Grants Awarded: PACF and New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund
Edited by Rebekah Schroeder /Sep 6, 2023 Updated Sep 6, 2023
The Princeton Area Community Foundation, a Community Foundation, a Lawrence-based philanthropic organization that connects individuals and groups with entities in need of charitable contributions or funding, announced two significant grant opportunities in the month of July.
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The first wave of funding saw PACF donors dedicate $250,000 for summer initiatives through its Community Impact program, which focuses on organizations that serve low-income populations and will support 26 programs across a range of activities such as “arts instruction, academic enrichment, social-emotional learning opportunities, swimming, and sports lessons,” according to a press release.
This brings chances for enrichment to young people whose families might not be able to afford or access such programs during this seasonal break period, while many of the offerings include transportation and meals, as well as the option for bilingual instruction, the release continues.
“Summer programs help reduce learning loss and provide much needed support for many working families who otherwise would not be able to enroll their children in quality, summer activities during the summer months,” Nelida Valentin, the Community Foundation vice president of grants and programs, says in a quote. “These grants help nonprofit partners sustain terrific initiatives that serve some of our most vulnerable children, particularly teens and tweens in this region. We also want to thank our generous donors, whose support of our Community Impact Grants program helps make these grants possible.”
The grant was awarded to the following nonprofit entities, with specific program descriptions taken directly from the PACF website, pacf.org:
Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, for its Summer Arts for Unaccompanied Teens program; unaccompanied Princeton High School students — immigrant students who were not accompanied by a parent when they arrived in the U.S. — will receive scholarships to attend the bilingual 10-week, full-day Summer Studio camp. The camp provides breakfast, lunch and lessons in a range of mediums, including printmaking, digital arts, ceramics and illustration.
Artworks Trenton, Trenton, for its Youth Art League - Summer Arts Camp; the arts organization will partner with the Boys and Girls Club and Catholic Youth Organization to offer crafts-based art programming. Fashion illustration, comic illustration, meditation/yoga and photography classes will be among the classes offered.
Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County, Trenton, for its Summer Teen Programming; the grant will allow the organization to expand its 10-week Tween Travel Camp for 11- to 14-year-olds and start a summer teen drop-in program for area students in grades 6 to 11. The Tween Camp provides transportation from Trenton and Ewing neighborhoods, breakfast, lunch and activities, including swimming, career exploration, team building, STEM, sports and field trips. The drop-in program will run two evenings a week, and provide transportation, dinner and social and enrichment programs.
Capital Harmony Works, Hamilton, for its Trenton Music Makers Summer Camp; the grant will help fund the summer program, which provides breakfast and lunch, full orchestra rehearsals, small-group studios and music games. It will also include a weekend retreat at the Princeton Blairstown Center, where students will receive leadership training and go swimming, boating and hiking.
Catholic Youth Organization, Trenton, for its East State Street Center Trenton (ESSC) Summer Camp; the 9-week program provides breakfast and lunch, social-emotional and academic learning opportunities, and swimming, arts and crafts, sports, and excursions.
Every Child Valued, Lawrenceville, for its Summer Enrichment Program, which includes three components: a program for students in grades K-6 designed to mitigate summer learning loss, which includes academic enrichment, social-emotional learning activities, recreation, and field trips; a weekly tutoring and mentoring program for middle and high school students; and a Running Club, designed by two ECV alumni for students of all ages.
Greater Somerset County YMCA, Princeton, for its Princeton YMCA Day Camp, which offers a wide variety of options, including sports, dance, STEAM, and teen travel camps. Camps focus on social-emotional learning, summer learning loss, and water safety.
Hamilton Area YMCA, Hamilton, for its Title I School Summer Camp Program; the initiative is designed to address the lack of camp and structured activity opportunities for underserved children during the summer. The 6-week camp for children ages 5-11 will include meals, transportation, sports, arts and crafts, swimming lessons, tutoring, and STEM experiments.
Hamilton Township Public Schools, Hamilton, for its Summer Camp, which will include full- and half-day programs. The grant will help provide additional supplies and scholarships for a wide range of camps, including art, music, STEM, technology, sports, theater, chess, and gardening & landscaping.
Help Self Community Development Corporation, Trenton, for its Trail Blazer initiative for children as young as 2 ½ and adults up to the age of 20; the program provides educational and recreational programs, outdoor experiences, job and school readiness programs, mental health education, and meals.
HomeFront, Ewing, for Camp Mercer: Summer Programming for Families in Housing Crisis, which is designed for children whose families are experiencing housing instability or homelessness. The 8-week day camp for children ages 5-15, provides breakfast, lunch, transportation, academics, fun activities, and counselors who have been trained in trauma-informed practices.
Howard’s Healthy Choices, Trenton, for its Summer Learning Academy, which provides academic enrichment, social emotional learning, college preparation programs, swimming and culinary classes, and educational trips to museums and science institutes.
James R. Halsey Foundation of the Arts, Hamilton, for its Photography 101 program. The 10-week summer program will provide hands-on photography instruction in Spanish. It will include lessons on lighting, photo composition and editing and will end with a showcase of students’ photos.
Millhill Child & Family Development, Trenton, for its STEM Explorers & Summer Youth Employment Programs; STEM Explorers is a 6-week program for rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. Students will be paired with mentors and learn about robotics, coding, engineering, and renewable energy, take field trips to university labs and museums and learn social-emotional skills. The Youth Employment program provides high school students with workforce training and summer internships with nonprofits.
Prevention Education Inc. (PEI Kids), Lawrence, for its Juvenile Intervention Services’ Summer Initiative; the project is designed to give at-risk youth a structured environment and positive outlet. Students engage in 105 hours of group programming, including community service and excursions, which teach them about team building, trust and positive social skills.
Princeton-Blairstown Center, Princeton, for its Trenton Summer Bridge Program; the 5-day educational experience at the Center’s 268-acre Blairstown Campus includes academic and social-emotional learning and helps immerse students in school culture and create a strong sense of team.
Princeton Community Housing, Princeton, for the PCH Summer Enrichment Youth Program, which provides summer enrichment activities for children of PCH residents; this grant primarily serves teens and tweens of families living in Princeton Community Housing sites. Summer enrichment activities include onsite preschool and participation in programs offered by the Princeton Recreation Department, Arts Council of Princeton, YWCA Princeton, Princeton YMCA and in PCH sites.
Princeton Nursery School, Princeton, for An Equitable and Enriching (and Fun!) Summer Experience program; the school plans to offer a variety of activities to inspire cultural exploration, artistic and physical expression, and community building. Students’ siblings and parents will be invited to participate.
The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey, Trenton, for its Extended STEM Summer Camp; the program serves students in Grades 4 to 8 from three Trenton Public Schools and provides coding and robotics clubs, team bowling, and day trips.
Trenton Circus Squad, Trenton, for the Bridging the Gap: Reducing Language Barriers program; the nonprofit offers free circus-based summer programming that helps students develop life skills and focus on social and emotional learning. Through the grant, the organization will conduct more outreach to Latino youth, hire a bilingual summer intern and offer Spanish instruction to staff and coaches.
Trenton Makes Athletic Center, Trenton, for its City-Wide Wholesome Summer Soccer Program; the Saturday morning program will provide premium sports training and include several volunteers who previously played professional soccer. The program will work to nurture students’ self-confidence and conflict resolution skills through team building.
UrbanPromise Trenton, Trenton, for its Summer Camp; the program places an emphasis on academics and will include a web-based program that allows students to learn reading and math skills at an individualized pace. Students participate in morning academics, afternoon games, and weekly off-site trips. Breakfast and lunch are also provided. High school students work in paid Street Leaders positions at the camp, gaining job skills and personal development opportunities.
West Windsor Arts Center, West Windsor, for its Teen Art Summer Program; the grant will provide tuition for students identified through a partnership with Capitol County Children’s Collaborative; students will learn about different media, including digital illustration, printmaking, drawing and painting during the 5-week program.
YWCA of Princeton, Princeton, for its Come Use Your Imagination program; the grant will help the YWCA bring programs, including music and storytelling, to its site for students enrolled in summer childcare and enrichment programs.”
Later that month, the Princeton Area Community Foundation announced that its New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund would award more than $600,000 in grants in “support of cultural equity,” allocating approximately $664,500 to 30 nonprofits across the state, two of which are based in Mercer County — the Young Audiences NJ and Eastern PA in Princeton and the 6th Regiment United States Colored Troops, Reenactors, Inc. in Trenton.
NJACRF was founded in 2020 to provide “critical funding for many of the state’s smaller nonprofit organizations in the arts, culture, and historical sectors,” as the press release continues, awarding “over $7.4 million to more than 200 organizations across New Jersey” thus far with an average amount of $22,000 per recipient.
“The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund directly addresses disparities in funding that were present before the pandemic and have increased in its aftermath,” says Sharnita C. Johnson, the vice president of strategy, impact, and communications at the Victoria Foundation and co-chair of the fund. “The smaller cultural organizations supported by the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund serve multiple functions in their communities. They are important anchors central to community wellbeing and quality of life in the areas they serve.”
Young Audiences partners with schools to offer “artist-led programming across all artforms and numerous cultures” through arts-based educational opportunities that teach students to learn through creative practices.
The 6th Regiment United States Colored Troops is described on its GuideStar profile as “a nonprofit living history organization with the purpose of educating the public about the contributions of African Americans to the military history of the United States” that does so through “historical reenactments, memorial ceremonies, parades, and various educational and social venues.”
The nearby Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, or SSAAM, is located in the Skillman section of Montgomery and also received the NJACRF grant. The history museum, which is still under development but located at the historic Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, will share the “story of the unique culture, experiences, and contributions of the African American community of the Sourland Mountain Region,” according to the museum’s website.
“NJACRF continues to evolve to best support New Jersey arts, culture and historical organizations,” Jeremy Grunin, the president of the Grunin Foundation and Fund co-chair, says. “The folks in this sector have tirelessly shown their dedication to their profession by carrying out their work even when they had limited capacity and resources. They know how important the arts, culture and history are to the wellbeing of individuals and the entire community. Their work did not stop, and neither will ours.”
“Our work gives voice to individuals who were relegated to the margins, by unearthing, preserving, and sharing their stories with the broader community,” Catherine Fulmer-Hogan, the board president of SSAAM, adds. “This work is essential if we are to imagine and advance a more just and equitable future.”
“By supporting organizations that tell inclusive stories, we are helping to provide opportunities for representation of all who contribute to the rich and diverse cultural community of New Jersey,” notes Lynne Toye, the executive director of the NJACRF.
More information: www.pacf.org.