United Way Silicon Valley awarded $1.65 million total in strategic grants to 27 programs on July 12. Two nonprofits in Gilroy, Rebekah Children’s Services and St. Joseph’s Family Center, received $50,000 each.
The grant allocations reflect United Way’s focus on helping families with children become economically secure so that they can support their children’s educational success, physical and emotional health and connectedness to their community.
“We’re thrilled and excited to be able to continue our strong relationship with United Way,” Executive Director of St. Joseph’s Family Center David Cox said. “We plan to use the grant to support our basic services such as assisting families into housing, providing food assistance and employment opportunities.”
The grant application process began in February with 78 proposals submitted to United Way. The applications were extensively reviewed by staff and the volunteer Community Building and Impact Committee. The committee recommended the 27 programs for funding and they were approved by the Board of Directors at its May meeting.
Each program received a minimum of $50,000 and each grant will be renewed for the next two years depending if goals and performance measures are met.
“There were a number of excellent proposals submitted, but with limited dollars, we don’t have the capacity to fund them all,” said Carole Leigh Hutton, president and CEO of United Way Silicon Valley. “At the end of the day, we have to make sure we are good stewards of the donations we receive and invest those funds wisely.”
Consideration was given to the overall strength of the application, alignment with United Way’s strategic priorities, how well the proposal demonstrated the ability to help people actively engage in their lives and/or their community in a positive way and whether it reflected geographic or cultural diversity.
Programs operated by the following agencies were awarded three-year grants:
Asian Americans for Community Involvement; Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley; Breakthrough Silicon Valley; Center for Employment Training; City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley; Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos; Estrella Family Services; Family Supportive Housing; Foothill-DeAnza Community Colleges Foundation – Early Learning; International Children Assistance Network; Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley; Opportunity Fund; Pacific Autism Center for Education; Parents Helping Parents; Parent Services Project; People Acting in Community Together (PACT); Rebekah Children’s Home of California; Sacred Heart Community Services; San Jose Day Nursery; San Jose State University Tower; Foundation/ CommUniverCity San Jose; Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN); Somos Mayfair; St. Joseph’s Family Center; Sunday Friends Foundation; Sunnyvale Community Services; West Valley Community Services; and YMCA of Silicon Valley.
