Igniting passion for transformational change
Change happens when bold leadership meets opportunity. The Community Foundation is dedicated to addressing our communities’ most challenging issues and providing hope for the future. By bringing together the dedication of community members and the generosity of philanthropic partners, we work to be a center for progress and a catalyst for change.
Register for Fall Events
Woven Together – The Art of Healing: Isms & Phobias
6 p.m. Sept. 19, 2024 | The Fennec
Healing throughout our community and nation is needed now more than ever.
Experience an exciting community initiative that brings people together across lines of division in a thoughtful, healing way. Alabama Humanities Alliance, The Birmingham Jewish Federation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham present Woven Together – The Art of Healing: Isms & Phobias. The evening is offered as part of our continued learning series that seeks to bridge divides and build solutions.
We are excited to welcome our featured speaker Dr. Gail C. Christopher, D.N., executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity and an award-winning social change agent with expertise in the social determinants of health and well-being. She is known for her pioneering work to infuse holistic health and diversity concepts into public sector programs and policy discourse.
Dr. Christopher is the creator of the Healing Circle model and the author of “Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to Embracing Our Humanity,” a process of learning that we are one expansive human family. This process offers a path toward one another — from fractionalization to wholeness, from division and separateness to unity, and increases our individual and collective capacities for perspective-taking, empathy, and compassion.
Dr. Christopher will lead participants through a Healing Circle exercise, during which individuals from diverse ideological, racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds can engage in open, honest, and empathetic dialogue to foster understanding.
Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be available at a reception following the event.
Tickets are only $5. Register today. Seating is limited.
Recent Grants
Hand in Paw, Inc.
$5,000 from the Remy Fund for Pets and Animals Services for the Wags for Wellness (Wags) program, a mental health and stress relief program that benefits healthcare workers and first responders.
A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club
$40,000 to support the After School Care and Summer Camp programs in Bessemer’s Southside Homes Unit to offer tutoring, homework assistance, and enriching activities designed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America for youth aged 6-18.
Shelby Emergency Assistance
$30,000 over two years to hire a Food Recovery Specialist to spearhead efforts in food pantry management, garden oversight, and the food recovery program involving local grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers.
Parkinson Association of Alabama
$10,000 to support the Care Navigation program to support one-on-one sessions, provide kits to the newly diagnosed, and to support the online Parkinson’s Disease Resource Center.
Studio By the Tracks
$25,000 over two years to establish an artist residency program benefiting local artists and individuals on the autism spectrum. The program offers paid opportunities, enhanced training, and art sales opportunities for participants.
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Grants
Our grantmaking framework is the vehicle that provides funding to nonprofits creating impact, empowering the people and organizations that best understand how to serve their communities with the resources they need. These investments are powered by the generosity of donors who have entrusted the Foundation to meet our community’s needs.
News & Updates
Hope Squad: Improving Mental Health in Children and Youth
Building hope in Alabama In 2022, suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14 in the United States. One of the top goals of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham is to improve child and youth mental health support in schools. This commitment includes working directly with school mental health coordinators in each district. One way the Community Foundation has done that is through Hope Squad, a national evidence-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program built around the power of connection.
LGBTQ Fund Provides Grants to Nine Local Organizations
The LGBTQ Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham announced $65,000 in grants awarded to 9 area nonprofits. Since its founding, the LGBTQ Fund has provided more than $365,000 to support programs in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties. Organizations receiving funds this year are:
Philip A. Morris Fund for the Design Arts Announces 2024 Grants
In its second annual grant cycle, the Philip A. Morris Fund for the Design Arts of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham awarded $115,000 in grants to five area nonprofits.
Serving Our Community: A Q&A with Caroline Fuerniss
Caroline Fuerniss, Professional Advisory Committee Chair Caroline Fuerniss is a proud Birmingham native who’s always searching for ways to serve her community. She’s held leadership roles with the Crisis Center, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and Rotaract Club of Birmingham. Currently, she’s a member of the Ballet Guild of Birmingham and she’s on the Women’s Advisory Team at Cathedral Church of the Advent. But she wanted to do more.