Foundation awards $685k to support Black communities and organizations

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Officials with the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina say they have awarded $685,000 to 37 nonprofit organizations in the Tri-County region that are Black-led and/or Black-serving in an effort funded by Facebook to support innovation, creativity, and resiliency in Black communities.

“Coastal Community Foundation was chosen by Facebook for this opportunity because of its intentional work through scholarships, grantmaking, advocacy and internal practices to advance racial equity in coastal South Carolina,” officials said.

According to the organization, funds from the $1 million Facebook grant also supported four specific initiatives aimed at providing greater access to opportunities for black communities and their leaders:

• The Lowcountry Unity Fund of Coastal Community Foundation — a grantmaking program established after the Emanuel AME Church massacre that supports efforts in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties that advance racial equity or that address structural racism.
• The N.E.W. (Neighborhoods Energized to Win) Fund of Coastal Community Foundation ----- a grantmaking program created in 1991 to support low-to-moderate income neighborhood groups in the Lowcountry that address key issues in the neighborhoods and strengthen residents’ leadership skills.
• Institutional support for Black-led nonprofits ----- collaborate on a new targeted effort with regional funders aimed at capacity-building and lending structural support to organizations and grassroots efforts led by people of color.
• Black Giving Circle ----- seed funding to create an endowed fund at Coastal Community Foundation for Black-led giving.

“The Foundation recognizes that we can address historic disparities by making intentional changes in policy, practice, and investment throughout all the foundation’s work,’' said Darrin Goss, President and CEO of Coastal Community Foundation. “The Facebook grant opportunity allows us to invest in leaders and organizations that tend to be more effective in providing services and support within their own communities based on trust and cultural understanding. Supporting Black leaders to do more of the good they’re already doing is a step forward, and we are grateful for corporate funders like Facebook who are investing in it. We hope to see others regionally and nationally step in to do the same.”

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