Open Grants of Coastal Community Foundation Announces $330,000+ in Awards

Annual program supported 49 nonprofits in Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown Counties for 2016

CHARLESTON, S.C.: November 2, 2016 –Coastal Community Foundation is proud to announce funding of $331,890 for 49 local nonprofits that support the arts, education, environment, health, human needs and community development in Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown counties. The program, in its twentieth year of funding, has awarded $5 million since inception.
Funding allocation is decided by an ad hoc committee of volunteer community members. Nonprofits funded through Open Grants work on a range of issues related to the arts, education, environment, health, human needs and neighborhood and community development. For example, Summerville Family YMCA will use their grant to support the Diabetes Prevention Program. With one-third of U.S. adults having pre-diabetes, but only 10 percent aware they do, outreach and education are essential to preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes. Summerville Family YMCA’s program will focus on Type 2 diabetes through a 12-month group-based program available to all members of the community, while targeting at-risk un- and underinsured individuals.
Another grantee, Historic Charleston Foundation will focus their support on designing and establishing a local community land trust (CLT) for Charleston. CLTs create permanent affordably-priced housing by both building new homes and rehabilitating old homes; the CLT obtains financial support to lower the purchase price of the homes and commits to keeping the house affordable forever. A collaboration between HCF, the City of Charleston, the Charleston Housing Authority and other community partners, the creation of a CLT will be a critical component to maintaining housing affordability in Charleston’s historic neighborhoods.
The Gullah Society, a nonprofit created to provide meaningful representations of Gullah Geechee culture to the public by preserving, promoting and perpetuating their cultural traditions, will use their grant to preserve sacred burial sites on Daniel Island, Edisto Island, in North Charleston and on Wadmalaw Island. Rather than simply preserve the sites themselves, The Gullah Society will build the capacity of local community members by teaching them how to document, preserve and restore these sites themselves.
Open Grants was established in 1985 to improve quality of life by supporting the network of nonprofits that serve the Lowcountry community. For more information about Open Grants or Coastal Community Foundation, please visit https://coastalcommunityfoundation.org/ or contact Caroline Mullis, Program Officer, at caroline@coastalcommunityfoundation.org.

2016 Open Grant Recipients (Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown Counties)
American Red Cross – Lowcountry SC Chapter
ARK of SC
Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic
Carolina Art Association (The Gibbes Museum of Art)
Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation
Center for Women
Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding
Charleston Legal Access
Charleston Museum
Charleston Orphan House (Carolina Youth Development Center)
Charleston Parks Conservancy
Charleston Waterkeeper
Chucktown Squash Scholars
Clap Your Hands
Coastal Conservation League
Communities In Schools – Charleston
Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center
Dorchester Children’s Center
East Cooper Community Outreach
East Cooper Meals on Wheels
Eastside Community Development Corporation
Florence Crittenton Programs of SC
The Gullah Society
HALOS
Historic Charleston Foundation
Loving America Street
Lowcountry Food Bank
Lowcountry Land Trust
Lowcountry Local First
Meeting Street Schools
Metanoia
North Charleston POPS!
Operation Sight
Origin SC
Our Lady of Mercy Outreach
Pawleys Island Festival of Music and Art
Planned Parenthood – Charleston
Reading Partners Charleston
Roscoe Reading Program
SC Environmental Law Project
Sea Island Habitat for Humanity
Smalls Institute for Music
Summerville Family YMCA
The Sustainability Institute
Teachers’ Supply Closet
Trident Literacy Association
Turning Leaf Project
WINGS for Kids
About Coastal Community Foundation: Coastal Community Foundation empowers individuals, families and organizations to make a lasting impact through permanent, endowed funds for charitable giving. The Foundation serves Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry and Jasper counties. To learn more, go to www.coastalcommunityfoundation.org or call (843) 723-3635.

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