Spring 2001 Grantees

Funds for these grants come from general contributions by individuals, as well as targeted contributions to the Southern Outlook Fund, Grassroots Fund, and the Modjeska Simkins Fund. Several private foundations also support FSC grantmaking, including the Fonda Family Foundation, the Gill Foundation, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Turner Foundation, and the Vanguard Public Foundation.

Culture/Media
City at Peace-Charlotte;
Charlotte, NC $1,000
This youth theater group produces and performs multi-media productions designed to help young people successfully cope with the increasingly diverse world in which they are growing up. Dealing with issues of race, discrimination, sexual identity, and violence prevention, the program targets both its own "cast" members, and the audiences they perform for, as the beneficiaries of the awareness building work they do.

Working Films; Wilmington, NC $2,000
Using film and video as tools for organizing is the aim of this new NC based group. With films such as "From Farm to Fast Food: On the Job in NC", "Invisible Revolution" and "Tobacco Blues" the issues of workers' rights, race, sexual orientation, abortion rights, and economic justice issues are raised by high quality filmmakers. Working Films then works with schools, churches and community groups to insure the productions are seen, and discussed in such a way that people are encouraged to act on the messages in the films. back to top

Community Organizing
Citizens United for Progress;
Red Springs, NC $3,500
In Southeastern NC the Center for Community Action has long worked to build a multi-racial citizens' organization among Native American, African American and European American groups. Citizens United for Progress has emerged as a local membership group of this larger organization, working for public school excellence, leadership development, accountable public officials, and encouraging citizen participation in public affairs.

Constituency Organizing
Athens Justice Project; Athens, GA $3,000
This new community-based effort is working to combine effective legal representation and social services for indigent persons involved in the criminal justice system. With a strong emphasis on needed alcohol and drug treatment the project works to increase the chances a person will successfully work their way free of the judicial system and maintain the effective social ties needed to remain productive. back to top

Disability Rights
Public Housing Advocacy for Disability
and Diversity;
Atlanta, GA $4,000
Low income people with disabilities living in Atlanta's public housing can use as many friends as they can get, but need to learn to actively advocate for their own rights as well. "Public Housing Advocacy for Disability and Diversity" not only represents the interest of residents with disabilities, but also provides training opportunities so people can become advocates on their own. back to top

Environment
Anson County Citizens Against Chemical Toxins in Underground Storage (CACTUS);
Wadesboro, NC $2,500
With over 300 members, CACTUS represents local citizens in a range of efforts to protect the environment and low-income communities in the area from environmental contamination. It's present battle is against a multi-state solid waste landfill adjacent to an African-American community in Polkton. They plan their own air quality monitoring as a means of obtaining better information on pollution than the state currently gathers.

Concerned Citizens of Vance Co. Hwy 39N;
Henderson, NC $8,000
When the water smelled too bad to even take a shower, people were fed up. Lead by four neighborhood women "Concerned Citizens…" raised enough ruckus to force the County to admit the wells in the Black and Latino communities were in fact so contaminated that even showering was a health hazard due to the fumes in the steam! With a deserted city dump, a waste-water treatment facility, a County land-fill, and a Solid Waste Transfer Station all in a two mile stretch of highway, it's little surprise the ground water had become contaminated. After several stops and starts, cleaner city water may finally be on the way, but only because people have forced officials to face a problem they wanted to ignore.

Georgia Poultry Justice Alliance;
Atlanta, GA $2,500
This alliance of farmworkers, unions, religious groups, environmentalists and family chicken farmers is working to develop a sustainable model of for the production of poultry. The ideal model would provide safe working conditions, fair wages and benefits for plant workers and catchers; fair contracts for poultry growers and reasonable environmental controls to adequately protect Georgia's waterways and drinking supplies.

Glynn Environmental Coalition;
Brunswick, GA $2,500
This broad network of people addresses a range of community environmental issues including deserted toxic waste sites, pesticide spraying in schools, and operating polluting industries. With Glynn Co. home to seventeen identifies hazardous waste sites, four Superfund Sites, and six actively polluting industries, the Coalition fortunately has a loyal band of volunteers to maintain the needed public pressure to get things done. Their years of experience, and success, also has lead them to providing assistance to newer groups facing environmental threats for the first time.

Harambee House;
Savannah, GA $7,500
With a special focus on minority youth, Harambee House works to increase citizen input into public and environmental policy decision making. They have become leaders in community education around the technology of Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication that is being proposed as a primary method of disposing of surplus plutonium at the Savannah River Site.

Newtown Florist Club;
Gainesville, GA $7,500
Continuing its work to protect the environmental health of community residents, this group is also forming closer alliances with the growing Hispanic population in the area. With its history of successful youth leadership development, voting rights activism, and anti-racism campaigns, the Florist Club is still expanding its model of community organizing that other communities continue to benefit from.

North Carolina Environmental Justice Network;
Tillery, NC $7,000
Linking various minority-community efforts to protect themselves from existing environmental dangers, or head off newly emerging environmental threats, this network is supporting a range of causes as it encourages cooperation and peer support among its membership.

People Working for People;
Tifton, GA $5,000
In South Georgia the African-American community has long fought for clean-up of toxic waste sites left by deserted industrial operations. The community organizing has also lead to a successful youth leadership development program, and broadly ranging community health education efforts. They are continuing to work to develop more skilled and active community leaders to insure that the voices of low-income residents are heard, and listened to.

Southeast Georgia Communities Project;
Lyons, GA $7,000
Working with the growing Latino population in south Georgia, primarily agricultural workers, this project is working to insure worker safety through both their own awareness of worker rights, and safer practices by growers. They produce their own Sunday Spanish language radio show, publish a newsletter, provide English as a second language classes, and host a legal clinic dealing with immigration issues. The health and safety focus on pesticide use both trains workers on safety issues around pesticides, how they can report abuses, and also advocates for more responsible practices by growers. back to top

Gay/Lesbian
Carolina Rainbow Family Coalition;
Columbia, SC $1,000
Building a more active state-wide group of activists and an enlarged network of organizations representing lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people in the state, is the goal of this organization, as they "work peacefully to achieve equal protection under the law for all South Carolinians."

EN-ACTE Program;
Atlanta, GA $2,000
EN-ACTE involves youth in the development and presentation of theatre-based sexual health education messages. Age-appropriate plays are developed and workshops presented that include messages about HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, sexual identity and STD prevention. Working with schools, after school programs, and youth organizations in rural areas, EN-ACTE works to remind youth that they have a choice, and the power, to make healthy decisions for themselves.

Equality NC Project;
Raleigh, NC $1,000
Equality NC encourages broad participation in the public policy making process in the state, focusing on awareness building around policies to insure justice and equal rights for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people.

Lesbian Health Resource Center;
Durham, NC $1,000
This new Resource Center will be developing a "Lesbian Health Curricula" aimed at medical providers in the Triangle area, and will be producing and distributing a listing of providers who deliver culturally sensitive health care services.

Macon Pride; Macon, GA $1,000
Sponsoring a range of social, political, educational and cultural activities, Macon Pride works to support and strengthen middle Georgia's lgbt community, as well as promoting community wide tolerance.

Southerners on New Ground (SONG);
Durham, NC $3,000
Yes, homophobia exists within civil rights and environmental groups, the same way racism exists within lgbt groups. Working with other groups around the South, SONG educates and activates groups to counter hate, discrimination and injustice, and to understand relationships and the interconnectedness of issues. SONG encourages people to understand and acknowledge that economic justice and race issues should be dealt with purposefully by all groups. SONG helps people "connect the dots" among sometimes seemingly diverse issue areas.

Triangle Community Works;
Raleigh, NC $1,000
TCW is working to establish and maintain a coalition of people, organizations and programs in the Triangle, to insure a safe, healthy, and life-affirming environment. The FSC grant will support a "Listening Project" to help build "A Safer Place Youth Network", focused in Wake County.back to top

Anti-Racist Work
Cook County Advocates for Social
and Economic Justice;
Sparks, GA $ 3,000
Countering decades of discrimination, while trying to "win friends and influence people" can be a thin tight-rope on which to maintain your balance. This group is working to build and empower its membership within the African-American community, while pressuring the broader community for employment and judicial reforms. If local organizing is not enough, they will be working with legal and organizing experts from around the South to seek the justice they are demanding in South Georgia. back to top

Resources For Organizing
Project South;
Atlanta, GA $ 1,500
Project South produces popular education materials and works with low-income communities to build community awareness of organizing strategies and issues affecting working people. The "Georgia Research Project" will include residents in gathering oral histories and statistical information from low-income rural and urban communities, designed to provide the information, and the training, that can lead to people transforming their own communities. back to top

Women's Rights
Atlanta Working Women -- 9 to 5;
Atlanta, GA $1,500
For support of a "Living Wage Campaign" in the city of Atlanta, seeking to increase the minimum wage for workers to lift people above the federally defined poverty level. Successful campaigns in other cities have forced firms with government contracts, or publicly supported subsidies, to increase their minimum pay dramatically. The concept is simple-public money should not be used to subsidize poverty wage work! Living Wage policies now exist in over 50 communities, and have not led to the loss of jobs that nay-sayers predicted would occur.

Center for Women's Economic Alternatives; Murfreesboro, NC $1,500
Low-income African-American women in Northeastern NC are becoming totally disabled at alarming rates while working on processing lines in poultry plants and sewing factories. When injuries occur, workers are often terminated, and companies try to avoid any responsibility, while women are left with no way to sustain their families. CWEA is building membership groups of affected workers to advocate for worker rights, safety, and benefits, providing leadership training to women willing to step forward and be leaders. back to top

Youth
Center for Educational Equity;
Greenville, SC $4,000
Focusing on insuring that every child gets a quality public school education, this group is working on increased parent involvement as a key means to improving children's education. Focusing especially in low-income communities, CEE is increasing the commitment of parents to continue to push for the best for their kids, and showing that parent involvement can make a big difference.

I T E C Youth Services;
Summerville, SC $ 1,500
With successful after-school programs in public housing, and youth leadership development training already in place, ITEC is expanding to provide a mobile tutoring program, utilizing a computer equiped RV and bus to reach rural areas for after-school activities, including peer tutoring and youth lead programs.

Mekye Center;
Durham, NC $1,500
Focusing on children with different learning styles, the Mekye Center is providing out of school and weekend learning opportunities while also advocating to improve public school programs for children with special needs. back to top

2001 Helen's Fund Awards Presented
"Helen's Fund" at the Fund for Southern Communities is pleased to announce the winners of the 2001 Awards for Excellence in work affecting young people in the South. The awards, endowed by Westy and Betsy Fenhagen of North Carolina, recognize groups that have demonstrated successful work to impact and improve the lives of young people. The 2001 winners are:

Center for Educational Equity,
Greenville, SC $1,300
Working to increase public school parent involvement for quality education.
 

Durham County Teen Court
and Restitution Program,
Durham, NC $5,000
Working for fair treatment of youthful offenders.
 

NC Lambda Youth Network,
Durham, NC $2,000
Supporting lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender and questioning youth. 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

Donor Advised Fund Grants
Major contributors to FSC may also established Donor Advised Accounts, enabling them to recommend specific groups to receive grants. The following grants were recently approved by the FSC Board:

• Dandelion Fund, in Western NC
   

• Access Independent Living; Asheville, $950
   

• Asheville Global Report; Asheville $600
   

• Canary Coalition, Whittier, NC $700
   

• Community of Compassion, Asheville $100
   

• Livid Puppets, Asheville, $300
   

• Revitalize, Energize, Educate & Prepare,
  Murphy, NC $1,000
   

• ROOTS, Asheville, $950
   

• Rural Southern Voice for Peace,
  Burnsville, NC $700
   

• Students of Active Resistance;
  Asheville $400

Recently approved grants recommended by people who wish to remain anonymous include:
 

• Asociacion Movimiento de Mujeres "Melida Anaya Montes"; El Salvador, $2,000
   

• TransFair, USA; Oakland, CA $1,150