FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
James Seaton
212-784-5705
JSeaton@groupgordon.com

The Foundation’s Policy Campaign Grants will support timely grassroots advocacy, civic engagement, and community organizing efforts for systemic change

ST. LOUIS, MO (December 14, 2023) – Deaconess Foundation (Deaconess) is currently accepting funding proposals for up to $100,000 to support timely grassroots advocacy, civic engagement, and community organizing efforts for policy change and systemic transformation in 2024, a crucial election year. The Foundation is seeking funding proposals from community organizations, coalitions, and public policy campaigns positioned to focus on mobilizing people and resources to drive meaningful, systemic change that advances community health and well-being. Building and reinforcing the civic infrastructure for local and state movements led by and centering the people most impacted has never been more important.

“A vibrant democracy and a just society depend on policy that is representative of our diverse collective,” said Bethany Johnson-Javois, president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation. “We can’t afford to allow our future to be dictated by discriminatory policies intended to chill and reverse progress, impacting our most invisibilized communities. We must intentionally and persistently invest over time in the development and implementation of public policy that creates conditions for people and communities to thrive — from removing barriers to accessing healthcare to advancing environmental justice that seeks to ameliorate the generational impacts of poverty affecting a growing number of families.”

Earlier this year Deaconess awarded Missouri Jobs with Justice and Alive & Well Communities $50,000 each during its 2023 call for proposals for public policy campaigns. Missouri Jobs with Justice is mobilizing supporters, voters, and coalitions to secure paid sick leave and higher wages for residents in Missouri. Alive & Well Communities is convening young people throughout the metro St. Louis region to identify public policy priorities that the young people will then advocate for locally, regionally, and statewide. Deaconess received a record number of proposals for the 2023 Policy Campaign grant cycle.

Policy Campaign Grants provide unrestricted, general operating support to advance timely public policy change efforts. These efforts may include awareness and mobilization campaigns to pass a ballot measure, research and analyses to develop an innovative approach to a policy challenge, local and state advocacy for a policy with meaningful, systems-level implications, and more. There is no single issue that the grant targets.

Grants will be awarded for one year. The maximum grant award will be $100,000. Learn more, review a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and apply at deaconess.org/funding. Funding proposals for Policy Campaign Grants must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Thursday, February 1, 2024.

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About Deaconess Foundation

Deaconess Foundation envisions a community that values the health and well-being of all and gives priority attention to the most invisibilized. Deaconess seeks to create conditions where liberation is the lived reality within seven generations. A ministry of the United Church of Christ, Deaconess has invested more than $96 million to improve the health of the St. Louis community since 1998. Our grants and cultivated relationships support the accelerated change in conditions through policy, advocacy, and/or organizing efforts building and wielding power to transform systems to respond to the will of the people.

The Foundation’s advocacy and grantmaking footprint includes St. Louis City, St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles and Franklin Counties in Missouri and Madison, St. Clair and Monroe Counties in Illinois. For more information, visit deaconess.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter and Instagram @deaconessfound and on Facebook at facebook.com/deaconessfoundation.