Deadline: 23-Feb-21
The United Way of Acadiana is currently accepting proposals for the 2021-22 PACT United & Venture Grant Program. United Way of Acadiana invests in work that ensures more educated, prosperous, and safe communities across Acadia, Lafayette, St. Martin, and Vermilion parishes where more individuals and families achieve their potential.
The PACT United provides grants to organizations focused on helping more children graduate from high school, building financial stability in hard-working families, and ensuring that neighbors meet their basic needs.
United Way of Acadiana seeks to fund organizations with programs that align with the UWA strategy map:
- Community Collaboration Goal: The community is stronger when the nonprofit sector is strengthened through active community leadership and collective impact.
- Collective Impact: Helping individuals and families reach more opportunities is best achieved by organizations working together towards common goals.
- Community Leadership: Solving community problems requires leadership from individuals and organizations to advocate for solutions and resources.
- Education. Goal: Children achieve their potential through a dynamic array of educational opportunities. Education is the cornerstone for success in school work and life. And it benefits the whole community: high school graduates earn more and contribute more to their local communities, and are more likely to raise kids who also graduate.
- School Readiness: Young children demonstrate age-appropriate development and enter kindergarten ready to learn.
- Kids on Track: Students achieve at grade level in reading, math, and science.
- Enhancing Environments for Children: Students can access safe and nurturing places to build the esteem and leadership needed to make healthy choices.
- Graduation and Beyond: Students graduate from high school prepared for college and other postsecondary training to access training needed for a quality job.
- Earnings. Goal: Families gain income and financial tools needed to thrive. The jobs that ALICE holds are integral to the communities, yet these low-wage jobs do not pay enough for ALICE to live on. These families are forced to make tough choices, such as deciding between quality child care and paying rent and those choices have consequences not just for ALICE, but for area communities. Thus, it is important to address what can actually improve the quality of life for ALICE and the families they support.
- Education: Individuals and families obtain knowledge and skills that lead to a livable wage and increased financial wellness.
- Financial Resources: individuals and families access financial opportunities and services for increased income and a foundation to succeed.
- Essentials: Goal: People’s basic needs of safety, shelter, food, medicine and healthcare are secured in times of disaster or situational crisis. When individuals are unable to meet their immediate needs due to crisis, it is more difficult to focus on longterm goals such as employment, housing or education. Often the most vulnerable neighbors lack health insurance, stable housing, financial management skills, transportation and/or employment. Insufficient access to these and other services can easily lead to or magnify the devastating consequences of any crisis.
- Disaster Response: Acadiana is prepared and able to respond in times of disaster.
- Basic Needs: Families and children have basic needs met including safety, shelter, food, medicine, and healthcare.
Eligibility Criteria
- Funding is available to public schools and organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.
- Funds will only support programming within one or more of the following parishes: Acadia, Lafayette, St. Martin, and/or Vermilion.
- The program for which funding is sought should align with the research-based components above and should be able to be evaluated using the metrics outlined in United Way of Acadiana’s strategy map.
- Applicant organizations must also meet the following requirements:
- Be in existence for at least three years.
- Governed by a Board of Directors that meets at least quarterly.
- Possess audited financial statements (if revenue is $300,000 or more) or CPA’s review for fiscal years older than the most recent fiscal year.
- Ability to report program outcomes using the metrics provided in United Way of Acadiana’s strategy map.
For more information, visit https://www.unitedwayofacadiana.org/pactgrants