2024 Culture Connect Legacy Fund Grant (Georgia)

The Culture Connect Legacy Fund seeks to support both smaller and newer nonprofits that hold great promise as well as larger and more established organizations.

Donor Name: Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

State: Georgia

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 10/17/2024

Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000

Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned

Details:

The Culture Connect Legacy Fund has been established to carry forward the mission of the Atlanta-based social enterprise, Culture Connect. This organization fostered cultural fluency between immigrants and the broader community by focusing on three core areas:

Ensuring all had access to vital services like schools, medical care and the legal system through professional interpretation and translation (language access),
Cultivating inclusive, welcoming communities through mentorship programs and teaching people to understand and respect their and others’ cultures (cultural competency),
Promoting economic empowerment and entrepreneurship for immigrants and refugees.

Example Projects/Areas of Work

The Culture Connect Legacy Fund recently completed an in-language community interview series to determine areas of greatest need.

Language Access – Interpretation, Translation and English Education
- Examples (not limited to these):
  - Training of professional interpreters
  - Funds to access professional interpreters or leverage professionally translated materials
  - Translated documents to improve language access to critical community services
  - Linguistically and culturally appropriate English classes to improve literacy
Access to Public Benefits and Services
- Examples (not limited to these):
  - Translated eligibility or application materials to public benefits or services (food security/SNAP/Food stamps, healthcare, Medicaid, school enrollments and IEP)
  - In-language navigators for public benefits (assistance accessing, enrolling, or handling denial of benefits)
  - Training for professional interpreters serving education, court and other public benefits settings
  - Improving health outcomes for immigrant and refugee individuals and their families
Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship
- Examples (not limited to these):
  - Implement job training and placement programs that focus on high-demand skills and industries
  - Programs that enable immigrant and refugee leaders to become entrepreneurs (solo practitioner or cottage industry included)
  - Programs that increase economic mobility of immigrant or refugee individuals
  - Programs that unlock new opportunities within companies for immigrant and refugee individuals
  - Establish microloan programs and small business grants to support entrepreneurial initiatives within the communities
  - Develop affordable, community-based childcare centers that offer flexible hours to accommodate working parents
Affordable and Accessible Healthcare
- Examples (not limited to these):
  - Programs that train, deploy and equip healthcare navigation
  - Translated materials to improve health outcomes
  - Cultural competency training for healthcare professionals to reduce unintended miscommunication and therefore poor health outcomes
  - Community health clinics or health fairs with culturally competent and multilingual staff
  - Offer culturally sensitive mental health services, including counseling and support groups, to address stigma and provide care.

Funding Information

Grant awards are based on need and available funding and can be up to $150,000 or 100% of the last fiscal year annual budget (whichever is less.)
This grant can be used for seed funding, project support, or general operating support.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, the applying organization must:
- Have intentionally served US-based immigrant and refugee populations meaningfully and consistently in the last 12 months
- Be classified, or have a fiscal sponsor that is classified, by the U.S. Internal
- Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) of the I.R.S. code as a nonprofit, taxexempt organization, donations to which are deductible as charitable contributions under Section 170 (c)(2) and the I.R.S. determination must be current
Through this funding opportunity, the Culture Connect Legacy Fund will consider applications which align with one or more of the four categories shown below, with priority given to organizations who:
- Are based in Georgia (can serve nationally)
- Have diverse representation in staff and on board of directors
- Demonstrate commitment to language access and cultural competency.