The Center for Self-Sufficiency (CFSS) was recently selected to receive a $500,000 Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) grant award by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS). The primary purpose of the CCF is to help faith-based and community organizations increase their effectiveness, enhance their ability to provide social services to serve those most in need, expand their organizations, diversify their funding sources, and create collaborations to better serve those in need.
“My goal since establishing the center is to work through existing networks of mission-oriented secular and faith-based nonprofit organizations. This grant will enable us to expand upon that vision by developing capacity within these small nonprofits so they can more efficiently serve those families in Milwaukee who need it the most,” said Angela Turner, president and CEO of the Center for Self-Sufficiency. “This grant is perfectly aligned with the CFSS mission, and is even more relevant in our current economic climate.”
According to Turner, 62 percent of employed families in Milwaukee have incomes below 185 percent of the poverty level, and 73 percent in the project’s targeted zip codes have income below that level.
“We can now help more organizations serving those communities, in turn stabilizing families’ financial situations and reducing stress,” she said.
The one-year grant totals $500,000, of which $225,000 in sub-awards will be provided to small nonprofit organizations through capacity-building financial assistance.