Get Grounded Foundation Announces 2021 Grants to Nonprofits Serving Denver’s At-Risk Youth
One of the best moments at GroundFloor Media (GFM) | CenterTable, is the day we have the opportunity to announce our Get Grounded Foundation community grants. This year we were honored to provide more than $73,000 to 14 outstanding local community organizations that are getting a new or innovative program off the “ground floor” in the areas of child abuse and neglect, youth behavioral health, and/or childhood hunger relief.
Created as the primary charitable giving arm of GFM | CenterTable, the Get Grounded Foundation provides one-year grants to nonprofits for new, entrepreneurial programs that directly support at-risk or neglected youth between the ages of 3 and 15 in the Denver metro area. Since our launch in late 2015, we have awarded more than $238,000 through 60 microgrants, all funded from agency profits. This past year, we also had several generous anonymous donors who provided funding in order for additional grants to be awarded.
In addition to the grants, the CenterTable video team develops videos for each grantee that they can use to promote their organization and further their volunteer recruitment and development efforts. Our team also provides guidelines and information on how best to utilize the video to raise awareness or generate funds from the community.
The next deadline for submitting grant applications will be 5 p.m. MT on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. Learn more on the Get Grounded Foundation section of our website.
2021 GET GROUNDED FOUNDATION GRANT RECIPIENTS
A Precious Child provides children in need with opportunities and resources to empower them to achieve their full potential. A Precious Child is more than a resource center; it is a one-stop shop for families in crisis to receive the goods, opportunities and resources they need, including clinical case management. These additional resources provide more than a bandage of services; they provide the foundation families require to become empowered to achieve their full potential, for children to grow up to be secure, self-reliant, contributing members of their community. Since 2008, A Precious Child has helped more than 341,000 children throughout the Denver metro eight-county area, helping families begin the path to becoming self-sustaining and end multigenerational poverty.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Support for a Childhood Hunger Relief food pantry.
Cobbled Streets provides life-changing experiences, opportunities and relationships for children in foster care. The organization’s vision is to inspire a more compassionate, trauma-informed foster care experience and eliminate the pipeline from foster care to homelessness. Funds will be used to directly support the participation of foster youth in activities like sports teams, art programs, camps and much more.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Direct, enriching opportunities and experiences for healthy development to foster children in the foster care system.
Denver Children’s Advocacy Center
Denver Children’s Advocacy Center (DCAC) was founded in 1995 after over 300 professionals in Denver came together to report that child victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence were “falling through the cracks” in a system that was supposed to help them. They work to prevent child abuse, strengthen families and restore childhood through integrated, research-based programming. DCAC serves children ages 0-17 in Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties with a special focus on serving monolingual Spanish-speaking children. It serves a diverse population of clients, of which 95% are estimated to be low-income.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: One-time purchase of outdoor furniture, including sturdy, comfortable outdoor seating, tables, and shade to create inviting and private waiting and therapeutic spaces.
The Denver Inner City Parish (DICP) loves and supports individuals and families in our community, empowering them to break the cycle of poverty. The word parish means “community,” and the DICP serves Denver metro area communities. The new Greens-N-Grains Community Nutrition Program will expand DICP’s existing hunger relief and nutrition education programming. DICP will distribute food and provide nutrition education at schools and community events using its mobile food truck platform.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will expand DICP’s existing hunger relief and nutrition education programming using its mobile food truck platform at schools.
Developmental FX works to transform the lives of children and families affected by neurodevelopmental disorders so they can live to their fullest potential. The mission of Developmental FX is to prepare children with developmental differences for a bright future of engaged belonging by equipping them, their families, therapists and teachers through innovative programs.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will support the expansion of the Wraparound Initiative serving children who are impacted by learning and developmental disabilities, as well as support their families through clinical therapy, support programs, training, and outreach to others in their ecosystem.
Fill the Void: Amp the Cause to End Hunger
Fill the Void’s mission is to relieve all insecurities surrounding children’s access to food by filling the gaps that currently exist in our community. In partnership with Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools, Fill the Void provides $250 grocery gift cards to the most vulnerable and negatively impacted Title 1 school families suffering from hunger and food insecurity due to poverty, economic turmoil, job loss, housing insecurity, the impacts of the pandemic and immigration barriers.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will be used to expand Fill the Void’s program to help more children in need.
Food for Thought Denver is a local, 100% volunteer organization that packs food for children at Title 1 schools in the Denver area every Friday during the school year, so kids don’t go hungry over the weekend. Each week, individuals, students and corporate volunteers gather to fill PowerSacks, which include enough non-perishable food items to feed a family of four for the weekend. Food for Thought’s vision is to ultimately live in a community where weekend hunger is no longer a roadblock in a child’s path to success.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will be used to purchase food for Food for Thought’s PowerSacks program, allowing the organization to increase its reach to additional schools.
Friends of Slavens School (FOSS) funds student education at Slavens K-8 in Denver for programs that no longer receive adequate funding through the public education system, such as STEM instruction and a state-of-the-art STEM lab, dance, art, music, foreign language and athletics.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Support will help incorporate yoga into the curriculum at Slavens, including the purchase of yoga mats.
Hunger Free Colorado, a statewide nonprofit organization, connects people to food resources to meet existing needs and drives policy, systems and social change to end hunger. They envision a day when every Coloradan has equitable access to the nutritious food needed to thrive and reach their full potential.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will support the expansion of the promotoras network in metro Denver counties.
Illuminate Colorado strengthens families, organizations and communities to prevent child maltreatment, and it serves as the state affiliate of five national organizations, including Prevent Child Abuse America, the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, the National Organization for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Darkness to Light, and Circle of Parents.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: This grant will be used to support the implementation and growth of Bloom Yoga, a trauma-informed family yoga program, to broader audiences across the Denver metro Area.
At PlatteForum, youth and professional artists collaborate on long-term, intensive projects, where they explore a wide array of social issues together and take creative risks in a safe and inclusive environment. In the process, youth participants develop academic, professional, social/emotional, leadership and personal skills that stay with them forever.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will be used to support the expansion of PlatteForum’s collaborative project serving low-income youth, in partnership with Colfax Community Network.
SOAR (Seeing Our Adolescents Rise) helps adolescents rise above life’s challenges and conquer difficult roadblocks, so they become strong and successful members of our community. SOAR includes
community mentorship, counseling, educational support, and tutoring or educational services to adolescents with interactive and fun-based workshops, shadowing programs, one-on-one and group counseling, life skills education, and college preparation using life experiences and community engagement activities as a resourceful aid.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will support new adventure activities such as rock climbing, archery, hiking, etc.
As a working farm and education center, TUF serves as an outdoor classroom, a living laboratory, and an exhibit all in one. TUF hosts over 100 animals including horses, goats, poultry and sheep, as well as a riding arena, community garden, aquaponic greenhouse, Freight Farm, and a .75-acre vegetable farm.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will help establish a new year-round equine-assisted therapy program with the goal of breaking the cycle of child abuse and trauma by providing youth a safe environment to heal and equipping them with the physical, emotional and spiritual skills to lead healthy, productive lives.
Youth Seen fosters and empowers the social and emotional well-being of LGBTQI youth and their families in all communities. Youth Seen provides services around decolonized mental health and well-being, case management, peer-to-peer support services, JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) trainings, and Camp Youth Seen. Within the mental health and well-being services, Youth Seen is making it increasingly accessible to the community by offering affordable therapy and providing small classes that promote healing such as yoga, energy work and movement. Youth Seen specifically seeks to co-create models of support that are organized by, with, and for QTBIPoC and LGBTQ community to explore, redefine and practice both individual and collective healing.
Get Grounded Foundation Grant Awarded: Funds will provide support for mental health therapy and a space to gather in-person or virtually.
Each of our grantees are selected after careful consideration from our grant review committee to ensure they meet the specific criteria set out in the Get Grounded Foundation process. If something sparks an interest, don’t hesitate to email us and we will put you in touch. The more, the merrier. It takes a village, and we have a pretty good village here in Colorado to provide support and change lives in our community.