Spring Grants Awarded

The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County recently made annual grant awards for the Sean Warner Memorial Fund, the Valley Arts & Culture Fund, and the Community Endowment Fund. Consideration for these awards is made through an application process and grants benefit nonprofit organizations located in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham area.

 

The Sean Warner Memorial Endowment Fund was established by Mark and Susan Warner to honor the memory of their son by helping other children. This fund was created to contribute to general charitable purposes within the area of emotional support services for children of divorced parents. The 2018 recipient of the $450 grant is Family Life Resource Center, to support its Scholarship Fund project. (Family Life Resource Center is still seeking monies to fully fund this project.)

 

The Valley Arts and Culture Fund provides program, project and seed funds to small and medium sized nonprofit organizations promoting performing and visual arts, and interpreting the culture and traditions of and in the Shenandoah Valley. This year four applications were considered for the Valley Arts and Culture Fund grant. The 2018 recipient of the $659 grant is Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society for its project, “Harrisonburg History Exhibition in Downtown.” Funds for this project will help support the redesign of the comprehensive exhibit ‘Picturing Harrisonburg: Visions of a Shenandoah Valley City Since 1828,” housed in 2017 at JMU’s Duke Hall Gallery.  The proposed redesign project will create an educational exhibit suitable for the Atrium space at Harrisonburg City Hall. (Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society is still seeking monies to fully fund this project.)

 

The Community Endowment is a permanent fund that helps finance projects of greatest benefit to Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, as determined by community leaders. This year 58 applications were reviewed for the Community Endowment grant. The 2018 recipient of the $6,127 grant is Blue Ridge Legal Services for its project, “Low-Income Older Adults Facing Critical Legal Needs.” Funds for this project will help sustain a half-time attorney position dedicated to providing free civil legal assistance to low-income senior citizens in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County facing critical legal needs, such as medical and other debts, financial exploitation, simple wills, nursing home discharges, Medicaid issues, etc. (Blue Ridge Legal Services is still seeking monies to fully fund this project.)

 

To find applications for the 2019 grant process, please visit the Grants Available page on The Community Foundation website.