The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa (CFNEIA) held its fall 2021 grant awards celebration today at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, announcing the distribution of $349,000 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations serving Black Hawk County.

“Our nonprofit partners provide critical services and programs to make Black Hawk County stronger for everyone,” said Kaye Englin, CFNEIA President and CEO. “Congratulations to these grant recipients and thank you. We are proud to support your work.”

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

Arts & Culture

• Art Acquisition/Maintenance Fund, Artwork Upkeep and Maintenance, $5,000
• Grout Museum District, General Operating Support, $20,000

Community Betterment

• City of Janesville, Janesville's New Public Library, $10,000
• Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, Service-Learning: Engaging Youth in Service to the Cedar Valley, $5,000

Education & Youth Development

• Boy Scouts of America – Winnebago Council, Recruitment and Retention of Field Staff Member, $5,000
• Boys and Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley, Project Learn, $30,000
• Hawkeye Community College Foundation, Hawkeye Community College Family Literacy Program, $15,000
• Islamic Foundation of Iowa, Little Stars Child Care Center, $18,000
• Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa, Inspiring Futures – Building Dreams, $5,000

Health

• Cedar Valley Hospice, Grief Services, $5,000
• SuccessLink, Together For Youth (TFY) Adolescent Sexual Health Programming, $5,000
• UnityPoint Health – Allen Memorial Hospital, Allen Child Protection Center, $15,000

Human Service

• Back2Basics Fund, Back2Basics Youth Empowerment Program, $5,000
• Exceptional Persons, Inc ., EPI's Employment Services, $15,000
• Family & Children's Council of Black Hawk County, Parent Education, $15,000
• Friends of the Family, Black Hawk County Housing Project, $15,000
• House of Hope, Case Management, $20,000
• Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, Operations Funding – Black Hawk County, $30,000
• Lutheran Services in Iowa, Black Hawk County HOPES, $10,000
• North Star Community Services, North Star's Adult Day Care Support Project, $6,000
• Northeast Iowa Food Bank, General Operations, $40,000
• Operation Threshold, OT Refugee Services, $20,000
• St. Vincent de Paul, General Operating for St. Vincent de Paul, $10,000
• YWCA of Black Hawk County, Multicultural Services, $25,000

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: Jack Aschenbrenner, Stacie Brass, Joyce Coil, Ken Cutts, Kaye Englin, Susan Entriken, Andrew Finnegan, Sharina Sallis, Jeffrey Seamans, Halkeno Tura, Eashaan Vajpeyi, Sherman Wise and ReShonda Young.

Grants are awarded for general operating support or projects in the program areas of: arts and culture, community betterment, education and youth development, environment and animal welfare, health, and human service. Grant applicants must be a 501(c)(3) designated organization or government entity serving Black Hawk County in order to be considered for funding.

The Community Foundation has a fall and spring grant cycle for Black Hawk County. The spring 2022 grant cycle opened January 10 and has an application deadline of April 1. Grant guidelines and applications can be found at www.cfneia.org/bhcgrants.