The federal government recently awarded the Lansing-area Power of We Consortium $330,961 in capacity building grants, giving the organization the ability to help 17 nonprofit and faith-based gencies fund various programs.
“The focus of this is called a capacity building program, which allows faith-based organizations to serve underserved populations, so these organizations can go out and do what they do better,” says Peggy Roberts, with the Power of We Consortium.
The Power of We Consortium distributes the funds to a variety of nonprofit groups like the Black and Child Family Institute in Lansing. With the money, the organization will upgrade its technology and offer staff training.
This round of funding focuses on Lansing, specifically programs that help Lansing’s homeless, prisoner or youth populations. The first round of grants the Power of We Consortium received were distributed throughout Ingham County.
“When we applied for the next round of grants, they were asking us to focus on areas of high poverty and we felt that, geographically, we could best focus on the City of Lansing,” says Roberts. Giving to non profits helps those in need, but it also helps improve the quality of the community.
“By improving the efficiency and the organizational capacity of the community, we find that the delivery of services to our vulnerable population is vastly increased, and, therefore, as services increases it can raise the level of safety for these populations, which benefits the community,” she says.
Source: Peggy Roberts, Power of We Consortium
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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