2019 Community Grants
In the Fall of 2019, the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound awarded $502,641 to 111 nonprofit organizations through our Community Grants program and our Health Initiative grants. These grants are possible thanks to generous donors who have contributed unrestricted and broadly defined area of interest gifts which allow the Community Foundation to respond to our communities’ changing opportunities and challenges over time.
As a place-based funder, the Community Foundation aims to build community capacity and support individual and community well-being in Thurston, Mason, and Lewis Counties. See below for a list of our 2019 Community Grants grantees. These grants are awarded in late 2019 for use in 2020.
Arts and Culture
Ballet Northwest – Dance Access Initiative
Fire Mountain Arts Council – OnStage Youth Theatre Education Program
Great Bend Center for Music – 2019-2020 Concert Choir Season
Kokua – Hummingbird Studio
Olympia Artspace Alliance – Art in Olympia Storefronts
Olympia Family Theater – Complimentary Tickets Program
Olympia Symphony Orchestra – General Operating Support
Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO) – Music Education Outreach
The Bridge Music Project – General Operating Support
Washington Center for the Performing Arts – Artistic and Community Partner Advancement Program
Community and Civic Engagement
Centralia Downtown Association – The Women Came Downstairs: The Next Chapter Where History Makers Connect with Future Leaders
Community Café Collaborative – Looking Back, Moving Forward: Sparking Dialogues on Race
Earthbound Productions – The 25th Anniversary of the Procession of the Species Celebration
Hispanic Roundtable of South Sound – General Operating Funds
Historic Fox Theatre Restorations – Executive Director Position
North Mason Friends of the Library – Expand opportunities for and participation in the Discovery Zone
South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust – Farmland Preservation with a Focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Tenino Community Service Center – General Operating
The Mockingbird Society – Mockingbird Youth Programs
Economic Opportunity
Career Path Services – Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult Services
Chehalis Tribal Loan Fund – Chehalis Tribal Financial Empowerment Center
Sound Learning – Education for Adults and Out of School Youth
Thurston Economic Development Council Center for Business & Innovation – Thurston Asset Building Coalition General Operating
Education and Youth
4-H of Mason County – 4-H Robotics 2020 Youth STEM Training
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington – Mentoring Youth for Educational and Life Success
Boys & Girls Club of Chehalis – 2019-2020 School Year Program
Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound – North Mason Teen Center Summer Program
Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County – Homeless Youth Assistance
CIELO – Education Services
Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County – Youth Empowerment Services Sustainability Initiative
DOT4Kids – Learn to Solve a Rubik’s Cube
FIRST Washington Olympia Robotics Federation – 2019-2020 Season
GRuB – General Operations
Hands On Children’s Museum – Sponsored Field Trips to the Museum for the Title I and Rural Students in Thurston and Mason County
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group – Salmon in the Classroom Expansion
Morningside – High School Transition Program
Olympia Community Solar – Olympia Community Solar Education Program
Pacific Shellfish Institute – K-3 Marine Science Education for Students in the Shelton School District
Panhandle Lake 4-H Association – Unplug and Unwind: A guided getaway into deep woods living for overstimulated, underserved youth
Pizza Klatch – Lunchtime Support Group for LGBTQ+ youth in schools
Reliable Enterprises – Anderson House Emergent Foster Home
ROOF – Community Services
South Sound Reading Foundation – Books for Kids Program Enrichment
South Sound YMCA – Power Scholars Academy
Stonewall Youth – Fellowship Program for Low-Income LGBTQ+ Youth
TOGETHER! – Club House Before-and-After School & Summer Program
YWCA of Olympia – Girls Without Limits!
Environment and Animal Welfare
Capitol Land Trust – Hands-on Outdoor Education in South Puget Sound
Chehalis River Basin Land Trust – Stewardship, protection and restoration of Trust lands and easements
Concern for Animals – Adoption Program
Long Live the Kings – Safeguarding the Lilliwaup Salmon Hatchery
Nisqually Land Trust – 2020 Nature Walks Program Expansion
Pacific Education Institute – Thurston and Mason County Field STEM
South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group – Education & Outreach: Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail
The Center for Natural Lands Management – Connecting People with Prairies
Health and Wellness
Best Dental Help – Dental Case Manager and Community Outreach
Catholic Community Services of Western Washington – The Community Kitchen
Child Care Action Council – Safe Kids Thurston County Home & Infant Safety
Coastal Harvest – Mason County Hunger Relief
Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason & Thurston Counties – Monarch Children’s Justice and Advocacy Center
Harmony Hill – Family Healing Circles
HeartStrides Therapeutic Horsemanship – General Operating Support
Homeless Backpacks – Weekend Food Bags for Homeless and At-risk Youth
Lewis County Autism Coalition - 2020
PARC Foundation of Thurston County – Public Health and Social Services
PCAF – HIV Mental Health Case Management
Senior Services for South Sound – Brighter Days Adult Day Program
The Crisis Clinic of Thurston and Mason Counties – General Operating
The Mayday Foundation – Family Support Fund
The Olympia Free Clinic – General Operating Funds
Winlock Vader Food Bank – Personal hygiene products
Youth Advocacy Center of Lewis County – Child Forensic Interviewing Program
Housing and Human Services
A Gift for Special Children – Family Supports Funding
Build A Bus Home – Mobile Hygiene Infrastructure Program
Community Youth Services – Building Human Resources Capacity and Efficiencies
Family Education & Support Services – The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children
Family Support Center of South Sound – Pear Blossom Place: A Family Support Community
Health and Hope Medical Outreach – Free prescriptions, laboratory tests, and selected x-rays for underserved patients
Homes First – The Foundation to Securing the Community Safety Net
Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter – Homeless Services
Mercy Housing Northwest – Evergreen Vista Family Support
Northwest Cooperative Development Center – Resident Owned Communities Northwest
Panza – Quixote Village: Addressing the Underserved in Thurston County
SideWalk – General Operating Support
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Yelm – Preventing and alleviating homelessness around Yelm
South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity – Homeownership Program: Financial Empowerment Coaching
The Saint’s Pantry Food Bank – Backpack Program
Thurston County Food Bank – For Kids Weekend Meal Bags
Thurston County volunteer Legal Services – Increasing access to and the quality of pro-bono legal aid
Thurston Housing Land Trust – Capacity Development
Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center – Emergency Shelter
United Way of Lewis County – Lewis County 2-1-1
Premera Health Initiative Grantees (Behavioral Health and Health Equity)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County – Behavioral Health Program Serving Low-Income Youth
Cascade, a Behavioral Health Care Agency - Mental Health Care Social Support Center
Child Care Action Council – Kaleidoscope Play & Learn Group
CIELO – Proyecto Familia
Family Support Center of South Sound – The HOPE Program
GRuB - GroundED
Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter – Homeless Services
Mason County HOST – Behavioral Health Supports for Program Participants
NAMI Thurston Mason – Family Support Program
Quixote Communities – Quixote Village Mental Health Program
Senior Services for South Sound – Client Services for Elders and Families
South Sound Parent to Parent – Helping Parent Program
South Sound YMCA – ACT! (Actively Changing Together)
TOGETHER! – Community Schools Initiative
YWCA of Olympia – Youth Council