More than four dozen local nonprofits will receive three-year grants totaling $1.5 million in the San Antonio Area Foundation’s latest round of funding, officials announced Monday.
The 51 organizations, selected under the foundation’s prioritized impact areas of “Cultural Vibrancy” and “Youth Success,” will receive between $4,000 and $50,000 each year through 2025.
“This support empowers us to dream bigger and explore new avenues for expanding our initiatives,” stated Stephen Lucke, CEO of Gardopia Gardens, a nonprofit that helps establish community gardens and offers garden-based nutritional and sustainability learning for residential and commercial communities.
Gardopia Gardens is a first-time grantee of the Area Foundation and represents the foundation’s efforts to diversify the grant application pool.
Nearly one in five grantees this round are either first-time recipients or received Area Foundation funding for the first time in five years and 33% of new grantees have a total annual budget of $250,000 or less, according to the foundation. The foundation received 27% more applications for this round and 88% of first-round grantees serve residents in San Antonio’s poorest zip codes.
“It’s a great sign to see a significant increase in engagement, from organizations both small and large, each playing their role in meeting our vision of working to close opportunity gaps for those in our community who need it most,” Patricia Mejia, the Area Foundation’s vice president of community engagement and impact, stated in a news release.
A second round of grants totaling approximately $1.35 million targeted towards the foundation’s other two impact priorities — “Successful Aging” and “Livable and Resilient Communities” — is expected to be announced in the fall, a foundation spokesman said.
Here is a complete list of first-round grantees:
- Agarita Chamber Players
- American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions
- Anuja SA
- Artpace San Antonio
- Carver Development Board
- Centro Cultural Aztlan
- Conjunto Heritage Taller
- Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
- Gemini Series
- Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
- Hearts Need Art
- Heritage Festivals of San Antonio
- Jump-Start Performance Company
- Luminaria
- Magik Children’s Theatre
- Musical Bridges Around the World
- National Association of Latino Arts and Culture
- Pride Center San Antonio
- San Anto Cultural Arts
- San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum
- San Antonio Black International Film Festival
- San Antonio Choral Society
- San Antonio Festival of Books
- San Antonio River Foundation
- Say Sí
- Urban-15 Group
- Aid the Silent
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas Inc. – San Antonio
- Boy With a Ball San Antonio
- Brighton Center
- Celebrate Dyslexia
- Child Advocates San Antonio
- Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas
- City Year
- Communities in Schools of San Antonio
- Dee Howard Foundation
- Gardopia Gardens
- Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas
- Girls on the Run of Bexar County
- Guardian House
- H.I.S. BridgeBuilders – San Antonio
- Healy-Murphy Center
- High Voltage Music
- Leaders Readers Network
- Roy Maas Youth Alternatives
- Sporti Transforming Lives
- Texas A&M San Antonio Foundation – Institute for Autism and Related Disorders
- TRL Productions
- YMCA of Greater San Antonio
- Young Women’s Christian Association YWCA – San Antonio
- Youth Center of Texas
