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Grants Awarded

Kresge’s grant database allows you to search for grants awarded since 2009. You can search and filter by program area, focus area, year and location.

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Whole Child Strategies, Inc.

This grant provides general operating support to the organization. Whole Child Strategies, Inc. empowers neighborhoods and communities disproportionately affected by poverty to self- determination in addressing barriers hindering children from graduating on-time, career and college-ready – providing funding, critical supports and coordinated efforts around collective accountability, public advocacy and community development. View Website

Amount

$100,000

Year

2020

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Whole Child Strategies, Inc.

Geography Served: Memphis, Tennessee

Project:

This grant supports a coalition of place-based organizations, led by Whole Child Strategies, Inc., providing emergency relief to families living with low incomes in eight Memphis neighborhoods, specifically cash assistance for food and other household necessities; relief funds for households experiencing loss of income due to the pandemic; and internet access and devices for households without broadband or hardware. The coalition includes: Agape Child and Family Services; Center for Transforming Communities, Inc.; Knowledge Quest; Memphis Medical District Collaborative; Neighborhood Christian Center, Inc.; Refugee Empowerment Program; and The Urban Strategies, Inc. Whole Child Strategies, Inc. empowers neighborhoods and communities disproportionately affected by poverty to self- determination in addressing barriers hindering children from graduating on-time, career and college-ready – providing funding, critical supports and coordinated efforts around collective accountability, public advocacy and community development. View Website

Amount

$100,000

Year

2020

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Whole Child Strategies, Inc.

Whole Child Strategies, Inc. empowers neighborhoods and communities disproportionately affected by poverty to self- determination in addressing barriers hindering children from graduating on-time, career and college-ready – providing funding, critical supports and coordinated efforts around collective accountability, public advocacy and community development. This grant provides project support for Whole Child Strategies, Inc.’s Neighborhood and Youth Council to undertake a series of projects identified by community members to improve educational attainment in the Klondike/Smokey City neighborhood as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$50,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Vollintine Evergreen Community Association

The Vollintine Evergreen Community Association (VECA) is a group of residents working to improve the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood by working with each other, businesses, law enforcement, representatives of both city and county government, and nonprofit and institutional stakeholders and neighboring community organizations. This project grant provides support for the Vollintine Evergreen Community Association to redevelop an abandoned commercial building to serve as a community hub, and to complete associated streetscape improvements as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$130,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

The Works Inc.

The Works Inc. works to rebuild, restore and renew community and families through housing, economic development, and social services. This grant provides project support to The Works, Inc. for the installation of traffic calming infrastructure which will increase safety and foster a more vibrant community in South Memphis as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$150,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

The Works Inc.

Geography Served: Memphis, Tennessee

Project:

The Works Inc. works to rebuild, restore and renew community and families through housing, economic development, and social services. This grant supports revitalization of key commercial corridors in South Memphis. View Website

Amount

$72,000

Year

2017

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

The Collective (CLTV)

The CLTV (Collective) is a Black arts organization dedicated to elevating Black artists, empowering Black communities, and shifting the culture of Memphis. This grant provides project support for The Collective (CLTV), Inc. to develop community homes which will serve as resource centers and convening spaces for current Orange Mound residents, studio and living spaces for Black artists, and places to create collaborative projects to uplift the community as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$80,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

The Collective (CLTV)

Geography Served: Memphis, Tennessee

Project:

This $35,000 grant amendment will continue to support the operations of The CLTV, a Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis grantee, as it works to elevate Black artists and empower Black communities, especially in the city’s Orange Mound neighborhood. The CLTV (Collective) is a Black arts organization dedicated to elevating Black artists, empowering Black communities, and shifting the culture of Memphis.  View Website

Amount

$35,000

Year

2020

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities, Arts & Culture

Focus Area

Soulsville Foundation

The Soulsville Foundation perpetuates the soul of Stax Records by preserving its rich cultural legacy, educating youth to be prepared for life success, and inspiring future artists to achieve their dreams. This project grant provides planning and implementation support to the Soulsville Foundation to create a facilities and safety plan for the Soulsville USA Campus as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$125,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

OUTMemphis: The LGBTQ Center for the Mid-South

Geography Served: Memphis, Tennessee

Project:

OUTMemphis empowers, connects, educates, and advocates for the LGBT community of the Mid-South. This one-year grant provides project support for OUTMemphis: The LGBTQ Center for the Mid-South to create a plan for a social enterprise event space that hosts public programming for the LGBTQ+ community at-large as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$35,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Memphis Slim Collaboratory, Inc

Memphis Slim Collaboratory seeks to create spaces for Soulsville musicians to gather, rehearase, learn and create legendary music. This grant provides project support for the Memphis Slim Collaboratory to increase access to the arts in the Soulsville neighborhood of Memphis by creating an outdoor performance space, and completing additional to renovations, as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$100,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Memphis Filmworks, Inc.

This grant amendment will support Memphis Filmworks, a Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis grantee, who has been funded to create, “Our Neighbors Our Stories,” a documentary film series that captures the stories of residents from Memphis neighborhoods to serve as a community advocacy tool. These additional resources will support the documentary’s continued development following project disruptions caused by COVID-19 and increased social unrest throughout 2020. View Website

Amount

$75,000

Year

2020

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Memphis Filmworks, Inc.

Memphis Filmworks, Inc. supports artistic freedom in visual storytelling and advocate for a community of visionaries who epitomize diversity of thought, creativity and the tenacity to challenge the societal status quo. This grant provides project support for Memphis Filmworks, Inc. to create “Our Neighbors,” a documentary film series that capture the stories of residents from nine Memphis neighborhoods to serve as a community advocacy tool that uplifts resident concerns and ideas as it relates to the development of their neighborhoods as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$75,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Let’s Innovate Through Education Memphis

Let’s Innovate through Education equips African-American/Latinx students with 21st-century skills to create wealth.  This grant provides project support for Let's Innovate Through Education to provide 50 high school students of color in Memphis with entrepreneurship training, internship pairing and/or business venture launch support, as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$150,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Knowledge Quest

Knowledge Quest is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to vigorously equip youth to maximize their potential through intellectual and character development and has actively promoted youth and community development in South Memphis for more than 18 years. This grant will support Knowledge Quest to enhance its Family Stability Initiative focused on advancing social and economic mobility. View Website

Amount

$250,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

Human Services

Focus Area

Fostering the Next Generation of Human Services Organizations

Knowledge Quest

This financial amendment will help Knowledge Quest, a Memphis NextGen cohort member, maintain delivery of services and support their participants by facilitating their ability to move to a virtual platform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. View Website

Amount

$100,000

Year

2020

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

Human Services

Focus Area

Knowledge Quest

The neighborhood-based nonprofit works to build on community revitalization efforts in South Memphis, such as an urban microfarm created by converting vacant, blighted lots and abandoned buildings. This project grant provides implementation support for Knowledge Quest to expand and maintain a learning farm, a new commercial greenhouse, and an outdoor classroom in line with their Agritourism Masterplan as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$50,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Knowledge Quest

Geography Served: Memphis, Tennessee

Project:

The neighborhood-based nonprofit works to build on community revitalization efforts in South Memphis, such as an urban microfarm created by converting vacant, blighted lots and abandoned buildings. This cross-team grant will support Knowledge Quest as it seeks to build on its current cross-disciplinary community revitalization efforts to build physical, emotional and mental health, alleviate food insecurity and physically transform the South Memphis neighborhood. View Website

Amount

$150,000

Year

2017

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

JUICE Orange Mound

JUICE Orange Mound's mission is to develop and advance self-reliance by building capacity and engagement among citizens and businesses in Orange Mound and the larger community. This grant provides project support for JUICE Orange Mound to launch a small business incubation space in the historic, African-American neighborhood of Orange Mound as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$134,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

Hospitality Hub of Memphis

The mission of the Hub is to connect homeless people with the resources they need to begin their journey out of homelessness. This grant provides project support for Hospitality Hub of Memphis to create a safe and secure place in the Memphis Medical District for people experiencing homelessness to rest during the day as part of the pilot round of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis (KIP:M) initiative. View Website

Amount

$140,000

Year

2019

Location

Memphis, Tennessee

Program

American Cities

Focus Area

Place-Based Community Development

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