Deadline: 16-Aug-21
The Santa Barbara Foundation is seeking applications for its Food Program Area Grant.
In 2021, the Foundation will continue to be intentional in supporting purposeful pathways to build stronger communities. Of particular importance is how critical the provision of food and shelter & safety is to life outcomes of individuals and how often this is beyond the control of those most impacted.
Food insecurity can have wide impacts on both individuals and families. Such impacts include:
- For food-insecure children, there are long-term implications where a child may not reach their full potential as a result of poor nutrition during their early stages of childhood. They are more likely to experience poor health, including developmental, cognitive, social, behavioral, and mental health problems;
- For seniors who are food-insecure, they frequently experience mental and physical health conditions, limitations on daily life activities, and micronutrient and macronutrient deficiencies. 85% of seniors in the United States have at least one chronic disease, which entails high medical expenses. Most seniors live on a fixed income and have to choose between paying for food and/or critical health care;
- People in food-insecure households are also more likely to struggle with psychological and behavioral health issues. They are disproportionally affected by diet-sensitive chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. According to research, food insecurity is also linked to many adverse health conditions;
- Among pregnant women, food insecurity has been linked to physical and mental health problems, as well as birth complications.
Focus
- Grants will be available to nonprofit organizations directly providing programs that are addressing food insecurity. Funding can be used for operating expenses and/or costs related to sustaining or expanding service delivery programs to meet demonstrated demand.
- In summary, funded organizations will:
- be providing direct services to address food insecurity
- have food insecurity as a primary component of their organizational mission
- be well-managed, financially viable, and operate effective programs that primarily serve the needs of poor and underserved communities
- have developed short-term and long-term strategies for addressing identified organizational needs
Priorities
Priority will be given to organizations that:
- demonstrate sustained and/or increased demand for programs that provide food security
- are taking steps to sustain or expand organizational capacity to address demand for services
- provide holistic approaches to serving clients, undertaken by the agency itself or in partnership with others
- demonstrate cultural competence among volunteers, staff, and board members for the communities served
- seek to dismantle language, cultural and other barriers that prevent low-income and marginalized populations from accessing services
- are developing strategies to address the root causes of food insecurity
Funding Information
The maximum award for Food grants is $50,000. The grant period is up to one year from the award date. As a final report for this work, they are planning on gathering data by hosting a convening with other recipients of the program area in 2022 and having grantees complete a pre-convening survey.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grants are available to organizations serving all regions of Santa Barbara County.
- Organizations must be certified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or use a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) tax status. Applications that do not contain a valid EIN (tax ID) number will not be considered.
For more information, visit https://www.sbfoundation.org/nonprofits/food-grant-program-guidelines/