BLK Foundation selects Gem Project as 2021 Covid-19 Reopening Grantee
” We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.”
-Sonia Johnson
As some of us know non-profit organizations play a huge role when it comes to building relationships, supporting one’s community, and making the world a better place. Nonprofit organizations work towards promoting awareness and providing solutions to a particular social issue. The Gem Project works toward increasing access and opportunities to youth through engaging them with educational services and tools to achieve their collective goals of tackling real-world social issues. Many of these organizations being not for profit depend on community support and receiving grants and funding to continue their work and projects to meet their goals and objectives. According to kindful.com, ” a nonprofit grant, sometimes referred to as a fundraising grant, is a financial donation given to an organization.” Kindful explains how grants enable nonprofit organizations the push to fund new or much-needed programs or purchase supplies. Grants have a way of building a nonprofit’s visibility and credibility. It’s all about pouring into a nonprofit so that it can further expand its mission and goal while supporting its community. The BLK Foundation has just done that in presenting The Gem Project with a $5,000.00 grant in supporting nonprofit organizations with a successful reopening plan. The Gem Project couldn’t be more appreciative and thrilled to receive this grant and use it towards leveraging their current work and looking to 2022 for new programs and projects.
The BLK Foundation is a public charity dedicated to supporting African American communities, businesses, and entrepreneurs through equity-free grants. Behind the foundation is a team of professionals looking to support the community they serve and changing the future of black businesses, communities, and organizations. They seek to bridge and bring inclusivity to the funding gap for all black identities such as women, youth, LGBTQ+, and more. Similarly, The Gem Project prides itself on changing the future for young people of color by providing them with the necessary resources, connections, and tools to create opportunities to be the driving change on different issues such as social injustice and health equity. Both BLK Foundation and The Gem Project aim to give those despite where they come from, what they look like, and where they live an equal opportunity at contributing to society in an impactful way. Out of all the organizations that applied, The Gem Project won and believe with each grant comes greater opportunities to increase momentum and awareness of who they are and what they do.
Founder and CEO of The Gem Project, Amanda Ebokosia explains how meaningful this grant is to her and the organization. She mentions “The COVID-19 Reopening Fund grant could not have come at a better time. The resources will be used to supplement a successful 2021-2022 fellowship for our incoming high school and college cohorts, starting October 18, 2021,”] “This past June our summer cohort increased by 477%, and our staffing increased by 600%+. This type of growth can place some immediate strains in the future, if not given the proper support ahead. With the BLK Foundation’s grant, we will be able to navigate our future better and support our upcoming fellowships this year.” As we’ve seen for many organizations, programs, and small businesses that make up the community, the pandemic has truly been impactful not only on the ways these spaces operate but the relationships they share within their communities. This fund will help The Gem Project not only continue their work but give their work more meaning by having it go towards improving their youth’s lives and perceptions with respect to their existence in this world.
The Gem Project aspires to change the course of history and with each grant, volunteer, coach, and fellow increases that possibility.
“We champion on time graduation through peer mentoring, youth organizing, employment, and service-learning initiatives, with a social justice approach.”
– The Gem Project