St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund Announces $80,000 in Crisis Response Grants

The Community Governance Board (CGB) of the St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund has announced the distribution of five unrestricted, one-time crisis response grants of $16,000 each to: 

• The T/Bullet Related Injuries Clinic 
• Black Healers Collective 
• UnGUN Institute 
• St. Louis Community Health Worker Coalition 
• Freedom Community Center 

The grants will support these organizations’ ongoing efforts to provide frontline response to community trauma following the tragedy at Central Visual Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience. 

A press release dated December 13, 2023, states: “The flexible one-time crisis grants provide recipients with the necessary resources to fill gaps in capacity, cover overhead costs, build out existing programs, and respond quickly and effectively to community needs. The CGB chose the five grant recipients based on the urgent need for these organizations’ services during this critical time and the tireless dedication these organizations have shown to supporting the physical and mental well-being of individuals impacted by bullet-related injuries and other community wounds.”  Read the full press release here. 

Deaconess Foundation, Forward Through Ferguson, and Missouri Foundation for Health, collaborated to establish the St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund to heal community trauma and change the conditions that reinforce systemic racism. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported the launch of the Fund with a matching grant, and several local and national foundations have joined the pool of participating organizations. St. Louis Community Foundation is a proud supporter and contributor of the St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund. 

The Fund has invested over half a million dollars into 34 Black- and Brown-led organizations. A portion of these grants are awarded during the fund’s annual grantmaking cycle. 

In its inaugural grant cycle in 2021, the Fund granted more than $160,000 to 13 different projects each centered around “healing the core and changing the conditions of racial trauma and injustice in the St. Louis region’s Black and Brown communities.” In 2022, the Fund granted $394,489 to 20 grant partners 

The following organizations have received cycle grants from the Fund: 

• The African People’s Education and Defense Fund 
• ASK Films
• Arch City Defenders Inc. 
• Black Girls Do STEM 
• “You Lucky You Gotta Mama” by Brittany Ferrell 
• Brownprenuers 
• Catholic Urban Programs 
• Communities First 
• The Community Reach 
• Cornerstone Corporation 
• Creative Reaction Lab 
• Dream Builders 4 Equity 
• Employment Connection 
• Good Journey 
• Happy Home Foundation 
• Haven of Grace 
• MO Ho Justice
• Missouri Faith Voices 
• NLJ Counseling and Coaching Services 
• Park Central Development 
• Peace Weaving Wholeness 
• Rustic Roots Sanctuary 
• Sistakeeper Empowerment Center 
• St. Louis Queer Plus Support Helpline
• The Collective STL 
• The Justice Fleet 
• The Nehemiah Program 
• The St. Louis Black Repertory Company Inc (The Black Rep) 
• Ujima 
• Unleashing Potential 
• Visual Movements LLC
• WerQfest
• YourWords STL 

The awards for the Racial Healing + Justice Fund’s third grant cycle, which closed in October, will be announced later. 

For more information on becoming a Funding Partner, contact Kiesha Davis, director of partnership and capacity building for Deaconess Foundation at kieshad@deaconess.org.