Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation (ABHOF) awarded $50,000 in grants to projects benefiting minority and under-served communities in an online grant presentation May 30. These grants support projects focused on education, health and wellness, youth development, strengthening families and economic development in Arkansas.

“We are pleased to support the efforts of grassroots and other nonprofit organizations in Arkansas through our grant program,” said Charles Stewart, ABHOF Foundation chairman. “Their work validates the mission of Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation. We are proud of our partnership with these great Arkansas institutions.”

Over the past 20 years, ABHOF has made $767,000 in grants to Arkansas nonprofits. This year’s grant recipients:

Arkansas Repertory 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.

CASA of the Ouachita Region – Ouachita Children’s Coalition
This organizationserves 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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Life Skills for Youth – Summer STEAM Academy
These funds will support the LSY STEAM Academy expanding to Harrison Elementary School in North Little Rock.

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.

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 families with bilingual and culturally responsive books.

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.

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.

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.

Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation aims to provide an environment in which future generations of African American achievers with Arkansas roots will thrive and succeed. Arkansas Black Hall of Fame honors the contributions of African Americans through its annual Black Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and awards grants to support charitable endeavors in underserved communities. Learn more at www.arblackhalloffame.org.

Arkansas Community Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization, provides resources, insight and inspiration to build stronger Arkansas communities – communities where our kids will want to raise their kids. The Community Foundation is the largest grantmaker in the state in the number of grants made each year. Since 1976, the Foundation has provided more than $460 million in grants to nonprofits. The Foundation staff works directly with donors, professional advisors and nonprofits to help strengthen Arkansas communities through strategic philanthropy and focusing on local needs. Its assets rank among the top 60 out of more than 900 community foundations in the United States. Serving statewide and local initiatives, the Community Foundation helps connect those who want to give to the causes they care about. Contributions to Arkansas Community Foundation, its funds and any of its 29 affiliates are fully tax deductible.

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