Philanthropy Lab Course Funds Five Local Nonprofits 

Boo: We are challenging unconstitutional practices and resolving clients’ legal issues, which allows them to rebuild their lives. We work in a number of spheres, and whether assisting an individual or engaging in litigation to challenge debtors’ prisons, cash bail, and other civil rights abuses, our services have a long-term, positive impact for our clients and communities.

Mykael: We received funding for our Close the Workhouse campaign [a grassroots movement with the goal of permanently closing St. Louis City’s Medium Security Institution and ensuring a new jail is not built in its place]. The grant will allow us to continue conversations, innovations, and interventions through the work of our community organizer. Having a trained organizer has exponentially grown our capacity to fight the campaign in a robust way and work toward our vision of a St. Louis liberated from unjust criminalization and incarceration.

Boo: Our clients and community partners inform all of our work, and our ability to devote more time to organizing and to have dedicated staff in community spaces directly serves our mission.

Boo: We have a robust internship program with opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students. We provide interns with meaningful learning and exposure to racial justice issues in St. Louis City.

Kate: The organizations that can make a real impact are the ones able to offer services at a consistent and high quality level. Our clinic is core for delivering services to clients with little or no access to the healthcare system. The Philanthropy Lab funding will support front line jobs and help us maintain an open door for inclusive care every day of the week.

Kate: It was a pleasure working with Philanthropy Lab students. Their questions and perspectives continue to help us learn. I hope they have learned more about the nuance of grant-making and the role foundations can play in improving systems and creating larger-scale solutions.

Kate: While donations are always helpful, students, in particular, can support Casa by giving their time as an interpreter, scribe, or other volunteer role. I value the insights our interns and practicum students bring and the connections we can make between theory learned in the classroom and our work on the ground.

Bruce: Through our Environmental Justice Program, we protect disadvantaged populations from an unreasonable share of the environmental burdens of modern society. Our grant money will advance this work. The need for environmentaljustice in North St. Louis is pressing. Systematically, Great Rivers will evaluate permit applications (air, water, and waste) and pollution monitoring reports in three North St. Louis communities. We will take action to stop polluting facilities from operating under outdated, expired permits, and to stop them from operating under current, but inadequate, permits.

The funding will also allow us to continue to give technical and legal assistance to NAACP branches on environmental and climate justice issues; provide and coordinate state and local participation on EPA rule making; and educate community members on environmental and climate justice from a civil rights perspective.

Bruce: On a substantive level, we value the input of students and other community members on environmental issues of importance to them. There are also opportunities to help the law center in a variety of administrative capacities, including helping us with our community outreach and education through social media.

Jessica: The grant will support MICA Project’s combined focus on both direct client representation and systemic advocacy efforts.

Jessica: The students in our group seemed to really develop an understanding of the local nonprofit landscape for their issue area. They also did a wonderful job with communication. They expressed a desire to fund in a collaborative manner, rather than in a top-down relationship, and that was evident in the way they interacted with us.

Jessica: We have often had student groups and community members organize fundraisers, donate, and volunteer at community events. We also have in-office internships and volunteer positions for students.

Denise: Our Early Childhood Education Center at Caroline Mission provides affordable, state-licensed, and accredited services for approximately 90 children ages six weeks to five years of age. The majority of children’s families reside in and around the Gate District of the City of St. Louis; 63% earn less than $20,000 a year, and 84% are female-headed households. We also provide family support services to more than 165 of family members through needs assessments, one-to-one assistance, referrals to partner agencies, and twice-monthly family engagement meetings focused on child and parent development topics.

The Philanthropy Lab’s general operating grant will fund scholarships for families who cannot afford the full cost of childcare and parent engagement events, like the current five-week series of cooking and nutrition classes provided in partnership with Parents as Teachers.

Denise: It is important to get to know your community and the people involved in the organizations you support. I can tell you about all of our families – what they are going through, their challenges, and their successes. The relationship may begin with a donation, but we hope it will grow into an understanding of community needs, deepened involvement as a volunteer, and advocacy on behalf of issues facing our clients, which will lead to a more equitable community for all of us.  

Denise: The WashU community can advance our work by providing cash and in-kind donations (wipes, toys during holidays, etc.), spreading the word about the work we are doing, volunteering, and linking us to others with community spirit and connections.