GRANTS COMMITTEE REPORT
Our Grants Committee is comprised of volunteers from the Foundation Board and non-Board residents of Forest Highlands. These individuals contribute many hours of time to review grant requests. The role of the Committee is to ensure that funds awarded support our mission and achieve the maximum impact possible in the Flagstaff community from our members’ generous donations. As the steward of the Foundation’s funds, the Committee has developed substantial expertise about the Flagstaff nonprofits. Regular meetings with nonprofit management, site visits, assessments of requests for support, and evaluations of the operating effectiveness of those nonprofits seeking assistance are all part of our process. Committee members have developed strong relationships with the leadership of many of these nonprofits. This experience helps ensure added value in the application of funds contributed by our members. Operating within budgets set by the Foundation Board, the Committee authorizes grants to nonprofits directly or in collaboration with the Arizona Community Foundation and 18 other funding organizations that engage in a process that ACF chairs. In 2022, the Forest Highlands Foundation contributed $281,213 to 31 nonprofits through the ACF process, a new record in dollars and numbers of organizations supported. As reported earlier, our $50,000 donation to Flagstaff Shelter Services (FSS) was leveraged into an $8.9 million government grant to purchase a 100-bed motel. In addition, a grant of $50,000 was made to Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona (HSNA) to assist in the renovation of another motel into long-term, affordable housing. With our continued, regular support of FSS, including assistance with the previous purchase of The Crown and now the additional 100-bed facility, plus our contribution to the HSNA project, it is estimated that there is enough capacity to eliminate involuntary homelessness in the Flagstaff area.
In addition, an emergency grant of $54,000 was made to Catholic Charities Community Services to maintain funding for 2022 for the Community Re-Entry program, and $55,000 was provided to the Flagstaff Family Food Center to assist in the replacement of a 30-year-old freezer essential to their daily operations. The Foundation also helped Lowell Observatory reintroduce their weekly lunchtime science program at the Flagstaff Family Food Center, which had been suspended during the pandemic. We continue to develop our opportunities to make direct grants to key nonprofits for special circumstances. In 2022, we were able to provide over $210,000 in direct grants as detailed in the above paragraphs. Since its establishment in 1999 the Foundation has become a reliable, important source of support contributing more than $6,000,000 to Flagstaff nonprofits over the life of the Foundation ending in 2022, thanks to the generosity of our members. That generosity has continued and grown, enabling the Foundation to award $495,603 in grants in 2022, a new annual record. The following is a list of grants made during the year. They appear by date granted and are listed alphabetically in each date category. July grants were in conjunction with the usual Arizona Community Foundation collaborative process. Grants made through the fall and winter months were in response to special requests from Grantees.
Kathy Haake Committee Chair 2022
FOREST HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2022
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