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Grantees by Category of Work
Culture/Media | Community Organizing | Constituency Organizing | Disability Rights | Environmental Justice | Gay/Lesbian | Health | Resources For Organizing | Women | Workers | Youth | Helen's Fund | Southern Funders Collaborative | Organizational Development | Sponsored Projects and the Grants Assistance Program | Donor Advised Fund Grants |

Community Organizing
Beallwood Area Neighborhood Development; Columbus, GA — $ 2,000 
Working to increase the involvement of low-income residents, this group is tackling housing, youth, and general community revitalization issues, while seeking to gain the cooperation of local government, churches and public agencies.

An inner-city neighborhood group has linked with a group of Black Farmers to form a food marketing co/op providing farm fresh produce, sold directly by area farmers, to Raleigh, NC.

Operation Spring Plant:
Oxford, NC — $2,500 (Grassroots Fund) 
This Rural Business Cooperative Development project brings together low–income minority farmers to cooperate in developing new strategies for economic survival and environmental safety.

Adding to their long history of community organizing success, PPP is moving to fully incorporate Latinos and youth into their community organizing and training programs.

Playing a role in the hugely successful march against the Confederate flag was only one small step for this coalition working to link labor, environmental, civil rights, and youth organizing groups.

Gentrification in eastern South Carolina not only means the displacement of elderly and low-income residents, but the dismantling of Gullah-Geeche culture as well. The East seeks to encourage the preservation of cultural traditions, while also working toward appropriate economic development to insure that people do not have to abandon their culture in order to maintain a livelihood. back to top

On April 14, 1999 the USDA agreed to a Consent Decree, admitting that for years the USDA had discriminated against Black farmers in its farm support programs. The Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association is working to insure that the terms of the Decree, which include cash payments to affected farmers, are adequately enforced, and to promote land retention and agricultural policies that will be fair for Black farmers in the future. This membership group sponsors workshops and seminars, and distributes a newsletter, all designed to help Black farmers become effective self-advocates for their own survival.

Over a decade ago Guatemalan immigrants began moving into Morganton, NC to work at a local Case Farms poultry-processing plant. This area is now home to one of the largest Mayan populations in the US. Working at area textile and furniture plants, both documented, and undocumented, workers struggle to build a new life in a new land. With the support of Catholic lay workers, Consejo de Desarrollo Comunitario Pop Wuj, is training leaders to effectively support the variety of groups and organizations that are forming among the new residents. Ranging from small businesses to music groups, and from native craftspeople, to soccer teams to civic groups, native leaders are emerging, and learning the skills to insure a healthy vibrant community life is maintained. back to top

Environmental Justice
FSC funds these groups with targeted support from the Turner Foundation and the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation.

To help build a network of active women advocates addressing public policy issues, promoting healthy, safe public policies. Atlanta WAND is playing a leading role in highlighting the dangers of Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX), designed to use incredibly deadly plutonium from nuclear weapons as an ingredient for fuel in nuclear power plants.

Working out of the new NFL Youth Education Town, this group will focus on educational programming for youth concerning lead paint awareness in low-income communities.

To help build awareness of community environmental issues, this group will promote a youth-driven "Picture Our Place" campaign designed to both clean-up the neighborhood and promote public policies to maintain an environmentally healthy community.

In the "most polluted ZIP code in GA" this gathering of activists addresses issues ranging from pesticide spraying in public schools, to monitoring the clean-up of four local super-fund sites, to protecting wild-life crossing local highways. Recent activity has included publicizing dangerous levels of toxins in locally caught fish, as well as forcing agencies to protect area youth from toxic areas that are not adequately marked and fenced to keep people away.

Working both with neighborhood youth, and nearby African American communities in South Carolina and Georgia, Harambee House works to increase the influence that minority communities have over public policy decisions on environmental issues, especially those related to the Savannah River Site Nuclear Weapons Facility.

In two low-income neighborhoods surrounded by multiple sources of air and ground water pollution, this organizing group struggles for environmental justice as well as sponsors youth development and neighborhood improvement programs.

These veteran organizers continue to amaze us all. While the Environmental Justice Project continues to work to promote a healthier local environment, they are now successfully developing youth leadership through "Bright Teens United for a Better Future" (B-TUFF). Growing alliances with local Hispanic groups is also promising inter-cultural work that could be a model of cooperation for small town organizing.

Linking several minority groups throughout the state, this network has opened an office in Raleigh to coordinate efforts to insure environmental justice in North Carolina. The groups address landfills, hazardous waste facilities, and hog operations, and actively seek to involve youth in their educational work.

A small town, multi-issue effort engaged in senior-citizen programming, economic development work, youth programs, and the promotion of the Clean Water Project that raises awareness of water quality issues in South Carolina.

Promoting minority citizen participation in environmental issues in South Georgia, this group has also launched South Tifton Youth Learning Environment (STYLE). With public officials owning some of the land (and companies) where illegal dumping occurred, getting total support for clean-up is not always easy.

With two SuperFund toxic sites in the same small minority community, and other sites under investigation, this group is building community awareness and support to insure that responsible and adequate cleanup occurs.

This leading regional networking and organizing group works with numerous low-income and minority communities on environmental justice and other civil rights issues.

Battling both past and potential future local environmental hazards, the Warriors have created a strong voice for a long oppressed community, and are focusing on youth development and long standing environmental abuses.

After focusing for years on youth development, housing and economic development, YIP is now working with other local groups to develop a Community Environmental Resource Center in one of the most historically polluted communities in the state. back to top

Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered 
Grants in this issue area are from the targeted "Southern Outlook Fund".

For support of a photographic documentary on lesbians with cancer, and their partners. The exhibit will be transportable, and will be displayed in a variety of settings to promote the work of the Initiative.

This progressive Baptist group is developing resources to encourage Baptist congregations to undertake intentional conversations on sexual orientation and Christian faith.

This sponsoring group of annual Pride celebrations is expanding into year-round and statewide programming to reach more people and expand support for lesbian and gay concerns with an immediate focus on pending hate crime legislation.

This regional organizing group works to link people's understanding of racism, sexism, and economic injustice with lesbian, gay, and transgender organizing and issues in the South. back to top

Health
Open Door Community; Atlanta, GA — $2,000
Uniting many of Atlanta's low-income advocacy groups, the Grady Hospital Campaign Coalition, coordinated by the Open Door Community, is advocating for continued affordable care for the poor at Georgia's largest public hospital, and for the broader goal of health care as a human right for everyone.

Resources for Organizing
Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide; Atlanta, GA — $2,500 

Sponsoring the Atlanta Book Club discussions and conducting research on poverty and training of low-income neighborhood leaders, Project South is the popular education leader, linking academics, activists, and grassroots leaders concerned with more equitable social and economic policies. back to top

Women
Atlanta Working Women — 9 to 5;
Atlanta, GA — $ 2,000 
To support "Making It Work: Organizing for Meaningful Welfare Reform" building connections between women working in low wage jobs, and women making the transition from welfare to work so as to provide a powerful voice for women in poverty. The aim is to build a constituency controlled organization that will work for and win victories for workplace reform and decent welfare reform.

Working with low–income working women in eastern North Carolina (primarily poultry workers) around issues of pay, workplace safety and working conditions, CWEA serves as a refuge and source of hope for women searching for alternatives and possible remedies to the oppression experienced by thousands in this rural area.

Promotes leadership development activities among low-income women in Eastern NC. Even before the devastation of Hurricane Floyd the region needed more strong leaders to organize and advocate for economic development, and women's and workers' rights. Now more than ever, local leadership is critical to effectively dealing with relief and rebuilding efforts in low-income communities.

Providing support and self-help work for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, this group helps women avoid falling back into the judicial system which provides little help of its own.

This group will provide training (the Women's Empowerment Institute) designed to increase the number of women skillfully addressing state policy issues. Participants will gain the skills needed to plan and implement a public policy agenda in their own community. The process includes training classes, community workshops, observation of the legislative process, mentoring and networking. back to top

Workers
Georgia Injured Workers Union;
Atlanta, GA — $ 1,000
With a mission to inform injured workers about their rights, to provide information on available community services, and to organize injured workers so their voices will be heard, this group seeks to support people and help them through the maze they face after losing work due to a job injury. The group also serves as advocates on policy issues, and on individual workers' cases.

For the organizing work of the Asociacion de Trabajadores Latinos de Norte Carolina. This association will advocate for the rights of immigrant workers, focus on leadership development, provide training to Latino community members on workplace rights, and work to build alliances between African American and Latino workers. back to top

Youth
Camp Agape; Clinton, NC — $2,000 
This rural area youth development program provides recreation, social, leadership development, and educational support to area youth. Their purpose is simple: Stop youth violence, build character and self-esteem, and promote self-determination among low-income at-risk youth in the area.

Working with youth and parents on education, recreation, after-school and community improvement issues, this dynamic group has raised youth issues to the forefront of community concerns.

To support the Street Soldier Mentoring Program with youth, the beginning of a comprehensive plan to develop youth and community improvement programs in this small west Georgia town.

This local community organizing effort is sponsoring a youth-led group conducting leadership training and organizing on education, economic and community issues.

Providing culturally sensitive African American youth leadership development in rural eastern North Carolina, the Samaritan Project reaches out and involves youth where there are few other options for positive enrichment and service to their community. back to top

Helen's Fund Youth Award Winners
Helen's Fund awards annually honor groups with a meritorious history of work impacting on youth in the South. The awards were endowed by Westy and Betsy Fenhagen to honor the memory of Helen Fenhagen. This year's awards went to:

• Dispute Settlement Center of Orange Co; Carrboro, NC — $5,000
• Esther Project; Darien, GA — $2,000
• Student Action with Farmworkers; Durham, NC — $1,400 back to top

The Southern Funders Collaborative Awards Multiple year grants
The Fund for Southern Communities is pleased to be a part of the Southern Funders Collaborative, along with Appalachian Community Fund, and the Southern Partners Fund. Through a grant received from the Ford Foundation, this collaborative made its first round of grants, totaling $356,900 to 11 groups spread across the Collaborative's seven state range. The multi-year grants are designed to increase the capacity of community organizing groups in the South.

The following groups received multi-year grants:

• Black Workers for Justice -
  Riverdale, Georgia
  
• Carolina Alliance for Fair Employment -
  Greenville, South Carolina
  
• Center for Community Action -
  Lumberton, North Carolina
  
• Citizens for Quality Education, Inc -
  Lexington, Mississippi
  
• Community Farm Alliance -
  Frankfort, Kentucky
  
• Concerned Citizens for Tunica County -
  Tunica, Mississippi
  
• Esperanza Peace and Justice Center -
  San Antonio, Texas
  
• LaMujer Obrera Program -
  El Paso, Texas
  
• Solutions to Issues of Concern -
  Knoxville, Tennessee
  
• Southerners On New Ground -
  Durham, North Carolina
  
• Tennesseans for Fair Taxation -
  Knoxville, Tennessee back to top

Organizational Development Grants
Recipients of program grants from FSC are eligible to receive additional "training" monies to improve their operational capacity from FSC's "Organizational Development Fund", supported by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation with matching money from the Fonda Family Foundation and many FSC contributors. Recent grants have been awarded to:

• Atlanta Lesbian Cancer Initiative,
  Atlanta, $1,000
  
• Center for Women's Economic Alternatives, Ahoskie, NC $2,000
  
• Concerned Citizens of Vance Co.,
  Henderson, NC $336
  
• Golden Gate Christian Academy,
  Timmonsville, SC $680
  
• My Brothaz H.O.M.E.,
  Savannah, GA $1,000
  
• Newtown Florist Club,
  Gainesville, GA $422
  
• Piedmont Peace Project,
  Kannapolis, NC $2,000
  
• Women's Policy Group,
  Atlanta $1,500
  
• Woolfolk Citizens Response Group,
  Ft. Valley, GA $1,000
  
• ZAMI, Decatur, GA $2,000 back to top

Sponsored Projects and
the Grants Assistance Program 
In addition to grantmaking, FSC provides administrative assistance to several projects, and we work with projects and private foundations to provide funding for participants of the Grants Assistance Program. The groups involved in this work include the following:

• ADAPT-Georgia; Decatur
• Atlanta Lambda Center
• Black and White Men Together
• Atlanta Black Men for the Eradication of Sexism
• Atlanta Center for Children and Education
• Macon, GA Cobb Citizen's Coalition, Marietta, GA
• Georgia Rural/Urban Summit, Decatur, GA
• Grass Roots Recycling Network, Athens, GA
• Lakewood Amphitheater Community Fund
• Atlanta Safely Treating Our Pollution, Atlanta
• Second Sunday, Atlanta
• Southeast Waters-Americorps, Atlanta
• Southern Collaborative for Organizational Development, Atlanta 
• Waste Not Georgia, Smyrna
• ZAMI, Decatur, GA back to top

Donor Advised Funds
Major donors to FSC may establish a Donor Advised Account, allowing them to recommend grants to be made from their donations. Donor Advised accounts provide donors with tax advantages, and the assistance of FSC staff in locating organizations worthy of funding. Grants from Donor Advised Funds may be made outside of FSC's primary three-state region, and in broader issue areas than FSC's general grant priorities. The following grants were awarded from Donor Advised Funds during 2000:

• Alternate ROOTS; Atlanta, GA — $4,685 
• Asociacion Movimiento de Mujeres "Melida Anaya Montes"; Urbanizacion Palomo — $2,000
• Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America; Charlotte, NC — $1,000
• Berea College; Berea, KY — $500
• CoCoDA; Indianapolis, IN — $5,000
• Consejo de Desarrollo Comunitario Pop Wuj; Morganton, NC — $2,376
• Ecumenical Development Corporation; New York, NY — $1,000
• EmPOWERment; Carrboro, NC — $5,000
• Federation of Southern Cooperatives; East Point, GA — $1,000
• Finca Peru; Lima, Peru — $2,000
• Friends of Cantera; Santa Rosa, CA — $5,000
• FUNDEMUP; Managua, Nicaragua — $7,000
• Funding Exchange; NY, NY — $1,000
• Habitat for Humanity; Americus, GA — $1,000
• Heifer Project International; Little Rock, AR — $500
• Highland Support Project; Richmond, VA — $1,000
• Highlander Research and Education Center, New Market, TN — $200
• Hobson United Methodist Church; Nashville, TN — $1,000
• Institute for Policy Studies; Washington, DC — $1,000
• International Labor Rights Fund; Washington, DC — $2,000
• International Ministries, Presbyterian Church In Canada; Toronto, Ontario, CA — $2,000
• Jubilee Partners; Comer, GA — $300
• Koinonia Partners; Americus, GA $200
• Mid-South Peace and Justice Center; Memphis, TN — $500
• Methodist Federation for Social Action; Washington, DC — $500
• Nicaragua - US Friendship Office; Washington, DC — $10,000
• Nicaraguan Network Educational Fund; Washington, DC — $2,500
• Oxfam America; Boston, MA — $2,300
• Planned Parenthood of SW Florida; Sarasota, FL — $300
• Quixote Center/Quest for Peace; Hyattsville, MD — $5,000
• Revelation SEED Workshop; Atlanta, GA — $453
• Share Foundation; San Francisco, CA — $5,000
• Southern Empowerment Project; Maryville, TN — $2,000
• St. Thomas Presbyterian Church; Houston, TX — $20,000
• Sullivan Center, Atlanta, GA — $5,000
• Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network; Knoxville, TN — $1,000
• Third World Development; Crestline. CA — $5,000
• Universidad Don Bosco; Soyopango, El Salvador — $9,730

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