Proudly announcing our newest Transformation Grant recipients

By Sherry Ristau
President and CEO / Quad Cities Community Foundation

With the dawn of 2021, we look ahead with hope for the possibilities this New Year holds. This is one of the reasons we are excited to highlight our newest Transformation Grants recipients, as each grantee is a reflection of the perseverance and passion that sustained our community last year—and inspires the Quad Cities toward greatness in this new one.

Transformation Grants are the largest grants the Community Foundation awards each year, and are inspired by our mission to transform the region through the generosity of donors who gift to the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund. Since the grant program’s inception six years ago, we have awarded more than $1 million in Transformation Grants into the community. This afternoon, I have the great honor of announcing $200,000 in grants to an Illinois school district collaborative and to an exceptional provider of housing in Iowa.

These awards are timely—and perhaps more important than ever before. You know well that the nonprofit and education sectors stepped up to the plate in 2020 as the global COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation, and worked to address deep issues the pandemic brought to light.

Now, we hope these grants will motivate and energize plans that will move long-term, transformational solutions forward.

First, with a $100,000 Transformation Grant, two of our local school districts—East Moline and United Township—will kick off an initiative to ensure students in the district are able to access WIFI in their homes. They recognize that education is a foundation for success, and they are on a mission to break down barriers that inhibit that. It is an innovative, progressive solution that will also be a model for other school district in our region—and nationally. Read more about it here

Second, a $100,000 Transformation Grant for Humility Homes & Services will provide stable housing and support for individuals with complex challenges. The grant supports the organization’s five-year goal to end the need for their emergency winter shelter by offering long-term solutions for community members experiencing homelessness. Read more about it here

The $200,000 in grants we celebrate today are on top of a $50,000 Transformation Grant awarded this winter to the United Way for the Quad Cities’ United for Equity Fund, which is addressing racial inequities in multiple areas of our communities, including health, education and income systems in the Quad Cities. These Transformation Grants are possible because of the gifts donors make to the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund.

These grants will also help target persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities that impact our communities with real resources. Inspired by the collective of people and organizations working toward equity, these grants are part of our commitment to move forward with action, and we invite you to join us. Together with people like you and the many generous donors who support the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund, we are cultivating a community where individuals, families and businesses thrive because we come together in our differences.

This includes inequity challenges that can be addressed with the consistent, powerful momentum of working together. Our hope is that these Transformation Grants refresh and encourage this community to dream big, to discover what is possible, and reaffirm a collective commitment to creating an environment in the Quad Cities where people feel comfortable to bring all they have to offer.

We look back on last year with resolve, and with gratitude for what we learned. And we look forward to watching the many ways people will be able to be able to spread their wings and succeed going forward. Please join me in celebrating our newest grantees.