Fort Wayne Awards Grants to Nonprofits
(photo courtesy Mayor Tom Henry)
The city of Fort Wayne is awarding $180,000 in grants to 10 local nonprofits. The funding, which comes from the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant program, will be used for various services for low and moderate-income residents, including employment skills, language translation and interpretation as well as youth development.
The city says the recipients were chosen after a volunteer committee helped score the grant applications and made recommendations on funding. Criteria for the funding is based on goals for use of the federal funds developed in part with input from local residents.
"It’s important for City government to work in partnership with our community’s outstanding non-profit organizations," said Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry. "Together, we can provide opportunities for all of our residents to succeed and move Fort Wayne forward in the right direction."
The recipients include:
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne (a program helping at-risk middle school youth explore various career and job opportunities),
- Just Neighbors Interfaith Homeless Network (providing support for a case manager that assists families in moving from the homeless shelter to permanent housing),
- Language Services Network (a program providing translation and interpretation services for immigrants and refugees),
- Literacy Alliance (a program providing instruction for adults whose reading levels measure below fifth grade),
- Mental Health America of Northeast Indiana (a program helping individuals living in permanent supportive and transitional housing manage mental illness and/or addiction),
- Volunteer Center/RSVP (support for a free legal assistance clinic that helps remove legal barriers for clients seeking employment and housing)
- SCAN (support for a Courtyard facility overnight case manager to help youth who are aging out of foster care with life skills training),
- United Way 211 (support for 211 services that assist homeless individuals and direct them to programs that can provide shelter),
- Vincent Village (a car sharing service for residents of Vincent Village who need transportation for health care services and employment training or placement)
- YMCA (a program supporting career exploration for at-risk teens, including job shadowing)