The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa (CFNEIA) held its 2024 first cycle grant awards celebration at the Waterloo Center for the Arts on March 21, announcing the distribution of 29 grants totaling $492,262 to organizations serving Black Hawk County.

“At CFNEIA, it is our mission to connect people and resources to enrich our communities. The grants made today are a powerful example of what happens when this connection of generosity and organizations doing impactful, life-changing work is fulfilled,” said Kaye Englin, CFNEIA’s president and CEO. “We are honored and grateful to be a catalyst for good and to continue to deepen our partnership with the incredible nonprofit organizations serving the people and communities in Black Hawk County.”

Grant recipient organization, what the grant will fund and grant amount is listed below by funding area.

Arts & Culture

• Iowa Museum Association, General Operations - $5,000
• Metropolitan Chorale, 2023-2024 Concert Season - $5,000
• Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Operational Support - $10,000

Community Betterment

• PaTi’s Libelulas, Center Operations - $10,000
• Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, Serving the Cedar Valley by Building Stronger Community Engagement - $10,000
• Waterloo Electrical JATC, Pre-Apprenticeship Program - $10,000

Education & Youth Development

• Back2Basics, 2024 Operations - $20,000
• Cedar Valley Angels, Love Box and Dare to Dream Program Expansion - $10,000
• Family YMCA of Black Hawk County, General Operations - $20,000
• Hawkeye Community College Foundation, WE Build Waterloo - $15,000
• Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG), Unlocking Every Student’s Potential - $15,000
• Islamic Foundation of Iowa, Little Stars Child Care Center (LSCCC) - $20,000
• Marching Against the Darkness, Excellence Expo - $15,000
• The Job Foundation, General Operations - $15,000
• Try Pie, Learning Space Expansion - $12,312

Health

• SuccessLink, Together for Youth (TFY) Adolescent Sexual Health Programming - $10,000

Human Service

• Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center, Improving Patient, Staff and Community Safety - $9,950
• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Immigration Legal Services - $20,000
• Family & Children’s Council of Black Hawk County, Parent Education: Strengthening Families & Preventing Child Abuse - $10,000
• Iowa Legal Aid, Civil Legal Services to Stabilize Low-Income Black Hawk County Residents - $10,000
• Little Iron Mom, Neighbors to Newcomers, Interpretation - $15,000
• Northeast Iowa Food Bank, General Operations in Black Hawk County - $60,000
• ONE Cedar Valley, General Operations - $25,000
• One City United, General Operations - $20,000
• Operation Threshold – OT Refugee Services - $20,000
• PGC Outreach, PGC Outreach Operations - $10,000
• Royal Legacy Christian Academy, Childcare Programming Expansion - $20,000
• Salvation Army, Waterloo, General Operations – Nonreligious - $50,000
• The River Arc, General Operations - $20,000

Grants are awarded through CFNEIA’s competitive grant process. Decisions on grant awards are determined by CFNEIA’s grant distribution committee, which consists of volunteers from Black Hawk County. Committee members include: Nancy Beenblossom, Stacie Brass, Nadene Davidson, Kaye Englin, Susan Entriken, Andrew Finnegan, Zachary Fischels, Ashlyn Jungwirth, Chawne Paige (committee chair), Mike Robinson, Eashaan Vajpeyi, Sherman Wise and ReShonda Young.

Grant applicants must be a 501(c)(3) designated organization or government entity serving Black Hawk County in order to be considered for funding. Requests can be made for operations, programming, materials, equipment and capital projects. Priority is given to funding requests that align with the Foundation’s community initiatives of advancing racial equity, expanding child care, enhancing the arts, strengthening workforce readiness, and building nonprofit capacity, or address its areas of focus including arts and culture, community betterment, education and youth development, environment and animal welfare, health and human service.

The 2024 Black Hawk County second grant cycle opens May 15, 2024. The grant guidelines and application will be available when the cycle opens at www.cfneia.org/bhcgrants. For questions or to discuss a project’s eligibility prior to submitting a proposal in Black Hawk County, contact Sherita Jenkins, director of community impact, at 319-243-1355 or by email.