Deadline: 21-Oct-2024
The Boston Foundation is accepting applications for the Safety Net Grant Program to support social service organizations that respond to essential needs for marginalized communities and vulnerable residents in Greater Boston.
Safety Net Grants provide an opportunity to provide much-needed general operating funds to nonprofits addressing critical, immediate and essential needs for people throughout the region.
Essential needs are defined as resources that restore health, wellness, safety and belonging for individuals or families in crisis. They can include, but are not limited to:
- Childcare assistance
- Direct cash assistance
- Disability assistance
- Food security
- Health care access
- Legal support
- Mental health support
- Rental and housing assistance
- Support for survivors of trauma
Funding Information
- Safety Net Grants are $50,000, two-year general operating support grants, paid in two equal annual installments of $25,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Organizations primarily serve communities historically excluded from institutional philanthropy in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties with a focus on the communities of greatest need as defined by the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). An eligible applicant would also meet the following criteria:
- Has not submitted an application within the past 12 months;
- Has a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit designation from the IRS or operates under the fiscal sponsorship of a tax-exempt nonprofit;
- Has been operating for at least three years
- Engages in year-round programming
- Aligns with the New Pathway, the strategic vision for The Boston Foundation;
- Does not discriminate in the hiring of staff or the provision of services on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin or disability;
- Responds to an essential need by providing resources that restore health, wellness, safety and belonging for individuals or families in crisis.
- They are especially interested in organizations that are:
- Smaller and have been historically excluded from philanthropic support
- BIPOC-led and/or whose leadership reflects the demographic composition and lived experiences of the communities they serve;
- Meeting the needs of seniors and people with physical disabilities;
- Providing food, fuel and shelter support.
For more information, visit The Boston Foundation.