THE OPEN HEARTS FOUNDATION FUNDS 19 GRANTS TO EMERGING CHARITIES
Inspired by its selfless philosophy, the Foundation invests $250,000 to support high-risk communities
LOS ANGELES, September 11, 2023 – The Open Hearts Foundation announced its latest grantmaking cycle in alignment with its Open Hearts Philosophy, which is inspired by Jane Seymour’s mother, Mieke Frankenberg. This philosophy drives the Foundation’s mission forward and this latest grant cycle will fund $250,000 to charities across the United States. The Foundation has focused these grant investments primarily on supporting small, emerging charities with budgets of less than a million dollars. In a high-demand request for proposals, over eighty eligible charities requested funding from the Foundation totaling over $1.3 million dollars.
Through the Foundation’s extensive internal vetting process, 19 charities will receive grants to support their lifesaving programs and services in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. These charities serve high-risk communities in need of food, clothing, hygiene kits, medical services, mental health resources, and workplace readiness programs so that children and families can continue to thrive.
Nonprofit charities are still recovering from the recent pandemic, while government and other funds have waned or ceased altogether. Charities are seeing an increase in the needs of the people they serve due to job loss, inflation, and rebuilding efforts from recent natural disasters. In response to this need, the Foundation remains committed to supporting as many charities as it can. These grants will aid foster children, the poorest of communities, the unhoused, and the mentally challenged. At the heart of the Foundation’s mission is the selfless philosophy that inspires everyone to help, to act, and to serve the vulnerable. In addition to these grants, the Foundation will continue to be responsive through its volunteerism program and other initiatives that will empower its more than sixty charity partners in the months ahead.
Jane Seymour stated, “With the kindness and generosity of our global family of donors, we could not be more thrilled to invest these funds in these resilient emerging charities. We have more work to do to curate connections and bring help to so many who need it. I find it incredibly inspiring what like-minded individuals and businesses can do when we work together. Everyone is invited to join us in the Open Hearts Movement.”
Tim Mallad, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, shared, “Our Board is determined to transform our mission into a movement. The need continues to increase and our commitment to our grantmaking and volunteerism programs continues to grow. These grants are one example of many that we plan to make. We are so grateful to all our sponsors, donors, in-kind partners, and volunteers who join us in turning adversity into opportunity and creating change for the greater good.”
The Open Hearts Foundation is responsible for the careful stewardship of its donors’ contributions and requires each non-profit to submit a Final Report explaining how the funds were used and the impact they achieved.
More detailed information about the Foundation’s grantmaking program can be found at https://www.openheartsfoundation.org/grant-making
About the Open Hearts Foundation
The Open Hearts Foundation was founded on the belief that we can all do something to help others. The Foundation's work has provided more than $1.7 million in grants to over sixty charities across the United States and engages hundreds of volunteers around the world to find their unique purpose and help others. As a 501(c)(3) public charity, the Foundation empowers emerging and growing nonprofit organizations whose origins and mission are consistent with the precepts of the Open Hearts philosophy. This philosophy has become a movement through the Foundation's work and everyone is invited. www.openheartsfoundation.org
# # #
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Susan Madore Trena Pitchford
Guttman Associates Open Hearts Foundation
susan@guttmanpr.com trena@openheartsfoundation.org
Phone: (310) 246-4600 Phone: (805) 852-1367
The 19 charities funded in this grant cycle include:
- $15,000 grant to Bluebird Cultural Initiative, in Nebraska, to serve at risk youth, coming from difficult home situations or foster care and elder community members are often homebound or have other needs with home-delivered meals, toiletries and other articles of basic needs care, as well as cultural leadership through ceremonies.
- $15,000 grant to Children of Inmates, in Florida, to support care coordination which will help address the financial, housing, basic needs, and other hardships of children of inmates in their care, as well as the costs of food, clothing, diapers, basic supplies, educational supplies and other critical needs so families and unaccompanied youth can stabilize and begin to heal.
- $15,000 grant to The Childrens Lifesaving Foundation in Los Angeles, California to support their programs dedicated to enriching and transforming the lives of homeless and underserved children and families in Los Angeles through camps and experiences that provide academic, social, and domestic support.
- $15,000 grant to Conejo Community Outreach, in Westlake Village, California to support the diaper bank relieving the stress of the cost of diapers, the hard decisions that low-income, foster or young families face when it comes to “stretching” the use/length of time their child is in a diaper or using brands that may give their babies rashes/allergies, and to support more families on the waitlist.
- $15,000 grant to Foster Angels of South Texas, in Texas, to support the Life Set Program providing basic needs and life-enhancing opportunities to foster youth that will identify and address their specific needs including short-term housing, life coach matching, job, and internship opportunities, and tutoring or academic support giving them the hope and care they have been lacking in the absence of a family.
- $15,000 grant to Home Again LA – in Greater San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, California to support the Home Again LA Mobile Resource Center and bridge and/or eliminate the digital divide to make human services such as access to rent and utility assistance, community partner referrals, non- perishable food items, and personal care kits available to communities with limited transportation and accessibility to agencies focused on the service of women and families with children enrolled in free lunch programs in targeted low-income neighborhoods.
- $15,000 grant to Kids Community Dental Clinic – in Burbank, California, to add a new school site to impact 900 children with free dental screenings, in clinic care, preventative treatment, oral health education, and free oral hygiene kits, helping children with infections, rampant decay, and any cavities to gain access to treatment to prevent other serious oral health diseases.
- $15,000 grant to Sharia’s Closet, in San Diego, California, to provide free emergency clothing, hygiene kits, and other supplies to vulnerable neighbors in San Diego, with ten to twelve outfits and basic hygiene products giving them stability and a sense of dignity, respect, and self-confidence.
- $15,000 grant to Sonoma Family Meal, in California, to open a food insecurity meal distribution site in Guerneville, Sonoma County, distributing approximately 160 meals weekly to low-income, food insecure families and greatly enhancing their mental and physical wellbeing.
- $15,000 grant to Voices for Children, in Tampa Bay, Florida, to provide support and advocacy for the abused, neglected, and abandoned children in the foster care system to ensure they have the resources and enrichment opportunities they need to feel safe, loved and cared for including clothing, basic human needs, supplies for school, emotional support for traumatized children during stressful and difficult situations with Courthouse Facility Dogs, and the Holiday Toy Shop.
- $14,000 grant to Scholars Latino Initiative, in Harrisonburg and Winchester, Virginia, to support their "Early College" program, providing computers for students and families, assistance with applying to college, mentorships by university students and college access opportunities throughout high school and college.
- $14,000 grant to Stepping Stones, in New Hampshire, to support their Step Up program serving 88 homeless, unaccompanied youth with a place to live and learn the skills they need to not just get by, but prosper such as living accommodations, life skills classes including finance, safety, career soft skills, and cooking, community volunteer activities, and their graduation, when the youth will be ready to take on the world of “adulting” all on their own.
- $12,000 grant to Assistance League Coachella Valley, in California, to support their Operation School Bell Program, which will provide school clothing and hygiene kits including 3 shirts, a pair of shoes, 6 pairs of socks, 6 pairs of underwear, and hygiene supplies for 5,000 Coachella Valley socio- economically disadvantaged public Pre-K, elementary and middle school students.
- $12,000 grant to Claire’s Place Foundation, in California, to support the Work Proudly program, which supports families in the Cystic Fibrosis community by helping participants identify and gain remote, flexible careers that they can maintain while caring for themselves or others including career counseling, case management, tuition assistance, equipment for working from home, and social support from others.
- $12,000 grant to Solidarity Sandy Springs, in Georgia, to raise the level of nutrition they are serving through their food pantry that serves their food-insecure neighbors and assures a continued supply of fresh produce, protein and dairy, feeding 700-750 families a week and filling the systemic gap in nutrition for children and families under the poverty level.
- $12,000 grant to The Volunteer Center South Bay/Harbor/Long Beach, in California, to provide 2,500 low-income first graders with school bags filled with more than 70,000 education and wellness materials including books, science kits, toothbrushes, toothpaste, teddy bears, crayons, journals, and math tools the most underserved first-graders in South Bay, Harbor and Long Beach schools.
- $10,000 grant to Lending Hearts, in Pennsylvania, to continue support of the virtual and in-person Lending Hearts Integrative Oncology Wellness Program for children and young adults living with cancer and their families, supporting the mental, social, and physical impact of cancer on the body both during treatment and beyond; the need to not only live with cancer but maintain life with cancer.
- $7,000 grant to Chinle Planting Hope, in Arizona, to support the R.E.A.D. in Beauty (Reading Empowers Adventures and Dreams) Bookmobile and literacy program which encourages children to read, strengthen their literacy skills, and broaden their horizons; it empowers them to have adventures, and enables them to dream of, and to create a better future.
- $7,000 grant to The Right Path, in Oklahoma, to support direct program services for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders by providing therapeutic horsemanship and improving their walking and talking skills, learn to regulate their emotions, say their first words, and so much more, all with the help of a horse.
