Harper’s Educational Foundation awards $40,000 to local nonprofits

The Harper College Educational Foundation recently awarded $40,000 to five, local nonprofit organizations in the third year of its Community Innovation Fund Grant Program.

The program provides grants to nonprofit organizations with programs that support the advancement of equity, diversity and economic mobility for underserved and marginalized communities in Harper’s district. These goals align with Harper’s inclusive mission and vision to enrich the college’s diverse communities.

“This program continues to be incredibly successful in fostering partnerships with local nonprofits that assist people of all ages within our communities,” said Heather Zoldak, chief advancement officer. “We are excited to award grants to both returning organizations and first-time recipients.”

Harper’s foundation awarded grants to three of this year’s organizations in the program’s first two years. The Community Innovation Fund Grant recipients include:

• Journeys The Road Home, Palatine – $10,000 grant for the HOPE Day Center, a social services and counseling center where clients have access to wraparound services such as vocational counseling, life skills, case management and health care.
• Barrington Area Council on Aging, Barrington – $5,000 grant for the Comprehensive Care Management for Older and Disabled Adults project, which uplifts older and disabled adults who need in-depth care management to access fundamental human rights like housing, food, transportation and health care.
• FamilyForward, Arlington Heights – $5,000 grant to support the Debt Reduction Matching Program, which strengthens low-income working families in the northwest suburbs to achieve financial stability and independence by matching their debt payments, up to a maximum of $500 in one month.
• Barrington Area Development Council, Barrington – $10,000 grant for the 2024 InZone for Sunny Hill Area Middle School Students project, which will allow up to 35 seventh- and eighth-grade students who live within the Sunny Hill Elementary attendance boundaries the opportunity to attend Harper’s InZone summer camp program. It includes an event for students and their families to learn more about the opportunities available to them through the college.
• Hopeful Beginnings, Palatine – $10,000 grant for the Mothers Achieving Stability Program, which will provide clients graduating from the Teen Parenting Program with services to help them find employment and a path that will lead them and their families to financial stability. The program will include a partnership between a Hopeful Beginnings case manager and Harper.

“We believe that Harper is acknowledging parents and their value to the community,” said Natalie Rodriguez, executive director of Hopeful Beginnings, who is excited for her organization to bolster support for young parents seeking education and employment. “We’ve been able to have that emotional support, but now we get to say, ‘We hear you, we feel you and here’s some money to get that babysitter to take your exam.’ This is going to be life-changing for so many women and families in our area.”

The Harper College Educational Foundation recently awarded a $10,000 grant to Hopeful Beginnings, which supports young women through pregnancy and parenthood, as part of the Community Innovation Fund Grant Program. Pictured are Heather Zoldak, Harper's chief advancement officer (from left); Natalie Rodriguez, executive director of Hopeful Beginnings; and Dr. Avis Proctor, Harper president.

Harper and its foundation announced the third year of the grant program this spring and encouraged area organizations to apply while detailing how they would use the funding for projects, programs, activities and services that focus on uplifting activities with long-lasting impacts and outcomes. Each grant is for a one-year period (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025) and recipients are allowed to apply for a one-year renewal. So far, the program has awarded $190,000 to area nonprofit organizations.

Part of the impetus for the Community Innovation Fund Grant Program was MacKenzie Scott’s $18 million transformational gift to Harper in 2021. Dr. Avis Proctor, Harper College president, underlined Scott’s inspiring words when presenting the awards to this year’s recipients.

“MacKenzie Scott wrote how generosity is generative, and that sharing makes more,” Dr. Proctor said after highlighting that the program is endowed to ensure its existence in perpetuity. “The goal of these grants is to advance work supporting equity, diversity and economic mobility within our community for years to come. Together we will generate strategic and transformational impact for our entire community to thrive.”