POISE Foundation Announces First Round of Grants for its Critical Community Needs Fund

PITTSBURGH, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — POISE Foundation announced today that it has awarded the first round of grants for its Critical Community Needs Fund(CCNF) to support small to mid-sized Black Led Organizations(BLOs) responding to critical needs in the Black community resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCNF is providing grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to small to mid-sized BLOs that serve the most vulnerable members of the Black community in the Pittsburgh region. In the first round, a total of 31 organizations were awarded grants totaling $320,000.  News about upcoming CCNF grants will be announced in coming weeks.  A full list of the first round of grantee organizations can be found at:

 

 

This list will be updated periodically as the grant process continues and until the Fund is depleted.

 

Karris M. Jackson, Chief Operating Office of POISE Foundation comments: “Black churches and small to medium-sized BLOs are on the frontlines everyday providing individuals and families with the critical resources needed to survive during this unprecedented time. Often unseen and unheard, these organizations are ensuring that seniors get their medicine, providing transportation for single moms to pick up supplies from local foodbanks, offering essential mental health services, and spreading messages of hope throughout the community. It is an honor for POISE to partner with other foundations, organizations and individuals for this first round of 31 organizations and churches that are holding our region’s Black community together. It is one of the main reasons why POISE was created and demonstrates how we are directly combatting the racial disparities that continue to affect Black people in the Pittsburgh Region and throughout the United States.” 

 

POISE Foundation is still raising money for the CCNF and hopes to build the Fund to $750,000 in order to maximize support for our community. Information about how people and organizations can contribute the Fund can be found at: 

 

 

POISE Foundation is also publishing a list of all donors on its website that have generously provided funding for the CCNF that can be found at:

 

For more information about POISE Foundation or to schedule interviews, please contact:

 

Karris M. Jackson
Chief Operating Officer

POISE Foundation
(412) 302-5130: Mobile
(412) 281-4967: Office
kjackson@poisefdn.org

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

 

POISE Foundation was founded in 1980 by Bernard H. Jones, Sr., a prominent community and civic leader in Pittsburgh.  It is one of the oldest Community Foundations in the United States established and managed by African Americans. POISE Foundation envisions a Pittsburgh Region in which all members of the Black Community are empowered and self-sufficient. With this vision at the core of the Foundation’s philosophical approach to its work, POISE’s mission is to assist the Pittsburgh Region’s Black Community in achieving self-sustaining practices through strategic leadership, collective giving, grantmaking and advocacy.  Created in the format of a Community Foundation, POISE receives funds from a variety of donors. These funds may be unrestricted, and used to support our grantmaking strategy, or donor-directed for specific charitable purposes.

 

NOTE:  When writing about POISE Foundation, please spell out the word POISE in capital letters and do not use the article “The” or “the” before POISE Foundation.