The Board of Trustees of Greater Toledo Community Foundation (GTCF) approved plans for an Equity & Access Initiative in 2020 to proactively address the concerns raised by communities that are disproportionately impacted by inequity and lack of access in the Greater Toledo area. The Foundation has committed grant funding toward this effort, and has awarded $451,800 in grants through three rounds of funding to 19 nonprofit organizations over the last two years. The GTCF Board of Trustees voted to commit an additional $100,000 in 2023 to local nonprofits from minority-led, smaller permanent staffed, novice and established nonprofits that incorporate a proactive grassroot approach to fund new and existing projects that align with the focus of the fund.

Then and now, GTCF invites community input relative to those needs and how the community can support projects that address the removal of barriers in one or more of four focus areas.   

Now entering the fourth round of grantmaking from this fund, the Foundation seeks proposals that address these focus areas:

• advocacy,
• economic development,
• employment and
• nonprofit capacity.

Local nonprofit organizations which are located in and providing services for residents of northwest Ohio or southeast Michigan may apply for funding, and the Foundation is especially interested in investing to support minority-led, smaller permanent staffed nonprofits that proactively implement a grassroot approach to their mission and work.

The Foundation invites community leaders to attend a Community Conversation on Thursday, April 27, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Mott Library to learn more about this initiative and how to apply. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss eligibility and criteria with Foundation staff. The Foundation’s hope is to increase the number of grants awarded through this initiative in the next two years of grantmaking. More information and registration for this event can be found here.

More information about GTCF’s Equity & Access Initiative Fund can be found here. The application for this grant opportunity will remain open from May 2 through July 2. The GTCF Board will have the final determination of funding, with those decisions announced in October, 2023.