Grants for Community Centers

Beck Foundation Grant

The Beck foundation was conceived in 2005, turning one Northern Virginia family's vision to help into a reality. During the first year, the beck foundation made several contributions to the community. Among the recipients of these contributions were the inova kellar center (cardinal bank community fund), and the george mason university foundation.

The Beck Foundation is dedicated to helping those who serve our nation and surrounding communities.

In 2007, the Beck Foundation gave a significant grant to conceive the Beck PRIDE Center for America’s wounded veterans. This new program at Arkansas State University was created to provide personal rehabilitation, individual development, and seamless academic and support services to veterans injured during combat service and their family members. Since conception, the Beck PRIDE Center has exponentially grown, providing education, rehabilitation, and reliable support systems to over 80 veterans.

In addition to providing help to America’s wounded veterans, the Beck Foundation also supports various universities and educational institutions, focusing support more specifically through entrepreneurial developments. Through these developments, the Foundation has been able to support a number of programs: Athletics, Visual and Performing Arts, Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Business Development, and Sports Medicine and Athletic Training. The Beck Foundation has and continues to endow a number of scholarships in the respective fields of study.

As the Beck Foundation grows with each year, it is able to provide more support to a multitude of organizations: local, international, humanitarian, educational, religious, healthcare, military, and government. The Beck family takes pride in serving humanity and proudly cherishes the moment when they decided that helping others was their family business.

Community Investment

Centene believes that successful corporate citizenship is defined by investments in community-based institutions and organizations that address the needs of communities while advancing initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person, and community development.

Centene Charitable Foundation

We appreciate your interest in Centene's philanthropic goals and objectives. At Centene, we believe that grant-making decisions are more effective when made locally. That's why we are actively involved in the communities where we live and work and why our team members are leaders in helping our communities succeed. We work toward giving back to organizations that span all areas of ethnicity, cultures and abilities through our philanthropy.

Centene recognizes that there are a broad range of organizations engaged in worthy activities, and we regret that due to budget constraints we are often unable to consider and/ or fund every request. Because we receive funding requests that far exceed our annual giving program budget, Centene reserves the right to decline applications at its sole discretion. Such a response does not reflect in any way a negative appraisal of the prospective organization or the value of its services.

Health is at the center of Centene's giving. We also invest in philanthropic initiatives and partnerships with organizations offering programs in education, children and the arts as well.

Focus Areas

Consideration will be given to organizations that fall within one or more of the following areas of focus:

• Health (Including Social Determinants of Health)
• Education
• Children
• Arts

Our Story

F.Y. Eye came to be during bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Major Deegan en route to a Yankees-Mets baseball game. As we inched along the Expressway, we noticed a series of billboards advertising things that we did not need or want. With nothing to do but feel some sense of road rage, we reflected on how beneficial it would be to have a billboard that promoted public service announcements (PSAs).

The idea of having one billboard transformed into a network of hundreds of digital screens and partnerships with storefronts, community centers and online and in-print advertising slots that provide extensive coverage of PSAs throughout the five boroughs of NYC and beyond.

That night, not only did the idea behind F.Y. Eye hatch, but also, in case you were wondering, the Mets won.

About Us

F.Y. Eye is a nonprofit advertising organization that works with other nonprofits, government agencies and community based organizations to communicate important mission-driven messages to your target audiences regardless of budget.

F.Y. Eye helps clients build stronger brand awareness, implement free and low-cost outreach campaigns, and facilitate effective engagement with its constituents. We offer strategic message distribution and effective, affordable content development to ensure that no good community program, service or announcement is lost in the shadows.

Since 2005, our clients have entrusted F.Y. Eye to develop, enhance and distribute their communication campaigns. Our vast network of partners throughout NYC coupled with our strong grasp of the New York market enable us to position your important public service announcements strategically, creatively and affordably.

PSA Network Criteria

F.Y. Eye promotes social impact messages that aim to protect or empower a vulnerable population, a community-driven effort, an environmental resource and/or our democracy. We do not communicate commercial or fundraising messages for free on the PSA Network. Peruse our PSA Gallery to get a sense of the types of nonprofit messages we publicize.

PSA Distribution Overview

F.Y. Eye will distribute your PSA to all nonprofit partners in the PSA Network. Our nonprofit partners have the right to refuse any message that they do not believe is relevant to their audience or conflicts with their interests or values. While we encourage our nonprofit partners to display all F.Y. Eye messages, we cannot guarantee distribution in any one location.

Create Your Campaign

Advertising is an art and a science. We will work with you to craft a high-impact message that will result in direct action, behavior change or a meaningful shift in perception.

Need creative support? F.Y. Eye works with talented impact artists that can help turn your idea into a reality at a rate you can afford. If you are producing the campaign independently, contact us for details on design guidelines, creative specifications and formatting.

Consider reaching more people by translating your campaign into different languages! F.Y. Eye also provides translation services in Korean, Chinese and Spanish for free through our partnership with the Asian/American Center at CUNY Queens College.

Mission

The mission of the Semnani Family Foundation is to find creative and effective ways of serving the needs of marginal and vulnerable communities around the world, particularly those whose survival and security is at grave risk or immediate danger due to forces and factors beyond their control. Whether it is helping communities recover from disease, famine, earthquake or war, or promoting research, educational and civic initiatives, we focus our giving where we can make the most difference.

About

The Semnani Family Foundation focuses primarily on promoting the health, education and disaster relief for marginal communities in the United States and around the world.

The philosophy of the Foundation is guided by a desire to empower the most vulnerable members of society, where ever they may be. The Semnani Family Foundation seeks to leverage its resources in a cost effective and efficient manner that delivers the maximum benefit to help the most marginal of communities—those who would otherwise be left out, forgotten or neglected, or those who would risk serious and irreversible damage and injury from exposure to natural or man-made disasters such as famine, floods, earthquakes and war.

The Semnani Family Foundation partners closely with organizations and individuals with a demonstrated record of delivering significant, sustainable and lasting change in the field. Over the years, the Foundation has worked with the major international and national as well as local charities to advance its mission. The Foundation’s partners over the past twenty years have included the American Red Cross, UNICEF, LDS Humanitarian, Globus Relief, Global Health Alliance, Special Olympics, the American Cancer Society, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Habitat for Humanity, High Road for Human Rights, Faith Voices for the Common Ground, the League of Women’s Voters and others.

Program Areas

Social Issues

The Semnani Family Foundation gives grants for projects that address social issues such as homelessness, literacy, hunger, violence and rape. Over the past twenty years, we have supported Oxfam America, Wasatch Homeless Healthcare, the Road Home, Planned Parenthood, Rape Recovery Center, Prevent Child Abuse, and Gun Violence Prevention Center.

Health

Health is the one of the core mission areas of the Semnani Family Foundation. We have supported a broad range of health initiatives from funding research to providing care, from helping institutions build their capacity to train and teach students, pharmacists and nurses to joining partnerships for vaccination campaigns designed to eradicate measles and other crippling diseases. Since 1993, the Foundation has collaborated on a broad range of health issues ranging from AIDS, Alzheimers, Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis, Epilepsy, Leprosy, Multiple Sclerosis, Cystic Fibrosis as well as Mental Health.

Since inception, our partners have included the National Kidney Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society, American Leprosy Association, American Diabetes Association, Epilepsy Foundation, Utah AIDS Foundation, Utah Valley Mental Health, the University of Utah, Utah Rural Association of Nurses and others. We have teamed with the Moran Eye Center, Surgical Eye Expedition and others to extend the gift of sight to marginal communities. We have also partnered with Special Olympics, Kostopolous Dream Foundation, Wheelchair Foundation and a number of other organizations to provide assistance for people with disabilities.

Children

Children’s health and welfare is of vital importance to the Semnani Family Foundation. Whether they suffer from disease, hunger, abuse or poverty, the Semnani Family Foundation has made the health and education of vulnerable children a priority. Over the last twenty years, we have partnered with groups such as Primary Children’s Medical Foundation, Save the Children Foundation, Orphan Kids Inc, Odyssey House, National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, Make a Wish Foundation, Simon Says Foundation, Shriners Hospital for Children, Pediatrics Radiology, Voices for Utah Children and Utah Boys Ranch.

Women

The empowerment of women, particularly in developing countries is one of the Foundation’s leading priorities. Since 1993, we have worked with Mothers without Borders, Women for Women International, Worldwide Organization for Women, Salt Lake League of Women’s Voters and other organizations dedicated to improving the life of women.

Disaster Relief

The Semnani Foundation has partnered with the American Red Cross, LDS Humanitarian Services, Globus Relief, World Food Program, Islamic Relief, Oxfam America and others over the past twenty years, providing disaster relief to victims of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, famine and other natural disasters. Since its inception in 1993, the Foundation has supported disaster relief efforts in Iran and Haiti following earthquakes, in Indonesia after the tsunami, in Pakistan after the floods, in Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen and Eritrea following famines, and in the Sudan and Syria following civil wars. We have also supported the New York Firemen 911 Relief Fund.

Iranian American Issues

The Semnani Family Foundation has played an active part in promoting Iranian culture in the United States. The Foundation has supported the Encylopedia Iranica Foundation, Parsa Community Foundation, Persian Heritage Foundation, Hafez Foundation for Literature, Roodaki Foundation, the Iranian-American Society and countless other educational and cultural initiatives. Due to sanctions, the Foundation is unable to support philanthropic projects in Iran at this time.

Religious Tolerance and Interfaith dialogue

Given the importance of religion to the life of many immigrant communities and refugees, the Foundation has worked closely with religious communities and leaders to promote interfaith dialogue, understanding and integration. We have helped immigrant and refugee communities build houses of worship, extend and expand social services, and fight prejudice. The Foundation has worked closely with LDS Humanitarian, Holy Cross Ministries, Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Faith Voices for the Common Good and others to promote religious tolerance and bridge cultural divides.

Utah

View the grant page for the Utah priority area here.

OUR TOWN: Grant Program Description

• Bring new attention to or elevate key community assets and issues, voices of residents, local history, or cultural infrastructure.
• Inject new or additional energy, resources, activity, people, or enthusiasm into a place, community issue, or local economy.
• Envision new possibilities for a community or place - a new future, a new way of overcoming a challenge, or approaching problem-solving.
• Connect communities, people, places, and economic opportunity via physical spaces or new relationships.

The National Endowment for the Arts plans to support a variety of projects across the country in urban, rural, and tribal communities of all sizes.

Project Types

Our Town projects must integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes. Projects may include activities such as:

Arts Engagement

Artist residency: A program designed to strategically connect artists with the opportunity to bring their creative skill sets to non-arts institutions, including residencies in government offices, businesses, or other institutions.

Arts festivals: Public events that gather people, often in public space or otherwise unexpected places, to showcase talent and exchange culture.

Community co-creation of art: The process of engaging stakeholders to participate or collaborate alongside artists/designers in conceiving, designing, or fabricating a work or works of art.

Performances: Presentations of a live art work (e.g., music, theater, dance, media).

Public art: A work of art that is conceived for a particular place or community, with the intention of being broadly accessible, and often involving community members in the process of developing, selecting, or executing the work.

Temporary public art: A work of art that is conceived for a particular place or community and meant for display over a finite period of time, with the intention of being broadly accessible and often involving community members in developing, selecting, or executing the work.

Cultural Planning

Cultural planning: The process of identifying and leveraging a community's cultural resources and decision-making (e.g., creating a cultural plan, or integrating plans and policies around arts and culture as part of a city master planning process).

Cultural district planning: The process of convening stakeholders to identify a specific geography with unique potential for community and/or economic development based on cultural assets (e.g., through designation, branding, policy, plans, or other means).

Creative asset mapping: The process of identifying the people, places, physical infrastructure, institutions, and customs that hold meaningful aesthetics, historical, and/or economic value that make a place unique.

Public art planning: The process of developing community-wide strategies and/or policies that guide and support commissioning, installing, and maintaining works of public art and/or temporary public art.

Design

Artist/designer-facilitated community planning: Artists/designers leading or partnering in the creative processes of visioning, and for solutions to community issues.

Design of artist space: Design processes to support the creation of dedicated spaces for artists to live and/or to produce, exhibit, or sell their work.

Design of cultural facilities: Design processes to support the creation of a dedicated building or space for creating and/or showcasing arts and culture.

Public space design: The process of designing elements of public infrastructure, or spaces where people congregate (e.g., parks, plazas, landscapes, neighborhoods, districts, infrastructure, and artist-produced elements of streetscapes).

Artist and Creative Industry Support

Creative business development: Programs or services that support entrepreneurs and businesses in the creative industries, or help cultivate strong infrastructure for establishing and developing creative businesses.

Professional artist development: Programs or services that support artists professionally, such as through skill development or accessing markets and capital.

Strengthening Communities

Through Our Town projects, the National Endowment for the Arts Endowment intends to achieve the following objective: Strengthening Communities: Provide opportunities for the arts to be integrated into the fabric of community life.

Our Town project outcomes may include:

Economic Change: Economic improvements of individuals, institutions, or the community including local business growth, job creation/labor force participation, professional development/training, prevention of displacement, in-migration, and tourism.

Physical Change: Physical improvements that occur to the built and natural environment including beautification and/or enhancement of physical environment, new construction, and redevelopment (including arts, culture, and public space).

Social Change: Improvements to social relationships, civic engagement and community empowerment, and/or amplifying community identity including civic engagement, collective efficacy, social capital, social cohesion, and community attachment.

Systems Change: Improvements to community capacity to sustain the integration of arts, culture, and design into strategies for advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes including, for example: establishment of new and lasting cross-sector partnerships; shifts in institutional structure, practices or policies; replication or scaling of innovative project models; establishment of training programs; or dissemination of informational resources to support the creative placemaking field. 

Note: Every grant applicant must include a letter of recommendation from any HDR employees who are actively involved in the organization. These employees will act as "employee sponsors" to help answer questions about the application process, but an HDR employee cannot fill out the application for an organization. If an applicant does not have an HDR employee sponsor, it will not be considered for a grant.

Focused, Community-based Giving

The HDR Foundation is centered on helping the communities where we are rooted. We strongly believe that giving back is not only a civic duty, but a privilege. As company founder, H.H. Henningson noted nearly a century ago, "There is always time enough for kindness." Therefore, it's the promise of the HDR Foundation to support organizations and activities that align with HDR's values and areas of expertise, with the benefits going to the communities. 

Our Areas of Focus

The foundation's areas of focus mirror HDR's breadth of knowledge and expertise. We provide grants for projects that demonstrate direct impact as well as projects that can be replicated or scaled. Specific areas of focus include:

Education

Our company, clients and communities benefit from a well-educated, skilled and informed population. Examples of projects we may fund include education projects that support:

• Architecture
• Engineering
• Design
• Environmental science
• Consulting and planning

Healthcare and Healthy Communities

With a healthcare design practice that is consistently ranked No. 1, we value the importance of healthcare and healthy communities. Examples of types of healthcare and healthy community projects we may fund include:

• Active lifestyles
• Wellness education
• Preventative healthcare
• Alternative healthcare delivery methods

Healthy Environment 

We promote the value of environmentally responsible practices to our clients, employee-owners and communities. Examples of projects we may fund include:

• Projects that promote use and development of active transportation modes, such as walking or biking
• Water, energy and waste reduction projects
• Innovative small scale renewable energy and water reuse projects
• Community-led environmental restoration efforts that improve water quality, habitat and community green spaces

Small Grants

First Small grants range between $5,000 and $15,000- Applications accepted Jan. 7–28.

2nd Small Grant Cycle ($5,000-$20,000)- Applications accepted May 13 - June 19.