TOLEDO, Ohio - Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur announced more than $700,000 in federal funds coming to Toledo. Toledo Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Toledo were awarded $500,000 and $202,762, respectively, to strengthen nonprofits in our community.
"Our community and faith-based groups often work with the most vulnerable among us," Kaptur said. "In these difficult economic times, we have to work together to help fragile families and individuals survive and thrive. Federal assistance combined with collaboration among the Toledo Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Toledo and The Community Partnership will give local organizations the skills and tools to meet these needs."
These grants will be administered through The Center for Nonprofit Resources (The Center), a collaboration between Toledo Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Toledo, and The Community Partnership.
"In layman's terms, many organizations in our community don't have the resources, infrastructure, or systems in place to operate efficiently," said Julia Faulkner Pechlivanos, director of Agency Support Services at The Center. "For this reason, these organizations are also unable to access the millions of stimulus dollars waiting to be claimed."
"This is very real money accessible to our communities," Pechlivanos continued. "It's available to meet the needs of local nonprofits and will help alleviate the financial stress challenging agencies because of an increased demand for services. This is good for our community."
Although each grant will help nonprofits in Toledo develop stronger organizations-- as well as the ability to access federal dollars-- each organization will do it in slightly different ways.
More than $350,000 of the Toledo Community Foundation's grant will be awarded to local nonprofits through a competitive application process. They will also offer trainings and workshops, while United Way will employ a consultant available to provide education and training to agencies on-site.
For example, last year the Frederick Douglass Community Association was in danger of closing. Through a consultant provided by The Center, they were able to conduct a search for a qualified director, revamp many of their policies and procedures, begin aligning their finances, and, more importantly, continue providing vital services in their local neighborhood.
Through these federal grants, the Toledo Community Foundation and United Way expect more of these success stories to develop as small nonprofits and faith-based organizations get more and better help.
"We have a wonderful opportunity here to affect change in our community," said Megan Meyer, director of Programming at The Center. "Community and faith-based organizations have a long history of providing an array of important services to people in need throughout the United States, and closer to home this award will allow us to focus on providing those organizations an increased ability to provide social services, ultimately to better serve those most in need."
For more information, visit The Center's website at www.c4npr.org.