Alaska

The Juneau Community Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $2.8 million in support of 21 local nonprofit organizations and programs. More than $1.8 million was awarded by the City & Borough of Juneau’s Social Service Funds with an additional $1 million in grants awarded through other funds, including the Hope Endowment Fund. Recipients include AWARE, Family Promise of Juneau, Polaris House, and Shéiyi Xaat Hit Youth Shelter.

Arizona

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona in Tucson has announced that its Endowment for the Arts Fund, which focuses on the arts organizations in rural communities, has awarded $30,000 to three nonprofit organizations in Santa Cruz County. The recipients are Bi-National Arts Institute, Green Valley Community Chorus, and the Land With No Name Sanctuary.

Kansas

The Elk County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Central Kansas Community Foundation, has announced the appointment of Brandi Mast as associate director. A longtime nonprofit official, Mast has worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sedgwick County and Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland.

Massachusetts

The Boston Foundation has announced that six local nonprofit leaders have been selected as the inaugural partners in its Shifting Power, Advancing Justice focus area. The leaders and their organizations will receive grants totaling more than $4 million to advance their collective work to transform communities, drive systemic change, and foster innovation. The awardees are Darian Burwell Gambell, executive director of DEAF; Gamaliel Lauture, co-executive director of the Brockton Interfaith Community; Mike Leyba, co-executive director of City Life/Vida Urbana; Noemi Mimi Ramos, executive director of New England United 4 Justice; Shanique Rodriguez, executive director of Massachusetts Voter Table; and Dwaign Tyndal, executive director of Alternatives for Community and Environment.

Michigan

The Midland Area Community Foundation has announced that its Midland Young Professionals (MYPros) group has selected Proper Taco and Allied Group Fitness as beneficiaries of the 2024 MYPros Community Crowdfund. The organizations have until May 3rd to raise $10,000 each through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. Once that goal has been met, they will receive $20,000 in additional funds from the Midland Business Alliance, thanks to a gift from the foundation’s Impact Investing Committee.

Nebraska

The Omaha Community Foundation has announced that Clarkson Regional Health Services has awarded a two-year, $700,000 grant to Project Harmony to expand mental health services in the region. The foundation will administer the grant program for Clarkson Regional Health Services. The funding will bolster an art therapy initiative for elementary students and their families, help launch a digital program designed to connect families with resources they need before a therapist becomes available, and establish an internship program that not only assists clients experiencing complex trauma, but also creates a pipeline to local mental health therapists.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has announced Jennifer Baney, who teaches physics at Bedford High School in Hanover, as the winner of the 2024 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical. Created in honor of the Concord High School teacher who was killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the sabbatical gives an exemplary New Hampshire teacher a year off with pay as well as a materials budget to bring a their educational ideas to fruition. Baney plans to produce four digital games in which students will unravel a series of puzzles and challenges, each intricately designed to represent specific science concepts. She is designing games to be used in high school science classrooms, but they will be adaptable for a wide range of science topics and grade levels.

Ohio

The Youngstown Foundation has announced a three-year, $1.5 million grant in support of Operation Search & Help, a program that provides financial assistance to families of children and young adults in Mahoning and Trumbull counties with special needs, behavioral healthcare needs, and chronic medical conditions. The largest grant ever for the program, which the foundation established in 1974, will help reimburse families with children up to age 21 for expenses related to diagnosed medical conditions, behavioral health issues, and other special needs. It provides last-dollar assistance to families who have already exhausted insurance and other community resources. In its most recent fiscal year, the program assisted more than 370 local families.

Texas

The San Antonio Area Foundation has announced that 25 Webb County students have been selected to receive $40,000 each for their upcoming college studies. The 2024 Legacy Scholarships were awarded to students who have committed to attending a Texas college (public or private). As long as they maintain set academic standards, they will each receive $10,000 annually for their four years of study.