WS Chronicle

(Above: Experiment in Self Reliance is one of the grant recipients)

Grant recipients to be honored

The Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) awarded $15,000 in grants in late 2014 from the Black Philanthropy Fund’s seventh grant cycle, supporting programs that are improving the lives of African-Americans in the areas of education, parenting and financial literacy.

The nonprofit will hold a grant reception honoring BPI’s grantees on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Experiment in Self Reliance’s new facility, 3480 Dominion St.

A continental breakfast will be provided at 8:30 a.m. with a program to follow at 9 a.m. RSVP to Leila Warren at lwarren@wsfoundation.org.

Grants were awarded to:

*Experiment in Self Reliance: $5,000 to support the New Century Individual Development Account (IDA) program to help more working low-income individuals become financially stable, and to ultimately become first-time homebuyers.

Experiment in Self Reliance will provide IDA program graduates who have purchased a home with additional financial literacy classes to reinforce best practices of long-term financial success.

In addition, each graduate is paired with a success coach who will gather information from the graduates regarding their financial stability to help enhance the IDA program for future participants and to research the program’s long-term impact.

*Empowering Girls in Real Life Situations: $5,000 to support a program for girls and teens that builds self-esteem through education and mentoring.

The program provides group discussions on issues that the girls may be experiencing, mentoring, college tours, etiquette training and a community service project.

The program is being offered at Philo Middle School and Parkland High School during the 2014-2015 school year.

*School Health Alliance for Forsyth County: $5,000 to support a behavioral treatment project for students and families at Ashley Elementary who are affected by attention deficit/hyper activity disorder (ADHD).

The 18-week pilot program will provide parents with up-to-date information on ADHD treatment, best practices on advocating for their children, parenting skills and opportunities to participate in team building exercises with their child’s teacher.

BPI also announced that its Black Philanthropy Initiative Endowment, which was established in 2014 with $25,000, has now grown to almost $68,000.

Income from this endowment will supplement funds that are raised annually to provide grant-making for programs supporting the African-American community.

First Tennessee Bank has also committed to a three-year $10,000 annual matching challenge grant to support the Initiative’s endowment.

Thanks to generous donor support, BPI received the first matching grant of $10,000 in 2014.

Alison Ashe-Card, chairwoman of the Black Philanthropy Initiative, said, “This is an exciting time for BPI: not only are we announcing grants that will strengthen our community, but we’re celebrating an exceptional year of growth in BPI’s endowment.

“We appreciate the support of our wonderful donors as well as the matching funds generously provided by First Tennessee Bank.”

The Black Philanthropy Fund was created through fundraising efforts of the Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI), which was established in 2000 to celebrate the traditions of sharing in the African-American community while expanding models of charitable giving through education and engagement.

Over the course of the past seven years, the Black Philanthropy Initiative has provided $128,200 in program grants to local nonprofits.