The Green Bay Packers Foundation announced this week it has awarded a total of $1.65 million in impact grants to nine nonprofit organizations serving the Green Bay and Milwaukee areas.
The Foundation's Impact Grant Program, which first began in 2013, directs significant funds toward organizations that serve their communities each day. The grants of varying amounts were awarded to five nonprofits in Green Bay and four in the Milwaukee area.
"The Packers Foundation is pleased to award grants to these nine deserving organizations," said Packers President and CEO Ed Policy. "The recipients represent a wide range of important causes, from helping families and children, to advancing physical and mental well-being. Their dedication to serving our neighbors strengthens communities across our state and we are proud to support their work."
Grants were awarded to the following nonprofits:
- Brain Center of Green Bay: The grant will go toward the Brain Center's Community Education and Outreach Program in pursuit of making Northeastern Wisconsin the most brain-healthy region in the country. The program includes expansion of the Brain Center's eight-week Youth Program, the development of a brain health certification for healthcare and direct care workers, build-out of the Center's Healthy Workplace Series and bringing an international brain exhibit to Green Bay. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate and to learn more, please visit https://givebutter.com/impactgrant.
- Ecumenical Partnership for Housing Inc. (Green Bay): The grant will go toward supporting the nonprofit's Transitional Housing & Long-Term Supportive Housing Programs, aimed at providing families with children who are experiencing homelessness in Brown County with safe, stable homes and individualized case management support while they work toward self-sufficiency. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate and to learn more, please visit www.ephgb.org.
- Foundations Health and Wholeness (Green Bay): The grant will help expand access to mental health services for children, youth, and families throughout Northeast Wisconsin. Funding will support school-based mental health therapy in 14 schools, along with community-based counseling and supportive services provided through Foundations Youth Services. By offering care in schools and other familiar community settings, Foundations helps reduce barriers to treatment and ensures children and families can access timely, professional mental health support where they feel most comfortable. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate and to learn more, please visit https://wearefoundations.org/support-us/donate-2/.
- Howe Community Resource Center (Green Bay): The grant will go toward the organization's innovative pilot initiative that integrates mental health support within the Parents as Teachers home visiting program while strengthening school-based mental health services at Howe Elementary Community School. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate and to learn more, please visit https://tinyurl.com/HCRCmentalhealth.
- Wisconsin Humane Society – Green Bay Campus: The grant will support the early phases of a capital campaign for the new Green Bay Campus facility to allow for expansion of programs and services, with more information available in the coming months. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate please visit https://wihumane.me/unleash. To learn more, please email unleash@wihumane.org
- Historic Haymarket Milwaukee (Milwaukee Public Museum): The grant will support the capital campaign of the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, which is currently being designed and constructed in Milwaukee as a world-class destination for discovery, featuring four floors of exhibits, a planetarium, public green spaces, a rooftop butterfly garden and terrace, education and research labs and more. To learn more and contribute to the project, please visit https://www.mpm.edu/wisconsin-wonders.
- HOPE Network for Single Mothers (Menomonee Falls): The grant will be directed to the organization's Pathways to Family Stability & Success Initiative, which supports single mothers and their families by providing access to essential resources, educational opportunities, financial assistance, and community support services. To learn more and to contribute to the organization's goal of removing barriers to stability while empowering families to achieve long-term success and self-sufficiency. To donate please visit Donation Payment – HOPE Network for Single Mothers. To learn more, please visit https://www.hopenetworkinc.org.
- Independence First (Milwaukee): The grant will be directed toward the Alternatives in Mobility (AIM) Program, which is expanding into a sustainable regional support model to provide wheelchair repair, refurbishment, parts reuse, and in-home mobile repair services to ensure people with disabilities remain safe, independent and active in their communities. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. To donate and to learn more, please visit https://www.independencefirst.org/IndependenceFirst/Donate.htm.
- Sojourner Family Peace Center (Milwaukee): The grant will support the "Hope Lives Here Campaign" which will help safeguard the nonprofit's vital programs for survivors of domestic violence by funding capital projects that will strengthen program efficiency and innovation while creating a safer, more comfortable environment for Sojourner clients. This is a matching grant, with the organization required to raise the same amount to secure the funding. Please reach out to HopeLivesHereCampaign@familypeacecenter.org for more information about this crucial campaign and how to donate.
Since the Impact Grant Program began in 2013, the Packers Foundation has disbursed $13.5 million through impact grants, awarding grants to organizations that focus on a wide variety of need areas, including education, homelessness, and the health and wellbeing of children, families and the elderly. The Foundation now has distributed more than $31.4 million for charitable purposes since it was established in 1986. The Green Bay Packers Foundation is part of Green Bay Packers Give Back, the Packers' all-encompassing community outreach initiative. Packers Give Back includes appearances by players, alumni, coaches and staff, monetary and in-kind donations, community events, Make-A-Wish visits, football outreach and much more. These efforts contribute to a comprehensive Packers charity impact that was in excess of $15 million last year.
