2024 Grantees:

1. Arkansas Rep Theater – Celebrating African Americans’ Journey Through an Artistic Lens
   This performance will incorporate classical literature, and music, along with other artistic contributions of African American artists and historical excerpts.
2. CASA of the Ouachita Region – Ouachita Children’s Coalition
   This organization serves abused and neglected children in Polk, Montgomery, Scott and Sevier Counties.  With this grant, they will offer bilingual advocates to help with resource navigation for their clients.
3. City Connections – Operation Restore “Back to Work Kits”
   Operation Restore (OR) is a temporary employment agency serving those emerging from incarceration or drug/alcohol rehabilitation programs in central Arkansas.   
4. Conway Cradle Care – Adolescent Parent Mentoring Program
   This program focuses on educating young parents on child development, birth, and childcare as well as helping advance their education and potential through tutoring and individualized life plans.
5. Girls on the Run of Central Arkansas – Scholarships for Superstars
   This grant will enable Girls on the Run to deliver their after-school program to 15 girls at the Dalton Whetstone Boys and Girls Club.  
6. Goodwill Arkansas Education Initiative – Excel Center
   The first and only tuition-free adult high school in the state, this grant will help students overcome the barriers they face to earn their high school diploma. Barriers like transportation and access to healthy food for children who are cared for in Goodwill’s childcare center.
7. Haven of Northeast Arkansas
   The only safehouse for victims of domestic abuse in Mississippi County, this organization collaborates with several programs in the community to initiate services to help their clientele.
8. Hispanic Community Services/El Centro Hispano – Emprendiendo, “Entrepreneurship”
   This is the second year of the 9-week bilingual course for Hispanic and immigrant individuals interested in opening businesses.
9. Jamison’s Center of Kindness – ENRICHing the Weak Links
   This project involves purchasing materials to expand the existing E.N.R.I.C.H. (Educate-Nurture-Reach-Instruct-Coach-Help) Community Garden with fresh fruits and vegetables. It serves the Pinehurst neighborhood, a low-income, food-insecurity community in Texarkana.
10. Lee Street Community Center
    This grant will be used to purchase supplies and pay a small stipend to tutors. Because of the distance from Elaine to school – 30 miles away – most students do not have an opportunity to attend after-school programs or participate in tutoring offered after school.
11. Life Skills for Youth – Summer STEAM Academy
    These funds will support the LSY STEAM Academy expanding to Harrison Elementary School in North Little Rock.  
12. Little Rock Diamond Foundation – Kappa League/Huddle Up
    Hosting two main programs, the Little Rock Kappa League and HuddleUP, both programs are in Little Rock and primarily serve minority African American students from lower-income families.
13. OneCommunity – Feed Your Brain, Alimenta Tu Cerebro
    This organization offers a bilingual family literacy program designed to increase reading, reduce summer learning loss and provide bilingual and culturally responsive books to families.
14. Prevention Education Programs – Grand Prairie Healthy Families
    Focusing on single, pregnant first-time mothers under the age of 25, this program enrolls mothers during the pre-natal period, or before their child is 3-months old. Once enrolled they continue to receive services until the child turns three. The program primarily serving residents who reside in Arkansas County or the southern area of Prairie County or Monroe County.
15. Second Baptist Church – Healthy Highrise
    This program was developed to address three key challenges faced by low-income residents in three downtown Little Rock high-rises close to the church. The goals are to improve access to healthy and diverse food options by providing transportation weekly to a grocery store; provide quarterly Lunch & Learn programming on health and wellness; and build connections to health-related community services and programs.
16. Village Place – The Experiential Learning Lab
    Serving the South End community and surrounding areas, the lab provides hands-on opportunities for middle and high school students to learn trade skills  like carpentry, masonry, beekeeping, welding, farming, plumbing, electrical work, and HVAC repair, and pathways to trade careers.

Who’s Eligible

501(c) (3) nonprofit organizations, hospitals, public schools and government agencies are eligible to apply. Other organizations that do not qualify for tax-exempt status are not eligible.

Where We’re Currently Making Grants

All geographic areas of the state are eligible to apply.

What We’re Looking For

When you apply, we’ll ask you to share some basic information about your organization, including:

• Background. What community need does this program address and why was the program created?  What specific activities/initiatives are involved?
• Capacity of grantee. What makes your organization uniquely qualified to address this community need and successfully implement the proposed program?
• Potential outcomes. How will you measure the success of your program? Describe the sustainable impact your program or service will provide.
• Budget. What are the expenses related to your request? Which pieces will be paid for using a Black Hall of Fame grant, and which pieces will be covered by funding from other sources?

The following factors are considered, although not exclusively, in reviewing proposals:

• Potential benefit to the community
• Capacity of the organization to achieve the results outlined
• Evidence of a plan for evaluating the project
• Potential for sustainability beyond grant period
• Evidence of cooperation or collaboration with other organizations
• Evidence of local financial support and the likelihood of future support for the project or program

What We’re NOT Looking For

Each request is considered on its own merit. However, the following types of requests generally are not considered:

• Support for annual fundraising campaigns
• Support for capital campaigns
• Projects that address sectarian religious purposes
• Projects that are political in nature or have a political bias
• Multi-year proposals
• Scholarships or fellowships for formal education at any level