2020 Many Hands $100,000 Impact Grant
2020 Many Hands Partner Grants ($55,500)
Calvary Women’s Services
Generation Hope
Homestretch
This year, Many Hands granted a total of $266,500, thanks to the gifts of 277 members and dozens of other donors who supported our work. Nearly 30% of our members joined a Focus Area Committee (Education, Health, Housing, or Job Readiness), and collectively, they reviewed applications from 131 nonprofits, site visited 23 organizations (in person or virtually), and selected this year’s four grantees. All members were invited to vote to determine which of the four would receive the 2020 Many Hands $100,000 Impact Grant.
We are deeply grateful to Many Hands’ members and supporters for making our grantmaking possible and to our grant applicants for the essential work they do across the greater Washington region.
2020 Many Hands $100,000 Impact Grant
Nourish Now seeks to solve two major social issues simultaneously–food waste and hunger–by recovering food from restaurants, caterers, farms, and other licensed food providers throughout the Washington, DC area and distributing it directly to families in need, as well as to partner organizations including shelters and food pantries. Since 2011, Nourish Now has recovered and distributed more than 2 million pounds of food from its warehouse, from 12 satellite locations in food-insecure neighborhoods, and in Montgomery County Public Schools.
Nourish Now has changed its operating model since the outbreak of COVID-19, suspending warehouse and satellite distributions and purchasing increased quantities of food as food industry partners have shut down. Today Nourish Now distributes boxes of non-perishable items and prepared meals to 1,000 families weekly at five Montgomery County Public Schools. Nourish Now plans to use its grant to expand food recovery and distribution by purchasing and operating an additional refrigerated truck.
2020 Many Hands Partner Grants ($55,500)
Calvary Women’s Services empowers homeless women in Washington, DC’s Wards 7 and 8 to transform their lives through housing, health, education, and employment. Calvary’s programs are designed for women who are survivors of violence and trauma, living with mental illness, or in recovery from substance addiction. Through personalized services and with peer support, each woman identifies and builds on her own strengths in order to meet her goals for safe housing, good health, and financial independence. Of the women who complete Calvary programs, 70% successfully end their homelessness.
Generation Hope reduces poverty one family at a time by providing mentoring, services, and financial resources to help DC area teen parents become college graduates and help their children enter kindergarten at higher levels of school readiness. Nationwide, less than 2 percent of teen mothers earn a college degree before age 30. In contrast, the college graduation rate among Generation Hope Scholars is higher than the national average. Generation Hope Scholars graduate at twice the rate of low-income students nationwide and nearly eight times the rate of single mothers.
Homestretch empowers homeless parents with children to attain permanent housing and self-sufficiency by giving them the skills, knowledge, and hope they need to become productive participants in the community. Families receive housing and enroll in a comprehensive, individualized program to work on clearing debt, repairing credit, building skills, increasing income, and restoring health. They graduate when they are able to move into permanent housing on the income they earn, usually in about two years. Over 90% of Homestretch graduates never return to homelessness.
