Art and music can draw people of all ages, races and cultures together. In that spirit, CRRC helped to host the Waco Cultural Arts Fest, a newly established two-day annual outdoor arts festival in Waco, Texas. The grant was used for a juried sculpture competition that was held outdoors near city hall and other public buildings. The City of Waco approved a five-month exhibition of the sculpture finalists to allow the public an opportunity to experience art as part of the physical landscape of the community.

Funding for additional publicity and advertising for this symphony’s 2004-2005 season helped to create a sell out audience for violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. The event was thought to be a rare opportunity for Central Texans to experience the internationally known and four-time Emmy award winning artist.

The Alliance for Justice received general support funding for its work as a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's and consumer advocacy organizations. Since its inception in 1979, the Alliance has worked to advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest and influence public policy with an emphasis on nonprofit and foundation advocacy.

The mission of the Center is to serve as a non-partisan, nonprofit policy research organization seeking sound solutions to the challenges faced by low- and moderate-income Texans. The Center pursues this goal through independent research, analysis, policy development, advocacy, and public education. This grant is will assist CPPP in their efforts to educate the public about issues affecting working families.

The Roosevelt Institute strives to enlighten new generations about the spirit of idealism and democracy that was the hallmark of the era of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The Institute believes the Four Freedoms – Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear – are essential to a flourishing democracy, and to encourage those freedoms at home and abroad. This grant will support a series of events that promote the Four Freedoms, FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights Speech of January 1944, and commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Securities and Exchange and pay tribute to two prominent progressive thinkers – and the Institute’s founders: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and John Kenneth Galbraith. The events are intended to attract leading names in finance and government.

According to tenets of this 20 year-old organization, finding common ground does not mean settling for the lowest common denominator, it's about generating the highest. SFCG advocates for resolving broad national issues through a process that is not adversarial and in fact is very cooperative in nature. This grant will support work on the U.S. Consensus Council and national policy issues, including health care coverage for the uninsured.

This coalition was founded in 1985, when the current Texans Care Board chairman was asked by members of the Texas legislature and a group of children’s service organizations to create an agent that would collect and coordinate the vast amounts of information about Texas children’s needs and speak to lawmakers with one voice on behalf of Texas children. This grant allowed Texans Care for Children the opportunity to hire a project director for approximately three months to conduct an intensive voter registration and awareness campaign to educate Texans about children as a funding priority.

When this new school opened five years ago, administrators discovered that nearly 70 percent of the parents of its students did not read, speak, or write English with any proficiency. To address the language barrier, the principal of CCMS invited two professors from Baylor University to establish an English as a second language program. The grant is used for the LEAF (Learning English Among Friends) program. This is collaboration with AVANCE Waco and Baylor University to help implement Strengthening Families, Building Community, a program focused on family literacy.

Located in a transitional urban area, the Center serves neighborhood children and youth with a variety of programs. After-school tutoring is key to the mission of the Center, where students are mentored with compassion and discipline. The goal is to help children receive help with lessons and tests, encourage them to stay in school, graduate and become productive citizens. The funding assisted in the operations of this program, by funding staff, supplies, utilities and transportation.

Founded in 1923, Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. With 4,000 Jewish students, UT is among the largest and oldest Jewish campus populations in the country. Texas Hillel creates opportunities for all Jewish students to develop their own Jewish interests and to participate in a campus-based community that respects the value of pluralism and promotes ongoing involvement in Jewish life. Texas Hillel has outgrown its current location and this grant, funded over five years, will support a new Center for Jewish Student Life at University of Texas at Austin to replace the existing outdated Center.

The Rapoport Service Scholarship is open to freshman enrolled in Liberal Arts. The scholarship awards up to $7,500 per year for three years beginning the summer after the freshman year and includes a lap top computer. A unique feature of this grant includes a requirement for the student to participate in community service during the summer. By working with a nonprofit organization, a student gains knowledge about this sector and the value that these agencies provide. Students are able to select the nonprofit group of their choice, which benefits from their assistance. The students then write about their experience with others in their cohort group, and work together in a variety of service projects during the year.

The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice will serve as a focal point for critical discussion and policy analysis of human rights law and advocacy. This five-year grant will be used primarily to support student service-learning opportunities relating to human rights, including the establishment of the Transnational Worker Rights Clinic, and summer internships. In addition, the law school will provide three scholarships next year for students committed to working in the human rights field. The Center will host an annual conference – the inaugural conference will focus on immigration and globalization.

The University of Texas at San Antonio serves the San Antonio metropolitan area and the broader region of South Texas through programs and services offered from its three campuses. With more than 26,000 students enrolled in 106 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, UTSA is the second-largest component in The University of Texas System and has been one of the state's fastest-growing public universities for much of the last decade. This grant, payable over five years, will fund five scholarships to provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged students who could not otherwise attend the University.

As the fourth largest supplier of blood in the U.S., Carter Bloodcare must look for expanding ways to meet patient needs. Blood coaches, or bloodmobiles, have proven to be a popular and convenient, especially during mobile blood drives hosted at work-sites, schools and churches. Funds for this state-of-the-art coach came from four local foundations to assist in purchasing a blood donor coach for the Central Texas area. All blood collected will be used to supply the area hospitals.

Dental caries (tooth decay) is now recognized as the number one childhood disease nationwide, and is three times more prevalent than asthma for the low-income population. The country’s dentist to overall population ratio has dropped 29% in the past twenty years to 1:5000 and the local ratio is much worse. To help correct this dental services deficiency, this grant will go towards the construction of a new medical/dental clinic. The grant is payable over two years.

Funding will assist in purchasing a variety of equipment and supplies for this rural health center that provides comprehensive primary health and dental care to the un- and under-insured, Medicaid and Medicare population living in the greater Williamsburg, Virginia area. The grant also allows staff to learn a patient tracking system that would require that 90% of all patient visits be 40 minutes or less in an effort to improve patient services.

Caritas aids approximately 1500 families a month with emergency assistance to people with food, clothing, utilities, prescription drugs, lodging, and transportation. Caritas also oversees the Gifts-in-Kind program that distributes items from the Wal-Mart Return Center to nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Texas. To date, more than seventy social service agencies and congregations and eighteen food banks are participating in this program. The grant was used as salary for two staff members to assist with the distribution of the items.

The Jerusalem Foundation mission is to strengthen, promote and enhance a free, open, pluralistic and modern society in Jerusalem, by responding to the pressing needs of the city and working to improve the lives of its residents. Yearly support goes to the Foundation, which was founded in 1966 by then-mayor Teddy Kollek, to meet the ever changing needs of its citizens.

Mission Waco strives to serve people who are oppressed, marginalized and living in poverty. This grant enhanced and expanded the existing M-Powerment Program, which provides opportunities for Waco’s lower income and most-difficult-to-serve poor for employability through job readiness skill, skills enhancement, on the job experiences, job search, job placement, and job coaching. A new program feature, “Operation Vocation” allowed young people to take advantage of the job training experience during the summer.

This nonprofit agency encourages home ownership through its financing assistance and home buyer education and counseling. NHS also promotes financial literacy and recently formed a unique partnership with AARP to offer free tax preparation and tax counseling as a co-occupant at the NHS site. This grant was partial funding to offset the cost of developing a separate building entrance, an expanded kitchen and accommodate expenses related to tax prep program for seniors and low income people.

Rebuilding Together of Greater Waco is an affiliate of Rebuilding Together (RT), which is the largest volunteer organization in America devoted to repairing and modifying the homes of low income and handicapped homeowners. A “Ramps & Rails” program will be enhanced by hiring a part-time Project Director and miscellaneous materials and supplies for two years. The grant also assisted in the purchase of material and supplies for ongoing work in the Home Repair Program. The City of Waco will provide additional match funds for this high-demand program.

Talitha Koum means (in Aramaic) “My child, get up!” The program provides the opportunity for children of a local government housing area to “get up,” to rise above the injustices of poverty and racism. This grant funded a program called “Making Waves,” which provides access to a neighborhood swimming pool, teaches swimming proficiency, and encourages youth leaders to learn to become lifeguards. In addition to providing valuable and much-needed recreation, the program addresses swimming skills and promotes a sense responsibility among older children.

UJC provides humanitarian assistance to those in need, and translates Jewish values into social action on behalf of millions of Jews in hundreds of communities in North America, in towns and villages throughout Israel, and sixty countries around the world. Yearly support goes to UJC to build and strengthen Israel based Jewish communities and activities, and to nurture Jewish learning and education.

This small farm on the outskirts of Waco is fertile ground for agricultural and educational programs. The nonprofit agency’s small staff demonstrates simple but effective sustainable farming techniques to both domestic and international visitors. Interns agree to study, live and work at the farm. An Education Director position will be funded to help grow their internship program and to oversee student field trips. The grant will also support the Village Store that markets quality products from diverse cultures around the world made by underemployed diligent people.

The Foundation also awarded small grants to a variety of Waco nonprofit organizations. Some of the recipients include: KWBU local public broadcast station, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Texas State Technical College, and Planned Parenthood of Central Texas. These grants were used for a variety of projects, training, and GED testing.