The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa (CFNEIA) held its Black Hawk County grant awards celebration at the Waterloo Center for the Arts on October 10, announcing the distribution of 28 grants totaling $487,000 to organizations serving Black Hawk County. Grantmaking consisted of Black Hawk County 2024 second cycle grants totaling $456,000 and Women’s Fund grants totaling $31,000.

“The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa is honored to be a community connector as we develop relationships with generous people and the organizations working to make Black Hawk County stronger for everyone,” said Kaye Englin, CFNEIA’s president and CEO. “These organizations receiving grants today, and so many others, are creating powerful, positive change in our community and provide critical services to the people who call the Cedar Valley home.”

The grant award information below is categorized by CFNEIA grantmaking areas of focus. Each line includes the grant recipient organization name, what the grant will fund and the grant amount.

Black Hawk County 2024 Second Cycle Grant Recipients

Arts & Culture

• Grout Museum District, General Operating Support, $20,000
• North End Cultural Center, Community Art and Music School, $10,000
• Waterloo Community Playhouse/Black Hawk Children's Theatre, 2025 Season, General Operating Support, $20,000

Community Betterment

• Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, General Operating Support, Black Hawk County, $30,000
• Waterloo Urban Farmers Market, Growing Community: Cultivating Equitable Access to Fresh, Local Food, $10,000

Education & Youth Development

• 1619 Freedom School, General Operating Support, $35,000
• 319 Empowerment, Equipping 319 Empowerment, $5,000
• Cedar Valley Preschool and Child Care Center, General Operating Support, $15,000
• Growing Minds Learning Center, General Operating Support, $25,000
• Leader Valley Foundation, General Operating Support, $15,000
• Payne Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, The Learn Hub, $20,000
• Refugee and Immigrant Youth Organization (RIYO), General Operating Support, $35,000

Health

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Black Hawk County, Services for People with Mental Illness, Their Families and Partners, $5,500
• SuccessLink, Success Street Student Health Clinics, $25,000
• Vision To Learn, Improving Access to Vision Care for Students in Waterloo, $15,000

Human Service

• Americans For Independent Living, General Operating Support, $15,000
• Christian Community Development, General Operating Support, $30,000
• Exceptional Persons, Inc., EPI's Employment Services, $15,000
• Eye of the Needle, Critical Existence, $5,000
• Friends of the Family, Black Hawk County Housing Project, $15,000
• Iowa Food Bank Association, SNAP Outreach, $5,000
• Jesse Cosby Center, General Operating Support, $25,000
• Pathways Behavioral Services, General Operating Support, $10,500
• Riverview Center, Black Hawk Crisis Response Program, $20,000
• YWCA of Black Hawk County, General Operating Support, $30,000

Black Hawk County Second Cycle 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 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.

Women’s Fund Grant Recipients

• One City United, One City United Momentum, $16,000
• Riverview Center, UNI Sexual Assault Support Group, $5,000
• Try Pie, Financial Literacy Training, $10,000

Women’s Fund Grants are awarded through a competitive grant process. Decisions on grant awards are determined by CFNEIA’s Women’s Fund grant distribution committee, which consists of members of CFNEIA’s Women for Good program. 2024 committee members include: Marianne Abel-Lipschutz, Kaye Englin, Catherine Hines, Brenda Loop, Michelle Wattier, Susan Sims and Stephanie Huff.

Grant applicants must be a 501(c)(3) designated organization or government entity serving Black Hawk County to be considered for funding. The Women’s Fund supports organizations and programs addressing issues that lead to long-term change for Black Hawk County women and girls. This grant opportunity provides funding in the focus areas of education and literacy, health and healthcare, poverty and homelessness, and violence and safety.

The 2025 Black Hawk County first grant cycle opens on November 15, 2024. Women’s Fund 2025 grant cycle opens May 15, 2025. The grant guidelines and applications will be available when the cycles open at www.cfneia.org/grants. For questions or to discuss a project’s eligibility before submitting a proposal in Black Hawk County, contact Sherita Jenkins, director of community impact.