Multiplying Impact Through Pooled Resources

When our clients get to the shelter, they have exhausted every resource they know. [They] come ashamed, with no money, and even no clothes.” – Marilyn Casteel, Safe and Fear-Free Environment, Dillingham

This emergency grant is especially meaningful because it helps fill the gap between when families come into need and when they can start receiving food assistance from state agencies.” – Jackie Hill, Maniilaq Association, Kotzebue

In challenging economic times, the hardest hit are those who are the most vulnerable – the poor, the hungry, the homeless.

 
Through the generosity of donors giving to unrestricted and Field of Interest funds, The Alaska Community Foundation awarded $165,000 in grants across Alaska to support nonprofit organizations meeting Alaskan’s most fundamental needs.

Two recipients of these Basic Needs Grants were Safe and Fear Free Environment (SAFE) in Dillingham and Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue.

In Dillingham, a single nonprofit provides food, shelter, and clothing for those who have nowhere else to go. Providing help for domestic violence and sexual assault victims from 33 villages and tribes across the Bristol Bay region, Safe and Fear-Free Environment (SAFE), served over 600 women, men, and children in 2015. They received an ACF grant for operational support.

In the Northwest Arctic Borough, Maniilaq Association provides a wide array of social services for families and individuals in need. In particular, they furnish emergency food supplies for those who have exhausted all other resources. The grant they received from ACF provided food for an estimated 80-90 families.

Unrestricted funding at The Alaska Community Foundation is built on the premise that every individual, and every gift, can have incredible impact when pooled with others and allocated to the areas of greatest need.

With deep roots in our communities through our partners and Affiliates, ACF enables everyone and anyone to the support the causes they care about. We have broad expertise regarding community needs. And because we combine resources, we can multiply the impact of gifts – like those awarded to SAFE and Maniilaq Association. These funds represent a partnership on the highest level – one devoid of all preferences except for a dedication to the greatest need and the community good.

Through unrestricted funding contributions, The Alaska Community Foundation is able to combine the resources of many and allocate them to changing community needs over time. While our needs might not stay the same through the years, we know that need itself will remain. Through the partnerships of unrestricted funding, ACF can ensure that there will also always be resources to address them.