Category: Uncategorized

Allentown, Pa., May 13, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently issued $195,000 in grants to four area nonprofits providing services for homeless veterans. The Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund grants support projects that address transitional and supportive housing needs of homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley; veteran-centric case management:/counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance, and life-skills; or other veteran-oriented programs.

Nonprofit organizations receiving grants in 2021 include:

Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities Supportive Services for Veteran Families

Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)
SALUTE (Support with Assistance, Learning, Unity, Transition and Employment)

New Bethany Ministries
Homeless Veterans Housing Assistance

Victory House of Lehigh Valley
Veteran Service-Intensive Transitional Housing Program

Lehigh County government established the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund at the Community Foundation in 2019 to provide grants to charitable organizations for programs supporting homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley. The county established a committee of five people with experience in veterans’ services or housing programs, finance and administration to allocate the money in grants to charitable organizations for services for homeless veterans in the Valley. In 2020, the Fund distributed $30,000 in grants to Catholic Charities, Safe Harbor of Easton, and Victory House for programs supporting homeless veterans.

This 2021 round of Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund grants were made possible thanks to state grant funding secured by Senate Appropriations Chairman Pat Browne (16th District) in 2020, which was the largest state commitment specifically targeted towards assisting homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley.  “Tragically, many of our country’s brave men and women find themselves without stable housing or are living on the street,” Senator Browne said. “These resources from the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund will help to ensure that pathways to sustainable housing, job placement and mental health services are available to our area’s homeless veterans’. I want to thank all of the community and agency partners throughout the Lehigh Valley working to help those who have courageously served our nation.”

“It’s been a struggle over the past several years to find funding to overcome the federal cuts,” noted Thomas Applebach, Director of the Lehigh County Office of Veterans Affairs and Chair of the committee that oversees the grants.“This money is helping our partner agencies sustain their programs to house our homeless vets and help to fund new and innovative programs,” he continued. “We thank Senator Pat Browne and the state of Pennsylvania for enabling us to provide these significant grants to support homeless veterans in our area.”

For more information or to make a gift to the fund, visit the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund page on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation website.

-end-

Media Contacts:

Michael Wilson
Director of Communications, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation
484-695-3277 wilson@lvcfoudation.org

Thomas L. Applebach, MPA
Director, Office of Veterans Affairs, County of Lehigh
610-782-3295 ThomasApplebach@lehighcounty.org

Matt Szuchyt
Deputy Director of Policy & Communications
Office of Senator Pat Browne
610-821-8468 mszuchyt@pasen.gov

Allentown, Pa., May 7, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently issued $30,000 grants from the Substance Use Disorder Fund to organizations providing substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services. The grants will support programs at two organizations that were also funded in 2020:

• Recovery Revolution, Inc. – ‘On the Road’ to Revolution project provides transportation with a CRS to treatment
• Humanitarian Social Innovations (as fiscal sponsor) – Bridge Beyond Addiction project provides rent assistance for those entering sober living centers

The grants were made possible through an area-of-interest fund established by Barry Kessler who along with the Community Foundation in 2020 embarked on an effort to better understand the opioid epidemic in the Lehigh Valley.  The Foundation engaged county governments and nonprofits addressing the issue, with the goal of identifying funding gaps where private philanthropy can make an impact. 

In February 2020, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation invited fourteen organizations to apply for multi-year grants to address specific areas in the substance use disorder field. The Foundation sought to support areas that are not typically funded by federal or commonwealth sources but that are in need of financial support. Grants were issued to three nonprofit organizations that were providing substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and/or recovery services. Two of those organizations were funded a second time as part of the initiative.

“The Community Foundation’s work with Barry Kessler has been a great example of the melding of donor interests and Foundation work,” explained LVCF’s Erika Riddle Petrozelli.  “We have received feedback from Mr. Kessler that he greatly appreciates the connection to the Community Foundation and value we provide.”

“Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain,” noted Barry Kessler. “I believe it is a road to human suffering on a scale only an addict can know. It could destroy the very fabric of our society and I want to help in a targeted way to address the problem. LVCF has helped me find a way to focus on this critical health issue.”

For more information on the Substance Use Disorder Fund, click here.

Allentown, Pa., March 30, 2021—The Upper Bucks Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation issued $27,500 in grants to area nonprofit organizations. The Fund consists primarily of two area-of-interest funds. The Richard E. Gasser Fund and Erwin J. and Gertrude K. Neusch Fund are for organizations and programs primarily serving the Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown School Districts in the Upper Bucks area.

These grants were made at the recommendation of the advisory committee for the Upper Bucks Community Fund, a geographic affiliate of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. “The Upper Bucks Community Fund Advisory Group carefully considered each application in accordance to the fund’s priorities,” said Megan Briggs, director of community investments at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. “After a very thorough discussion about all the excellent applications, the Advisory Group worked together to recommend the final grant awards. Each member contributed their own depth of knowledge about the Upper Bucks region to award projects and programs that will increase the quality of life for Upper Bucks residents.”

The following organizations received grants for programs from the fund in spring of 2021:

• YMCA of Bucks County
  Upper Bucks Student Success Program
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
  DEI training on LGBTQ cultural awareness & equity for youth-serving agencies in Upper Bucks County
• Bucks County Opportunity Council
  Supporting Upper Bucks County, low-income clients working toward Economic Self-Sufficiency
• The “Drop” at the Quakertown Community Center
  The “Drop” at the Quakertown Community Center
• Quakertown Band
  Provide a safe and sanitary rehearsal environment for the Quakertown Band
• Heritage Conservancy
  Educating the Next Generation of Conservationists in Palisades School District
• National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc.
  Camp Invention STEM, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Programs in Upper Bucks County
• Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
  FreeWill
• Palisades Community Foundation
  Palisades Community Foundation
• Quakertown Alive!
  2021 Arts Alive! Fine Arts Festival
• Quakertown Historical Society
  Burgess Foulke House/The Museum/Liberty Hall Labeling of Items on Display
• Riegelsville Public Library
  Art for Kids in the Summer

Learn more about the Upper Bucks Community Fund on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation website.

About the Upper Buck Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

The Upper Bucks Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, a geographic affiliate of Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, consists primarily of two area-of-interest funds. The Richard E. Gasser Fund and Erwin J. and Gertrude K. Neusch Fund are for organizations and programs primarily serving the Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown School Districts in the Upper Bucks area. Recently added to Upper Bucks umbrella, The Bucks County Free Library Endowment Fund is an agency fund that benefits the seven-branch county library system with locations in Bensalem, Doylestown, Langhorne, Levittown, Perkasie, Quakertown, and Yardley-Makefield.

Allentown, Pa., March 24, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently issued grants that support professional development initiatives for nonprofit leaders in the Lehigh Valley. The grants were sent to the organization’s key leaders to be used at their discretion. They are the ones who know what activities best fit their organization’s needs. 

Organizations receiving the $2,000 grants for 2020-21 are:  

• Foundation of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley, Inc. 
• Dress for Success Allentown 
• SELF LV 
• The Ortiz Ark Foundation 
• Unidos Foundation  
• Change Now Inc  
• Casa Oasis 

“We recognize the importance and impact that these professional development funds for nonprofit leaders are in helping ensure the continued growth and effectiveness of their organizations,” said Megan Briggs, director of community investments at the Community Foundation. “Too often professional development is the first thing to be put on hold as organizations shift funding to meet other priorities.” 

Learn more about community investment at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation by visiting www.lvcfoundation.org. 

Allentown, Pa., March 18, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently eclipsed $75,000,000 in assets. This achievement is a result of both market growth and “organic” growth from new funds held by the Foundation. These assets generate funding to support nonprofit organizations.

“Assets of $75 million is another important milestone for the Community Foundation, and it is particularly meaningful after a challenging year,” said Erika Riddle Petrozelli, CEO.  “We are thankful to everyone for their support of the Foundation, being our ambassadors in the community and providing the helpful guidance and insight we need. We look forward to continuing our success and community impact in 2021 and beyond.”

Since its inception in 1967, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has issued more than $50 million in grants to 675 nonprofit organizations including $6.7 million in Fiscal Year 2020 to meet the needs of the community, making it one of the leading funders of nonprofits in the region.

The growth of the Community Foundation is a reflection of the philanthropic spirit that lives in the Lehigh Valley, wise investing for growth, and prudent fiscal stewardship of the Foundation’s funds. The Foundation strives to increase its impact through developing new funds and investing for growth to serve as a permanent source of funding for the Lehigh Valley.

The Lehigh Valley Community Foundation traces its roots to 1967 when community leaders in Bethlehem established an endowment with the $50,000 that remained after Bethlehem’s celebration of its 225th anniversary of its founding.   In 1992, the Bethlehem Area Foundation was renamed the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation to represent the greater region.

About Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

For five decades, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF is a philanthropic hub for the Lehigh Valley—and knows and navigates the landscape of the Lehigh Valley’s community’s needs to connect people who care to causes that matter. It is our mission to improve the quality of life in our region, to encourage collaboration among area philanthropists, and to serve as a source of information and expertise regarding charitable giving. Learn more, visit www.lvcfoundation.org

Allentown, Pa., March 15, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently provided $25,000 in grants from its COVID-19 Response Fund to nine nonprofit organizations.  The grants support the general operating expenses of these organizations who are providing needed childcare and family support services in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Organizations receiving the grants are:

• Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem
• Boys & Girls Club of Easton
• Children At-Promise Early Learning Center
• Communities in Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania
• Community Services for Children
• Family Connection of Easton
• Greater Valley YMCA
• Ortiz Ark Foundation
• Unidos Foundation

These grants build upon the funding that the Community Foundation has directed to COVID-19 relief during the past year. In April of 2020, the Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 response fund, a regional partnership of funders distributed over $320,000 to 43 nonprofits providing food, shelter, healthcare, income supports, and other essentials to our neighbors who live paycheck to paycheck, who are elderly, who have disabilities, or who are youth, among other vulnerable or marginalized populations in our community.  More than half of the funding went to “small” organizations who cannot always access other supports (e.g. federal stimulus), including grass-roots organizations who are the trusted providers and messengers in deeply impacted neighborhoods. The Community Foundation contributed $50,000 for its discretionary grantmaking to this phase. Learn more…

In May of 2020, the regional partnership of funders distributed $120,000 to 18 Lehigh Valley nonprofits.  While food and housing access and income supports remained a top priority, special consideration was given to organizations that focus on mental health or substance use, as well as organizations led by Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.  In this round, grant amounts ranged from $2,500 to $15,000, with almost $50,000 in total directed to organizations providing healthcare services such as mental health. LVCF contributed $30,000.  

In order to prepare for the recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the fall, the Community Foundation publicly launched Project Equity to engage communities in a co-design process of reimagining the Greater Lehigh Valley nonprofit sector to better reflect a new, post-COVID reality.  Through a co-design process, stakeholders work together to design or rethink a service.  Project Equity has invited the people most affected by COVID-19 and systemic inequities into the problem-solving and decision-making space to begin to shift the power structure that has perpetuated inequity. 

LVCF has directed $90,000 to this innovative approach and is co-leading the effort with the United Way and Faces International.  Project Equity is also supported by a grant from the United Philanthropy Forum’s Momentum Fund.  Project Equity is one of only three recipients in Pennsylvania of this competitive, national grant. To learn more about Project Equity, visit https://projectequitylv.com/.

About the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

For more than five decades, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF connects people who care to causes that matter, grow their charitable legacies, and fund nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life in the region. Learn more at: www.lvcfoundation.org

Allentown, Pa., March 1, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently announced the recipients of its 2020-2021 Nonprofit Effectiveness grants.  Nine Lehigh Valley nonprofits will participate in the Foundation’s program designed to build organizational capacity.

The Foundation launched the Nonprofit Effectiveness Program as a pilot in 2018 to provide targeted support to assist in strengthening nonprofit effectiveness in a variety of ways, partnering with nonprofits to build their internal infrastructure so that they may enhance their impact. The model included not only grant funding for a capacity-building project, but also offered grantees a Community of Practice, a space for cohort-based organizational development sessions and peer-to-peer engagement. 

To date, two full funding cycles have been completed. In the past two cycles of this program, the Community Foundation has distributed $240,000 in grants to support this initiative, along with additional investments in bringing in expert consultants to provide cohort-based professional facilitation. LVCF also has partnered with Two Rivers Health and Wellness Foundation in delivering this model to selected Two Rivers Health and Wellness Foundation grantees both in the 2019-2020 cycle and in the 2020-2021 cycle.

In 2021, LVCF is funding a new cohort of organizations that are led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and that serve Lehigh Valley’s Black and Brown communities. “The Foundation is supporting building the capacity of these organizations due to historical lack of funding to BIPOC-led organizations and the demonstrated impact of these organizations,” said Megan Briggs, director of community investments. “Targeted funding for organizational capacity-building is necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of these important organizations. We are so pleased to be partnering with this truly powerful group of nonprofits this year.”

The Lehigh Valley Community Foundation initiated this grant opportunity in recognition of the valuable role that BIPOC-led organizations have in providing culturally centered approaches in delivery of services and programs to the Lehigh Valley community. Each of the following organizations received a $14,000 grant for a project and will be participating in a 2021 Community of Practice, that will be specific to the desires and needs of the newly funded cohort:

• Afros in Nature – Afros in Nature Financial Viability Plan
• Black Heritage Association of the Lehigh Valley – Allentown Digital Inclusion Initiative
• Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem – Great Leaders Initiative
• Casa Guadalupe Center – Casa Communications/Technology Update
• Cohesion Network – Project Sustainability
• Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project Inc. – Infrastructure Build Out Strategic Plan
• Pratyush Sinha Foundation ­­- Mindful Education System
• Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley – ­ Fund Development Plan
• Resurrected Community Development Corporation – RCDC Staff Compensation Study

In addition to the nine newly funded grantees for 2021, the Foundation has renewed grants for two of the organizations that were funded the previous year. Both Humanitarian Social Innovations and the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley have been funded at $10,000 each this year to implement a joint project, the Regional Coordinated Nonprofit Capacity Building: Fact-Finding Phase.

Megan Briggs noted that when the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation launched the Nonprofit Effectiveness Pilot, the Foundation’s goal was to answer the question, would there be value in creating a centralized, coordinated approach to deploying capacity-building services to the non-profit sector? “Through several interviews and data collection points throughout the last two years, there was a resounding agreement that a centralized approach would be valued,” she explained. “Understanding that both the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley and Humanitarian Social Innovations could be key partners in offering a centralized, coordinated approach, LVCF provided an initial grant to both organizations in the 2019-2020 cycle and have renewed them in 2020-2021 to begin laying the groundwork for a centralized, coordinated approach to capacity building in the Lehigh Valley.”

For more information on the Community Foundation’s grantmaking, visit: https://www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org/grants/overview-%7C-community-investments

Allentown, Pa., February 9, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently named retired financial services advisor Charlotte Hartmann-Hansen to its Board of Governors. She will serve on the Community Foundation’s Finance Committee. 

Charlotte Hartmann-Hansen has been an innovator in the financial services business for over 40 years.  She is former president and investment advisor with Bethlehem Financial, LLC and Hartmann-Hansen Financial Services. She practiced financial planning for individuals and businesses focused on retirement, estates, investments, insurance, senior advisory services and intergenerational transition planning. She sold her business in 2018 and remains a member of Financial, Insurance and Estate Planning Councils and is certified in Long Term Care and Senior Services.  

Throughout her life, Hartmann-Hansen has had a passion to help others.  As a charter member of Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary Club, the motto “Service Above Self” opened chances to make dreams possible.  She and her now deceased husband, Tore, established two foundations to support their community in perpetuity and the greater Rotary world efforts.  For many years, she has promoted the advantages of charitable giving for recipients as well as for the donors.  She joined the Community Foundation board to support opportunities and to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

The Board of Governors at Lehigh Valley Community Foundation provide administrative, programmatic, and fiscal oversight in support of the organization’s mission. Members of the Board serve as ambassadors, promoting the Community Foundation as a vehicle for philanthropy and a leader of community improvement.

About Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

For more than five decades, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF is a philanthropic hub for the Lehigh Valley—who knows and navigates the landscape of the Lehigh Valley’s community needs to connect people who care to causes that matter.

With a diverse and respected Board of Governors, the Community Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization located in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  The Foundation is cause-neutral and supports all areas of community needs in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. To learn more, visit: www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org.

Allentown, Pa., January 5, 2021—Carrie Krug Nedick was recently named Director of Donor Services at Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. She joined the Community Foundation in January of 2020 as Donor Services and Program Associate. In her new role she will work with board members, donors, prospects and other members of the Community Foundation family to develop the Foundation’s charitable fund pipeline. She will focus on providing personalized service to steward relationships and implement family philanthropy initiatives.

Prior to joining the foundation, Krug Nedick built a career in nonprofit administration and higher education fundraising, both on staff and as an independent consultant.  She served in marketing, development, and outreach roles for the Allentown Symphony Association, and was a major gift officer for the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University. Carrie most recently served the Lehigh Valley as an independent consultant.

Krug Nedick is a member of the Board of Managers of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and an Officer of the Board of Parkland Community Library.  She is also a Cub Scout den leader and sings with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.

A Nazareth native, she graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a BA in Music Theory and Composition.

For more than five decades, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation (LVCF) has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF is a philanthropic hub for the Lehigh Valley—who know and navigate the landscape of the Lehigh Valley’s community needs to connect people who care to causes that matter.

Allentown, Pa., January 5, 2021—The Lehigh Valley Community Foundation (LVCF) recently issued 2020-201 Community Partnership Multi-Year Impact Grants totaling $85,000 are helping to support programs at four area nonprofit organizations serving Lehigh and Northampton Counties.

The Community Partnership Grants are part of the Foundation’s overall grantmaking that totaled more than $7 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. The LVCF annually awards Multi-Year Impact Grants from its Community Partnership Fund for discretionary grantmaking. Grants are reviewed and approved by the Foundation’s Community Investments Committee and its Board of Governors.

 “The Community Foundation is pleased to continue to partner with these organizations that are making a difference in the Lehigh Valley,” said LVCF President Bernie Story.  “We are encouraged by the good work our multi-year impact grants are generating.”

This year’s Community Partnership Grants were grants awarded for five multi-year collaborative projects targeted to address specific community issues. LVCF awarded $65,000 in renewed funding for five programs being implemented by existing grantees. All multi-year grants are subject to review prior to renewal.

The following organizations were renewed for funding:

• Housing Association & Development Corporation – Youth Build Allentown (year five) $20,000
• VAST – Valley Against Sex Trafficking – Community Education and Prevention Program Development (year five) – $10,000.
• Greater Easton Development Corporation – Easton Community Garden Project (year five) – $25,000
• Lehigh Valley Health Network – Connections, a pilot intervention program addressing the current opioid epidemic (year four) – $20,000
• Greater Easton Development Corporation – Ambassadors Program (year four) – $10,000

For more information about the Community Partnership Fund or other grant opportunities at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, visit LVCF on the web at: https://www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org/grants/overview