2025 Racial Equity & Justice Grants will be announced on Juneteenth.
Click HERE to download a PDF of the 2025 informational flier.
We encourage you to read the information below on the 2024 awards to learn about the types of programs and projects funded by this grants program.
Cooperation and community are two of the hallmarks of Marion Community Foundation’s Racial Equity and Justice grants program. The program awards grants to Marion organizations seeking to advance issues of equity and justice locally. Marion Community Foundation’s 2024 Racial Equity and Justice grant program awards, totaling $50,000, include:
Black Heritage Council | $3,000 to offer the Paul Robeson Speech Academy – designed to strengthen communication skills, provide camaraderie, and recruit youth in grades K- 12, in support of student participants in the Peace and Freedom Committee’s annual speech competition at the Martin Luther King Breakfast.
Logos Christian Ministries | $21,000 for Logos Freedom Riders: The Journey Continues — This Logos Freedom Riders – students from Marion Harding High School — continue to educate themselves on the history of the civil rights movement utilizing the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Marion Voices Folklife + Oral History | $5,000 for Marion Black Joy Summerfest 2024 — Marion Black Joy Summerfest is an annual celebration to build pride and educate the community about Marion County’s Black culture, heritage, & folklife. The annual event is held near Juneteenth, the federal holiday which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and has been celebrated in the African American community for decades. This year’s Joyfest event will take place at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Peace and Freedom Committee | $8,500 for Peace and Freedom Publishing — The purpose of this program is to help Marion youth of color see themselves as full members of the Marion community by telling stories about people, cultures, and lived experiences in Marion while establishing the foundation for an ongoing revenue stream to help fund Peace and Freedom Committee’s work.
St. Mary Catholic Church | $4,700 for Latino Health Fair –To continue offering an annual Health Fair targeting our Spanish speaking families in the Marion County community. To make awareness of health prevention providing health assessments, educating people to start a healthier life style and providing communication of the services that are offer in Marion County. Spanish interpreters will be available in our event, also materials in Spanish are share with the Hispanic families. Attendance at this annual event has been steadily increasing each year. Organizations interested in participating in the Latino Health Fair should contact Evelyn Lisiecki at St. Mary Church, 740-382-2118.
St. Mary Catholic Church | $5,500 for Summer Enrichment Program — To provide summer academic reinforcement in math, reading and religion to underserved children in La Rue and New Bloomington. To curve the summer learning loss of those underserved children.
Tri-Rivers Career Center | $2,300 for Exploration of Beauty and Color — A cohesive day of instruction and learning between Tri-Rivers Career Center (TRCC) students and girls of color at our nine associate middle schools, addressing topics of health, beauty, wellness, and self-care.
“The goal of Marion Community Foundation with our Racial Equity and Justice grants is to foster innovative programs for leaders at every level to use their resources to help people overcome challenges and continually build a better community,” said Jody Demo-Hodgins, co-chair of the Racial Equity and Justice grants committee at Marion Community Foundation. “Moving forward takes small, continuous steps and is essential for a community, like Marion, that values all people.”
The Racial Equity & Justice Grant Program is open to any charitable non-profit 501(c)(3) organization or equivalent, including educational, governmental, and religious programs, looking to improve issues of equity and justice in Marion County (Ohio). Awards favor applicants who identify and detail a community need and offer a solution that clearly states an effective plan to meet that need. Funding for the program comes from Marion Community Foundation’s Health Care Fund and the Robert M. & Dorothy C. Wopat Community Fund. The application period is February and March each year and applications are available online at www.MarionCommunityFoundation.org.
The Racial Equity & Justice grant committee consists of Demo-Hodgins and co-chair Nicolle Willis and members Dr. Deepi Bathini, Candace Floyd, Hon. Matt Frericks, Dana Booker, Evelyn Olivos Lisiecki, Pastor Jackie Peterson, and Erin Slater, who review applications and make award recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Marion Community Foundation is located at 504 S. State St. Information is available by calling 740-387-9704 or online at www.MarionCommunityFoundation.org.
Additional information on the Racial Equity & Justice Grants Program is available by contacting the Foundation’s Program Manager, Kate McCleese, at 740-387-9704 or by email at KateMcCleese@MarionCommunityFoundation.org.
The 2025 Racial Equity & Justice Grant Program will accept applications through April 13, 2025.
