The Culture Connect Legacy Fund seeks to support both smaller and newer nonprofits that hold great promise as well as larger and more established organizations.
Donor Name: Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
State: Georgia
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/17/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Culture Connect Legacy Fund has been established to carry forward the mission of the Atlanta-based social enterprise, Culture Connect. This organization fostered cultural fluency between immigrants and the broader community by focusing on three core areas:

Ensuring all had access to vital services like schools, medical care and the legal system through professional interpretation and translation (language access),
Cultivating inclusive, welcoming communities through mentorship programs and teaching people to understand and respect their and others’ cultures (cultural competency),
Promoting economic empowerment and entrepreneurship for immigrants and refugees.

Example Projects/Areas of Work 
The Culture Connect Legacy Fund recently completed an in-language community interview series to determine areas of greatest need.

Language Access – Interpretation, Translation and English Education

Examples (not limited to these):

Training of professional interpreters
Funds to access professional interpreters or leverage professionally translated materials
Translated documents to improve language access to critical community services
Linguistically and culturally appropriate English classes to improve literacy

Access to Public Benefits and Services

Examples (not limited to these):

Translated eligibility or application materials to public benefits or services (food security/SNAP/Food stamps, healthcare, Medicaid, school enrollments and IEP)
In-language navigators for public benefits (assistance accessing, enrolling, or handling denial of benefits)
Training for professional interpreters serving education, court and other public benefits settings
Improving health outcomes for immigrant and refugee individuals and their families

Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship

Examples (not limited to these):

Implement job training and placement programs that focus on high-demand skills and industries
Programs that enable immigrant and refugee leaders to become entrepreneurs (solo practitioner or cottage industry included)
Programs that increase economic mobility of immigrant or refugee individuals
Programs that unlock new opportunities within companies for immigrant and refugee individuals
Establish microloan programs and small business grants to support entrepreneurial initiatives within the communities
Develop affordable, community-based childcare centers that offer flexible hours to accommodate working parents

Affordable and Accessible Healthcare

Examples (not limited to these):

Programs that train, deploy and equip healthcare navigation
Translated materials to improve health outcomes
Cultural competency training for healthcare professionals to reduce unintended miscommunication and therefore poor health outcomes
Community health clinics or health fairs with culturally competent and multilingual staff
Offer culturally sensitive mental health services, including counseling and support groups, to address stigma and provide care.

Funding Information

Grant awards are based on need and available funding and can be up to $150,000 or 100% of the last fiscal year annual budget (whichever is less.)
This grant can be used for seed funding, project support, or general operating support.

Eligibility Criteria 

To be eligible, the applying organization must:

Have intentionally served US-based immigrant and refugee populations meaningfully and consistently in the last 12 months
Be classified, or have a fiscal sponsor that is classified, by the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) of the I.R.S. code as a nonprofit, taxexempt organization, donations to which are deductible as charitable contributions under Section 170 (c)(2) and the I.R.S. determination must be current

Through this funding opportunity, the Culture Connect Legacy Fund will consider applications which align with one or more of the four categories shown below, with priority given to organizations who:

Are based in Georgia (can serve nationally)
Have diverse representation in staff and on board of directors
Demonstrate commitment to language access and cultural competency.

For more information, visit CFGA.