they can receive US Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans to develop or refinance community facilities in low-income rural Arkansas communities.

McGehee Desha Alumni Community Center – $47,700
To support the McGehee Desha Alumni Community Center in its mission to strengthen communities of Southeast Arkansas through education, cultural enrichment, and entrepreneurial training for youth.

Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center – $125,000
To support the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center as they implement their next three-year strategic plan to empower workers to challenge unfair labor practices, protect immigrant rights, develop leadership skills, and advocate for health and safety training.

Rural Community Alliance – $230,000 for General Operating and $30,000 for Organizational Development
To support the Rural Community Alliance’s capacity to carry out its mission to help rural schools and communities thrive through resident engagement, education advocacy, community revitalization, policy development, and leadership development.

Southern Bancorp Community Partners – $40,000
To increase the effectiveness of asset-building strategies in Arkansas through Southern Bancorp Community Partners’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and other financial services to low-income individuals and families.

The Schott Foundation for Public Education – $225,000
To provide continued support for Arkansas’s participation in the national Opportunity To Learn Campaign.

University of Arkansas School of Social Work – $50,000
To build capacity for Boys and Men Opportunity Success Team partners to engage in data-driven decision making.