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FSC awarded twenty-four grants, totalling $73,500 for the Fall.

Grantees by Category of Work
Culture/Media | Community Organizing | Environment | Lesbian/Gay | Health | Women | Workers | Youth | Donor Advised Fund Grants |

Culture/Media
Atlanta African Film Society;
Atlanta, GA $2,000
In support of Youth Leadership Workshops/Screenings in Georgia and North Carolina, utilizing film to open peer discussions on issues affecting youth and their communities. Topics range from relationships, self-images, media literacy, and awareness of African American culture and art. The workshops are sponsored by youth and community groups, and conducted by the Film Society. back to top

Community Organizing
Concerned Citizens of Tillery;
Tillery, NC $1,500
This grant will support the collaborative project "Awakening the Sleeping Giant", working in eleven counties in the "Black Belt" of Northeastern, NC, to rally support for and develop a comprehensive regional revitalization advocacy and economic development plan in a part of the state that is not benefitting from the growth in other regions, but is often targeted as an area to serve as the dumping ground for waste from more prosperous regions.

Dock Kemp School Alumni Assoc.;
Wrightsville, GA $4,000
To assist this African American group in developing the deserted community school into a multi-purpose community center providing a focus and facility for youth, senior, educational, social, daycare, recreational, and community organizing activities. back to top

Environment
Environmental Community Action;
Atlanta, GA $3,000
ECO-Action provides organizing assistance and training to people normally locked out of traditional circles of power, whose communities are confronting environmental health threats. Working with people of color, rural, low-income, women, and people with limited formal education, ECO-Action seeks to expand the base of citizen participation in solving toxic contamination problems, and level the power relationships so critical when environmental decisions are made.

Four Mile Hibernian Community Assoc.;
Charleston, SC $4,000
This very old low-income African American community is battling to survive in the face of industrial pollution and historic economic and political neglect. Now surrounded by numerous industrial sites, this community advocacy group is forming an "Environmental Health Information Network" in order to educate, activate and empower the community around environmental dangers and economic needs.

Gaston/Swansea Health Advocates;
Gaston, SC $4,000
AT&T Nassau Metals recycling settled an eight year old citizens lawsuit against their polluting of areas around the plant--by paying $1.1 million to 180 primarily white residents, while a larger number of Black residents, living nearer the plant, were left off the class action suit. With down stream wells showing lead levels above federal standards, Black lead activists are still working to assess the extent of ground water and soil pollution, and to gain a just settlement and healthier community.

People Working for People;
Tifton, GA $2,000
This environmental justice effort will be training and organizing youth through schools and churches, as well as organizing broader public awareness, both on general health and environmental concerns, and around specific hazardous waste sites (including one designated Superfund site) within the low-income communities of this south Georgia town.

Save the People; Brunswick, GA $1,500
Working in the low-income African American communities, this group enhances community awareness of environmental and health issues, especially targeting youth audiences, through the "Public Education and Training Project". With two designated Superfund sites nearby, and a community historically accepting pollution as the price for jobs, day-long workshops and media campaigns are used to raise awareness of environmental problems in the area.

South Carolina Environmental Watch;
Gadsden, SC $5,000
To support this growing state-wide effort to increase the involvement of low-income, African-American communities, and youth in protecting their local environments. Work involves education and organizing assistance, focusing on nuclear waste sites, polluting industries, and the related legislative issues that arise from pollution of streams, soil and the atmosphere.

Southern Organizing Committee;
Atlanta, GA $4,000
This South-wide multi-issue network addresses racism, economic injustice, and is in the forefront of work around environmental justice issues. SOC's Health and Environmental Justice Project is leading the formation of a regional network of low-income and minority groups addressing local environmental justice battles.

Westside Residents & Homeowners Alliance;
Spartanburg, SC $4,000
Located near a Waste Management Inc. landfill now covering 260 acres, receiving 1.2 million tons of waste, and approved to rise 150 feet into the air, this community group continues to seek to document environmental and health threats, and to oppose continued expansion and operation of this mega-landfill. back to top

Lesbian/Gay
Down East Pride; Greenville, SC $1,500
(Includes $500 Southern Outlook Fund grant)
An education and networking effort to promote understanding and acceptance of the concerns and needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, while building self-esteem among members of the community. Program activities include holding a pride festival, workshops with area governments, businesses and churches on employment nondiscrimination policies, holding a voter-registration drive, and providing assistance to other emerging lesbian and gay organizations.

Second Sunday; Atlanta, GA $4,000
(Includes $1,000 Southern Outlook Fund grant)
A support organization for gay, bisexual and transgendered Men of African descent through educational, social, spiritual and cultural activities, begun around the AIDS crisis, but now involving much broader issues of personal and community health and growth.

SC Gay and Lesbian Community Center;
Columbia, SC $1,500
(Includes $500 Southern Outlook Fund grant)
This safe haven for lesbians and gays provides space for a range of educational, social, health, and individual support activities, not only for lesbian and gay groups, but other progressive community organizations as well.

SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement;
Columbia, SC $3,000
(Includes $1,000 Southern Outlook Fund grant) The 1997 South Carolina Pride March and Festival will be held for the first time in Greenville--site of a County passed resolution condemning the gay lifestyle. The march and festival will highlight the positive contributions of the lesbian and gay community, and seek to promote a more tolerant and positive atmosphere within the broader community.

Southerners on New Ground; Decatur, GA; $4,000
(Includes $1,000 Southern Outlook Fund grant)
An organizing and education effort to increase the understanding and cooperation among activists regarding the connections and commonalities of oppression suffered by women, people of color, and lesbians and gay men. Analyzing homophobia, racism, and sexism as "tools" used to divide and conquer people, SONG helps people overcome their own prejudices, see the realities of oppression, and understand the necessity of united strategies to gain power in a democracy so influenced by monied interests.

Time Out Youth; Charlotte, NC $1,500
(Includes $1,000 Southern Outlook Fund grant) Working through existing Metropolitan Community Churches, Unitarian Churches, and chapters of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Time Out Youth will be setting up groups where gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth can meet and receive support, affirmation, empowerment and positive role models in a safe environment. back to top

Health
Georgians for a Common Sense Health Plan;
Decatur, GA $4,000
An effort doing policy analysis, research, information sharing, education, advocacy and network building to insure that people have an informed say in the design of Georgia's Medicaid health care system, and that the system provides quality, comprehensive care based on people's needs.

South Mountain Women's Health Alliance; Morganton, NC $1,500
A volunteer effort to insure that all women in the area have access to reproductive health and abortion services, and information regarding drug abuse, domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. Working with other health care providers the group also advocates for policies to insure women's freedom of reproductive choice and access to adequate health care. back to top

Women
Center for Women's Economic Alternatives; Ahoskie, NC $3,000
Working primarily with women poultry workers, CWEA seeks to raise self-esteem, and inform women of their rights in the workplace. CWEA provides leadership training to help women act on their own, and as advocates for others in an industry infamous for environmental, health and worker abuse problems.

Sisterhood Agenda; Durham, NC $1,500
(Grassroots Fund grant)
Designed to aid in the self-development and empowerment of young African-American women, this group uses workshops, support groups and community outreach to address cultural, social and economic issues. The "Journey Toward Womanhood" thirteen week program for girls addresses teen pregnancy, drugs, depression and education issues. The new "Women in Prison Outreach" initiative also epitomizes the group's philosophy of sisterhood, self-knowledge, self-development and self-esteem. back to top

Workers
Black Workers for Justice;
College Park, GA $5,000
Focused in North Carolina and Georgia, BWFJ works with low-income workers around issues of worker empowerment, workplace fairness, health and organizing issues. Supporting both union and non-union workers, the group holds "Worker's Schools", and participates in a wide range of campaigns to increase awareness of worker issues. back to top

Youth
The East; Charleston, SC $4,000
Sponsoring a "School of History and Culture", an "Economic Commission", and a "Political Commission" this youth training, educational, social and cultural program involves and provides African-American youth a culturally sensitive supplement to the public school curriculum, while encouraging involvement in broader community political and cultural activities.

Youth Task Force; Atlanta, GA $4,000
A collective of youth and student organizers working on issues of environmental, social and economic justice throughout the South. The YTF educates, trains, mobilizes and networks young people, often on campuses of historically Black colleges, working to improve their schools, colleges and communities. back to top

Donor Advised Grants

Lesbian & Gay Vision 2000 Fund
The Experience; Sante Fe, NM	$40,000
Woman Vision; San Francisco, CA	$20,000
Phoebe Fund
Chee Hau Center; Atlanta, GA	$3,400
Progressive Fund
Alianza Hispana/Hispanic Alliance; Smithfield, NC	$500
Charlotte Organizing Project; Charlotte, NC	$648
Infiltrate the Enemy Camp; Summerville, SC	$500
Newtown Florist Club; Gainesville, GA	$500
Recognized First Nations Advocacy Group; Augusta, GA	$500
Scott's Branch '76 Foundation; Summerton, SC	$500
Taylor Co. Environmental Task Force; Butler, GA	$500
Telfair Co. Warriors for Justice; Helena, GA	$500
Women's Resource Center; Greensboro, NC	$500
Presente Fund
CAMI; Watsonville, CA	$1,000
Cantera; Santa Rosa, CA	$1,000
Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Atlantic, VA	$1,000
School of the America's Watch; Columbus, GA	$1,500
Southern Prison Ministry; Atlanta, GA	$3,000
Total Donor Advised Grants for the period:	$75,548

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