$418,700 awarded to 16 Midlands nonprofits for community improvement projects
May 21, 2024
Central Carolina Community Foundation awarded $418,700 to 16 organizations this year through its Connected Communities Grant. The 16 nonprofits will launch projects to improve the quality of life in the Midlands by building a more livable, equitable, and just community to live, work, play and raise a family.
In its ninth year, the Community Foundation’s Connected Communities Grant has helped connect residents to their communities. Since 2016, $3,258,273 has been awarded to support local projects.
Grant project proposals were focused on one or more of the six areas identified by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as the most essential elements of an attractive, vibrant and equitable community.
This year’s grant recipients presented ideas that increased residents’ access to safe places to live and work, healthcare facilities and services, quality job opportunities, affordable housing, safe, proximal, high-quality recreational areas, and quality arts and cultural events.
“Connected Communities Grants are special because they increase Midlands residents’ quality of life and community attachment,” shares Program Officer, Trimease Carter. “Each funded project meets a need for residents in our community, and we are happy to support these efforts.”
Connected Communities Grants are funded by the Foundation’s Community Impact Endowment Fund and several Field of Interest funds. These funds were established with generous gifts from visionary donors who knew their unrestricted gifts would allow the Foundation to respond to the ever-changing needs and opportunities in the Midlands for generations.
The selected projects are in Fairfield, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, and Sumter counties but will serve residents in CCCF’s entire 11-county service area.
To learn more about the projects funded by Connected Communities Grants, visit YourFoundation.org.
2024 Connected Communities Grant Recipients
• Blackjack Baptist Church, Virtual Care Kiosk
• Crooked Creek Art League, Chapin Art Trail
• Fairfield County School District Education Foundation, The Village in Winnsboro – A Community of Fairfield Educators
• Girl Get Up Society, Girl Grow
• Good Samaritan Clinic, Expanded Medical Outreach to the Hispanic Community in Lexington County, SC
• Lions Vision Services, Envision the Midlands
• One Columbia for Arts and Culture, Bethel Cultural Center Technical Theater Crew Project 2024
• Orangeburg County Community of Character, Walls That Speak
• Our Place of Hope, Bringing Hope to Mental Health
• Reconciliation Ministries, Reconciliation Ministries Community Space Development Initiative
• SC Philharmonic, The SC Philharmonic presents “Music in My Neighborhood”
• Senior Resources, Inc., Enhancing Community-Based Senior Programming at The Lourie Center
• Serve & Connect, Si Se Puede: A Community-Driven Movement for Trust and Safety Between the Hispanic Community and First Responders
• Shiloh Project-Lift, Inc., Shiloh Project-Lift Recreational Program
• The B Strong Group, Project Empower
• The Period Project, Advancing Menstrual Equity in the Midlands
About Central Carolina Community Foundation
Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ leader in collaborative philanthropy, is a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands of South Carolina by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and area leaders to communities in need. Major initiatives include the online giving challenge Midlands Gives, Connected Communities grants, the One SC Fund and annual scholarships. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.yourfoundation.org or call (803) 254-5601.
