The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation has made $1 million in new grant commitments to collaborative initiatives in our community. The Basic Needs Giving Partnership is a collaboration between the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, U.S. Venture, and the J. J. Keller Foundation to address root causes of poverty in Northeast Wisconsin.

Since its inception in 2007, the partnership has granted more than $18.3 million regionally. All of the funds raised by the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation are granted to collaborative initiatives serving the greater Green Bay community.

In 2017 new grants awarded include the following collaborations:

Youth Mental Health Matters: $300,000
The collaboration will enable more effective and efficient delivery of youth mental health services by bringing counseling professionals and students in training into the Boys & Girls Club to connect with high-need populations in a trusted and accessible setting while expanding the Resident Training Program.
Collaborators: Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay • Foundations (formerly American Foundation of Counseling Services) • UW-Green Bay Social Field Placement Program

ELEvate (Education.Literacy.Engagement) Our ELL Families: $147,945
This work will expand upon a pilot program that targeted Latino families and incorporates additional family literacy programming sites in other schools with a high concentration of English Language Learners. The program addresses both the parents’ and their children’s literacy and language needs, while engaging parents in their child’s education; building stronger school connections and parent and child interaction; and assisting parents in acquiring skills to be self-sufficient.
Collaborators: Literacy Green Bay • Green Bay Area Public Schools • Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Pathway to Self-Sufficiency: $300,000
Families ready to leave shelter or transitional housing will receive support through increased guidance to self-sufficiency, continued case management, and long-term supportive housing. Ecumenical Partnership for Housing will become the landlord for families who would otherwise not have access to affordable housing.
Collaborators: Ecumenical Partnership for Housing • The Salvation Army • Golden House • Freedom House

Educacion: Una Mejor Oportunidad (Education: A Better Chance for Hispanics): $25,000
A planning grant will strengthen an existing partnership to better address the educational needs of the Hispanic community through an action plan and needs assessment focused on increasing post-secondary awareness among middle school and high school students and their parents.
Collaborators: Northeast Wisconsin Technical College • CASA Alba Melanie Hispanic Resource Center of Green Bay

Community Resource Empowerment Program: $236,500
A coordinated approach will assist people who are disconnected from the workforce, deficient in basic skills, underemployed or in need of assistance in attaining post-secondary education, specifically the incarcerated, noncustodial unemployed parents, alcohol and other drug abuse or mental health patients and victims of domestic or sexual abuse.
Collaborators: New Beginnings Work & Training Center • Oconto County Sheriff’s Department • Bay Area Workforce Development • FALS-Oconto Falls Alternative School

Resiliency Development Strategies for Algoma’s Youth: $17,162
A planning grant will establish a structure for initial screening of youth in areas impacting resiliency and mental health. In concert with data collection, a small-group resiliency building intervention will be piloted with analysis for further development and to outline potential barriers and areas of opportunity for resiliency strategies in future initiatives.
Collaborators: Live Algoma • Algoma School District • UW-Green Bay Social Work Professional Programs • City of Algoma Parks & Recreation Department

Multi-year grant funding includes the following collaborations:

Fostering Youth Independence & Self-Sufficiency: $100,000
(Year 3 of 3, $299,640 total)
The work addresses the gap in community resources and services dedicated to youth aging out of foster care and other at-risk groups sharing similar barriers to education and employment.
Collaborators: Bay Area Workforce Development Board, Foundations (formerly American Foundation of Counseling Services), Brown County Human Services, CASA of Brown County, Advocates for Healthy Transitional Living

Expanding Farmers Market SNAP and WIC Programs: $22,540
(Year 3 of 3, $53,785 total)
This initiative expanded upon a Basic Needs Giving Partnership planning grant opportunity to create sustainability, making healthy foods more accessible and affordable for low-income residents in Brown County. FoodShare and WIC participants are able to use benefits at farmers markets.
Collaborators: Live54218, OnBroadway, Downtown Green Bay Inc., UW-Extension, Oneida Nation Farmers Market, Main Street Farmers Market, Brown County WIC Program

Connections for Mental Wellness: $99,448
(Year 3 of 3, $284,598 total)
Connections for Mental Wellness (formerly Greater Green Bay Mental Health Connection and Mental Wellness Connections) was established to create better access for children, adults and families; develop an improved system of mental health care grounded in collaboration and coordination; decrease the stigma of mental illness; create a healthier community; and increase funding for community mental health services.
Collaborators: Foundations (formerly American Foundation for Counseling Services), Bellin Health, Catholic Charities, Family Services, Hospital Sisters Health System