Zilber Family Foundation awards $2.2 million in grants

The Zilber Family Foundation recently awarded 27 grants totaling $2,196,100 to nonprofit organizations aimed at addressing poverty in Milwaukee’s Clarke Square, Layton Boulevard West, Lindsay Heights and other neighborhoods.

Awarded grants include:

• $115,000 over two years to Artists Working in Education to enroll 1,500 youth in arts education programs and collaborate with professional artists to create 12 large-scale public artworks that beautify neighborhoods. Funds will also support the organization’s Truck Studio, a free drop-in summer enrichment program that brings a mobile art studio to parks, playgrounds, and libraries throughout the city.
• $25,000 to Columbia St. Mary’s Foundation to provide preventative and restorative dental care to students attending schools in Lindsay Heights. Columbia St. Mary’s school-based Smart Smiles program sends dentists into public and private schools, where at least 50 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced lunch, to provide preventative dental care. The grant will also support the organization’s new Mobile Dental Clinic, which provides students with follow-up dental treatment. 
• $300,000 over two years to Discovery World to deliver lab-based instruction to 500 students from schools in Clarke Square, Layton Boulevard West and Lindsay Heights at its lakefront facility. Discovery World will also offer summer camp scholarships for 20 students and free visits for children and families from the three neighborhoods. 
• $40,000 to Fondy Food Center to develop Fondy Park and improve access to green spaces for Lindsay Heights residents. Fondy Park is being developed on a city-owned lot adjacent to the market to include walking paths, benches, a performance stage and landscaping.
• $150,000 over two years to Housing Resources, Inc. to provide housing counseling to 350 low- and moderate-income homebuyers, and foreclosure prevention services to existing homeowner in the Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square, Layton Park, Burnham Park, and Silver City neighborhoods. 
• $250,000 over two years to Safe & Sound, Inc. to support crime reduction and prevention activities in the Clarke Square and Layton Boulevard West neighborhoods on the city’s south side. Safe & Sound’s community organizers partner with local organizations and residents to sponsor neighborhood cleanups, block parties, and resource fairs, to address neighborhood concerns, and to promote positive interactions with law enforcement. 

Since 2008, the foundation has awarded $44.7 million to support programs aimed at meeting basic human needs, enhancing access to economic opportunity and improving the quality of community life.

A full list of grant recipients is available at www.zilberfamilyfoundation.org.