BCF: Safety Net Grant Program

From Brookline Community Foundation

The Brookline Community Foundation is dedicated to creating opportunity and fostering equity through the power of giving. As the sole foundation focused on the comprehensive needs of Brookline, their mission is to embody and promote a practice of inclusive and equitable support for the community, ensuring a better quality of life for all within it.

Type of Support

Overview

The Brookline Community Foundation's Grant Programs aim to realize a vision of an equitable Brookline, where identity factors do not influence individual needs for thriving or survival. They are committed to addressing the heightened challenges faced by BIPOC and other vulnerable groups in Brookline, emphasizing transformative investments towards an inclusive society. The Safety Net Grant Program particularly supports organizations offering crucial services and emergency assistance to those severely affected by the pandemic or other crises, with a broad focus on essential services like direct cash, rental aid, food access, utility payments, and childcare support. This initiative is key to promoting health, wellness, safety, and a sense of belonging within the Brookline community.

Eligibility

Organization's Location
USA
Program Location
MA (Norfolk County)
Organization Type
501(c)(3) nonprofits
Town departments or agencies
Community groups
Other
  • Organizations currently funded through other BCF grant programs are also eligible
  • Proposed projects or programs must directly benefit the Brookline community (defined as those who live, learn, work, or play in Brookline)
  • Applicants must not discriminate in hiring or services based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or disability
  • BCF may invite organizations for multi-year grant requests, especially those with past Safety Net funding

Ineligibility

Individuals seeking direct cash assistance
Organizations without a distribution plan for financial, rental, or utility assistance
Organizations that do not track and retain gift card recipient information for audit purposes
up to 30k

Submission

Review Criteria

Consistent with our foundation’s goals and funding preferences, during our assessment of submissions, we will prioritize support for community organizations and groups that:

  • Strive to promote fairness by eliminating obstacles to opportunities, addressing the immediate needs arising from disparities, and tackling fundamental issues causing inequities such as poverty or discrimination;
  • Are directed by or substantially involve BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) leadership, and/or;
  • Concentrate their efforts on serving BIPOC and other groups exposed to vulnerability.

For the purposes of our grant initiative, an organization or group is regarded as BIPOC-led if it satisfies any one of the following criteria:

  • The person holding the position of Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer or the Board Chair is a BIPOC individual.
  • At least half of the organization’s leadership staff or program directors are BIPOC individuals.
  • BIPOC individuals constitute 50% or more of the board membership.

Similar grants

2k – 10k
Due 2/16/25 and 5/31/25
The Connection, Health, & Equity through Food (CHEF) Grant Program
Maine Council on Aging
Food security
Mental health care
Senior services