by Katie O’Connell-Jones, Owner Resources Coordinator—West
It is the time of the year when we announce with pleasure the recipients of the 2020 Community Reinvestment Fund Grants. Willy Street Co-op’s Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) began in 1992 to support local nonprofits’ and cooperatives’ developmental and educational projects in our community. The fund got its start thanks to Owners who had not used their accounts and had not claimed their equity after three years of inactivity. This equity is considered abandoned and then donated to the Co-op’s charitable fund. The Board of Directors allocates a portion of these funds annually in accordance with our bylaws and devotes them to educational and charitable purposes. Eligible grants from the CRF may be awarded to ventures that support food justice and/or access, sustainable agriculture, health and well-being, creating or developing cooperative businesses, or social change.
Our timeline this year was a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRF committee had to delay initial meetings and the evaluation process to focus on the immediate needs of the Co-op’s locations and learn more about how the pandemic would impact the organizations applying for grants and their projects. Finally in mid-April the committee was able to begin evaluating the applications. 29 organizations applied for a total of $81,537 in funding. With $25,000 allocated for funding we are excited to announce the 12 organizations receiving 2020 grants.
ABC for Health: The Mifflin Legacy—A Story of Community & Social Justice $2,500
ABC for Health has inhabited the historic Mifflin Street Co-op building since the store’s closure in 2006. This project is one of ABC for Health’s ways of honoring the history of the building and the community, by collecting stories and translating them into a new iteration of the mural on the northwestern facing facade. The mural would be the fourth iteration of public art on the wall and the process of designing and creating the mural will be captured on video. “We plan to continue to adorn the wall with public art that honors the evolving history, culture, and tradition of the Mifflin Street community: The social protests of the 1960s and 70s. The 1980s Mifflin Street Co-op food security and social justice movements. The mid 2000s when ABC for Health moved to Mifflin to work with low-income, minority, and health disparity children and families at risk. The future of Mifflin is a story still unfolding.” The mural will be visualized through collecting oral histories and family stories, and then incorporating the right history of the previous mural into the design. Funding supports videography, graphic design, and the work of the artist, historian, and person gathering family stories.
Backyard Mosaic Women’s Project: Garden Transformation Phase Two $1,125
The Co-op first funded Backyard Mosaic Women’s Project’s community garden in 2015. The garden provides for incarcerated women with work release privileges to meet and garden as well as share a monthly meal. This year, the women will “design and install a simple, elegant composting container,” and implement composting as a means to improve their accessible raised beds. “This engagement and education for women who are often ignored, without a voice or contribution to the community, is life changing.” Following incarceration, the women may bring their children and families back to the garden to celebrate their work. The CRF supports pebbles and lumber for the composting structure and the carpenter’s work.
Bayview Foundation: Creative Culinary Explorations $1,672
Building on the foundational work the Co-op has funded for youth interactive snack and meal preparation programming, Bayview Foundation will create opportunities for middle and high-school aged students to explore culinary career options to further develop cooking and vocational skills. “The Creative Culinary Explorations program will take students on eight excursions to working kitchens around Madison for themed workshops focused on teaching cooking skills, touring local facilities, and further exploring interests in the culinary field through first-hand experiences.” Students will learn knife skills, cooking methods, seasoning, and food handling and safety. The grant supports program facilitators and supplies, ingredients, and fuel for transportation.
Catholic Multicultural Center: CCC Local Foods Workshops $1,539
Culinary Creations Catering is a social enterprise of the Catholic Multicultural Center offering individuals facing employment barriers skills and support for stable employment through paid, hands-on training and work experience in the culinary field. The program provides classroom learning and job placement with employer partners and 90 days of post-placement support. This year, they plan to build on their pilot local foods instruction, introducing “trainees to the idea of working with fresh, local food in order to add to their employable skill sets and encourage more sustainable practices.” The CRF grant supports the guest chefs, ingredients, transportation, trainee wages, and the employment and training coordinator in completing two interactive lessons related to working with fresh, local food. All trainees are paid for participation and will have opportunities to practice their skills working for the catering enterprise.
Darbo Pantry Project: Madison Food Club Development Project $3,000
After the Salvation Army closed their food pantry in the Darbo Drive Community Center, community activists developed the Darbo Pantry Project in 2019 to deliver free to low-cost CSA style bags of local produce to subscriber households in area Community Development Authority housing and the Eastpointe Apartments. This year, the project is positioned to expand their network of neighbors and youth supporting the project, grow their subscriber base, take the program into the Truax neighborhood, and explore developing a Madison Food Club worker cooperative of delivery drivers to service other parts of the City. Monies will fund the purchase of dedicated computers and technology to manage orders and build their social media presence. Funds also support the distribution and social media coordinators.
Elver Park Neighborhood Center: Summer CSA Community Experience $2,100
Continuing a partnership with the Theresa Terrace Neighborhood Center and FairShare CSA Coalition, Elver Park is expanding work previously funded by the Co-op to increase accessibility of fresh produce for the children and families served by their centers. This year, the program includes a “culinary series that highlights the uses of the farm fresh produce received in the CSA shares.” Guest chefs will provide hands-on culinary experiences to teens and families at the centers and then distribute ingredients for preparing foods at home. Funds will purchase four farm shares, supplemental supplies, and support the local chefs.
Lake View Community School: Great Growing Green Garden $1,440
Lake View Community School’s garden engages students, staff, and families in outdoor learning while increasing food security. “Because all Lake View students and families live in an urban area and many are renters, few have the opportunity to grow fresh produce themselves at home.” After installing raised beds seven years ago, they plan to compensate adult family members of Lake View students for regular watering and weeding of the gardens to increase accountability for the garden’s care, recognize the value of volunteer time, and better maximize the benefits of the garden. The Community Reinvestment Fund supports 100% of the compensation for watering and weeding for 18 weeks at four hours per week.
McFarland Youth Center: Healthy Cooking Club $1,600
A community-based program for middle school-aged youth, McFarland Youth Center’s healthy cooking and gardening club is for youth to repair, plant, and nurture garden plots. They will also complete healthy cooking projects as a group to foster teamwork, “change youth attitudes towards healthy and nutritious foods, and encourage ongoing positive choices in the area of healthy eating.” Funds support cooking supplies and non-garden grown ingredients, repair materials for garden beds, and gardening supplies.
Shelter From the Storm Ministries: Maya Angelou Healing Garden $1,180
Shelter From the Storm Ministries has housed 94 individuals from homeless single mother families since their incorporation in 2017 and have a consistent wait list for services. Residents receive education, job training, financial literacy, drivers licensing, credit repair, and food and vehicle support along with child play and adult talk therapy at no cost. “The Maya Angelou healing garden will be designed by our residents with the help of the local Garden Club and Jung Garden Center and will utilize the free heirloom garden seeds provided by the Dane County Library system” as well as perennial plant cuttings from local gardeners. They are requesting discounted fruit trees and larger shrubs to plant in fall from local nurseries and plan to make plaques for the garden path with inspirational quotes from Maya Angelou. “Many of our residents have grown up in urban areas and have never had the opportunity to plant and grow much.” Funds will support plantings, engraved garden markers, and gardening equipment and supplies.
Today Not Tomorrow, Inc: Healthy Food and Early Childhood Experiences $2,620
Volunteer-led and run, Today Not Tomorrow is an umbrella for organizations supporting youth and families in the community. They are expanding the family garden programming at their family resource center, a collaborative of organizations led by women of color. They also operate a no-cost neighborhood market in the summer and fall in collaboration with Healthy Food for All and the UW Grow Program. Children and parents supported by Today Not Tomorrow organizations and from the East Madison Community Center plant and tend to the garden throughout the season and operate the no-cost market with compensation for their time. This year they are developing a “How to Plant and Care for Container Gardens” workshop. “Families participating will receive all the tools needed to plant and care for at least one large container garden, with their choice of produce… For families that do not have space, an area for container gardens will be designated adjacent to the family garden space.” Additional cherry tomato, cucumber, and cilantro container gardens will be planted to supply produce directly to the no-cost market. The container garden workshops will also provide two hands-on food preservation lessons with product to take home. The Community Reinvestment Fund will support stipends for parents and youth involved with carrying out the project as well as container gardening, food preservation, and program supplies.
Truax Resident Advisory Committee: The Truax Welcome Wagon $3,500
The Truax Resident Advisory Committee is a new grassroots organization made up of resident leaders who are women of color in the Truax neighborhood. Decisions are consensus-based, and so all resident leaders have a voice and participate in outreach, grant writing and making financial decisions about current funds. The Welcome Wagon will create a means to build community, reduce violence and build resident leadership capacity. One of the neighborhood concerns is youth fighting, and to address the issue, they see a need to strengthen community relationships, particularly between parents. In partnership with the Community Development Authority and property managers, the Welcome Wagon will give new residents welcome baskets with cleaning supplies, gift cards for household needs, and information on community resources. They will share information, and encourage neighbors to get involved. The project will include developing a neighborhood specific FAQ to support new neighbors with important information , and training for the outreach team on how to distribute the baskets and greet neighbors. Volunteers will also receive t-shirts to wear while welcoming. Funds support the purchase of baskets and t-shirts, leadership training, and volunteer incentives.
Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health/PATCH Program: PATCH for Teens Expansion $2,725
The Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health Providers and Teens Communicating for Health (PATCH) Program educates young people about their healthcare rights and prepares them to take responsibility for their own health and health care. The teen expansion project will offer six free peer-to-peer workshops led by teen educators about healthcare to high-school students from community centers, alternative schools, or other organizations who work with underserved youth. The teens live, work and go to school in the same communities as their audiences and are able to provide local and teen-specific advice based on their own experiences with health. Educators are trained in storytelling; presentation skills; the dynamics of power, privilege and oppression; and facilitating collaborative, community-driven discussions. “The PATCH Program hires a group of high school students from the community and works collaboratively with them to build the workshops, identify priority audiences, and represent the needs of their peers.” Funding covers the full costs of the workshops including teen educator trainers, training and compensation; materials; employee time for prep, delivery and evaluation; and a “dress rehearsal” for the teens to practice their skills in front of a live teen audience.
Congratulations and Thank You!
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s grants and thank you to everyone who applied! This year’s CRF review committee included Board Directors Trevor Bynoe and Stephanie Ricketts, Owners At-Large Alyssa Hartman and Melissa Wavelet, Cooperative Services Director Kirsten Moore, Education and Outreach Coordinator Liz Hawley, and Owner Resources Coordinator Katie O’Connell-Jones. Thank you to all our Owners past and present who make this funding possible.