Deadline: 2-Feb-22
The Tower Foundation offers opportunities to apply for funding through the Strengthening Partner Capacity Grant Program.
The Tower Foundation strengthens organizations and works to change systems to improve the lives of young people with learning disabilities, mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual disabilities.
Focus Areas
The Foundation considers grant requests that align with its Focus Areas:
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Children with intellectual disabilities are identified early and receive services that meet their evolving needs.
- Young people with intellectual disabilities are engaged in meaningful, social, vocational, and educational pursuits.
- Families understand intellectual disabilities and secure needed supports.
- Communities embrace young people with intellectual disabilities and provide them with a full range of supports and opportunities to engage in community life.
- Learning Disabilities
- Children with learning disabilities are identified early, diagnosed, and connected to services that meet their ongoing individual needs.
- Youth with learning disabilities understand how they learn and pursue resources that support them accordingly.
- Young adults are confident and do not view their learning disability as a liability.
- Young adults with learning disabilities are ready for work and/or educational pursuits.
- Families are informed about learning disabilities and can identify and navigate available services.
- Communities value persons with learning disabilities and accommodate their needs.
- Mental Health
- Stigma related to mental illness is eliminated.
- Children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges are identified early and connected to appropriate services.
- Young people with mental health challenges understand and manage their conditions and behaviors.
- Families understand mental health challenges and help young people live productive lives.
- Communities offer meaningful opportunities and appropriate support to young people with mental health challenges and their families.
- Substance Use Disorders
- Community members understand the prevalence and harmful effects of alcohol and drugs on young people and work to address them.
- Resources for substance use disorders prevention, treatment, and recovery are readily available.
- Families provide safe environments that support healthy and informed choices about alcohol and drugs.
- Young people make healthy and informed choices about alcohol and drugs.
Funding Information
- The maximum grant award for this opportunity is $40,000.
- A total of $1,600,000 is available, with $400,000 awarded in each grant cycle.
Eligibility Criteria
- It’s easiest for them to accept grant applications from:
- Not-for-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) designation that are not private foundations;
- Not-for-profit public benefit corporations;
- Public or diocesan school districts; or
- Private or charter schools.
- The Foundation will be making grants to organizations currently providing services in one or more of these regions:
- Massachusetts: Barnstable County, Dukes County, Essex County, Nantucket County
- New York: Erie County, Niagara County
- At a minimum, grant partners currently provide prevention, treatment, and/or recovery services to people aged 26 years or younger from at least one of these populations:
- People with intellectual disabilities (including autism spectrum disorders)
- People with specific learning disabilities
- People with mental illness/mental health challenges
- People with substance use disorders
- The ideal grant partners serve one or more of the populations and intentionally work to improve equitable outcomes for individuals with a host of individual identities relating to — alone or in combination – race, sexual identity, gender identity, immigration status, housing status, and other disability status.
- Note: Organizations awarded a Small Grant in the past 12 months are not eligible to apply for another Small Grant. This doesn’t apply to Programs & Services or Community Change grants.
For more information, visit https://thetowerfoundation.org/what-we-fund/apply-for-a-grant/









































