The United Way of Greater Atlanta has announced a Strong Learners Grant Program to make sure children learn to read by third grade, so they can then read to learn.
Donor Name: United Way of Greater Atlanta
State: Georgia
County: Clayton County (GA), Dekalb County (GA), and Fulton County (GA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/02/2022
Grant Size: $25,000 – $50,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
GOAL: Double the percentage of strong learners living in low Child Well-Being communities who are strong readers (20 to 40%) by 2027
Within the Strong Learners Portfolio, they have five pathways through which they seek to create change:
- Increase Access to Early Learning: Ensure more young children have quality learning experiences at home, at quality early childhood providers, and in the community.
- Build Reading Skills: Expand after school and summer enrichment programs while incorporating literacy-focused programs and engage community volunteers as tutors.
- Secure Housing & Basic Needs: Access to food, shelter, transportation and technology is fundamental for children, families and communities to achieve educational outcomes, lead healthy lives and reach economic stability.
- Increase Healthcare Navigation: Critical health conditions, behavioral and mental health challenges, and other family health issues are the most common causes for young children to miss school.
- Strengthen Family Engagement: Fostering the natural leadership that parents have as their children’s first teacher, brain builder, advocate and coach.
The Strong Learners Investment Priority area is requesting proposals from organizations providing services in the following two pathways.
- Build Reading Skills: Direct Service Approach
- Engaging community volunteers as tutors and building collaborative opportunities with community groups to increase and expand literacy-focused resources at summer enrichment programs. They recognize that while many children and youth across Greater Atlanta are offered a variety of programming, there are persistent gaps in access to quality educational services, particularly in low-income communities.
- Increase Healthcare Navigation: Direct Service Approach
- Support for families navigating untreated behavioral/mental health challenges and other family health issues that get in the way of school attendance. Consideration given to agencies providing early detection screenings and behavioral health services for children aged 0-8 and their families.
Priority Considerations
- Racial Equity: Applicants should speak to their ability to center the voice of their constituents and how they will utilize this funding to institute equitable practices in their service delivery model.
- Funding Pathways: Priority consideration will be given to organizations or groups that demonstrate the following:
- Build Reading Skills (Direct Service): organizations or groups focused on summer learning. Summer learning programs should demonstrate strategies that maintain and advance students’ academic and social growth and keep children safe and healthy during the summer (grades K-3). Preferred applicants will target students who are disproportionally served and acknowledge or support literacy gaps of parents/caregivers.
- Increase Healthcare Navigation (Direct Service): organizations that focus on behavioral/mental health for young children (0-8). Organizations should offer a continuum of services to children and families through health promotion and outreach, prevention and intervention programs, treatment of social-emotional issues; and wraparound support services that address basic needs (food, housing, technology, etc.).
Geographies Served: Grants should be geographically focused on communities of low or very low child well-being. They have a particular interest in funding programs in the communities surrounding Clayton, Dekalb, and S. Fulton counties.
Funding Information
- All applicants will be notified in late-April after United Way leadership volunteers complete their decision-making.
- The minimum grant award will be $25,000 for a one-year grant period; grant period for the Strong Learners funding opportunities may vary depending on strategy.
- They anticipate awarding 2-4 organizations with grant awards ranging $25,000 – $50,000 for the Building Reading Skills funding opportunity.
- They anticipate awarding 2-4 organizations with grant awards ranging $25,000 – $50,000 for the Increase Healthcare Navigation funding opportunity.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit or working with a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit as their fiscal sponsor
- Applicants cannot have an active grant from United Way of Greater of Atlanta, excluding any active grant awards issued from the following grant programs: Emergency Housing Assistance Program, Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) grant, School-Age Help and Relief Effort (SHARE) grant, Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and United for Racial Equity and Healing Fund (UfREHF)
- Applicants must be a Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC)-led organization or project must be led by people living closest to issue or directly impacted. United Way of Greater Atlanta considers BIPOC-led organizations to meet 3 of 4 criteria: (1) Executive Director is BIPOC, (2) The majority of the organization’s Board of Directors are BIPOC, (3) The majority of the organization’s executive staff (C-Suite or equivalent level) are BIPOC, (4) the majority of people served are BIPOC.
- Applicants must have an annual organizational budget under $1,000,000. Special consideration will be given to organizations with annual organizational budgets under than $500,000.
For more information, visit United Way of Greater Atlanta.
