Denver Foundation Funds Nonprofits That Bridge Diverse Communities

As the Biennial launches in Denver, The Denver Foundation granted $1,570,000 to 99 Metro Denver nonprofit organizations through the Foundation’s Community Grants Program – and several of the grants support agencies that are emblematic of the Biennial’s purpose of bringing cultures together.

“Many of the nonprofits receiving grants serve the communities that reflect Metro Denver’s role as a crossroads in our hemisphere,” says Kenzo Kawanabe, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  Among the organizations receiving funds:

Servicios de la Raza, $11,000: Servicios de la Raza provides a wide range of services to the Denver Latino community, including basic emergency services, mental health counseling, and youth programs.

Museo de las Americas, $20,000: At its location on Santa Fe Drive, the Museo celebrates the diversity of Latin American art and culture from the ancient to the contemporary.  More than 10,000 people visit the Museo each year and more than 25,000 schoolchildren are served through its programs.  This summer, the Museo is featuring an exhibit for the Biennial de las Americas (it runs from June 24- September 26, 2010).  Entitled Liberadores/Liberators Project, the exhibition will showcase artists from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina and their interpretations of the Liberadores narrative as it impacts their countries and communities.

Kids In Need of Dentistry (KIND), $14,000:  KIND operates mobile dental programs and fixed dental clinics in the seven-county Metro Denver area.  They have launched a relationship with the Mexican consulate to ensure that the services of KIND reach children from Spanish-speaking households.

Denver Public Schools Foundation, $25,000: Thirty-one percent of Denver Public Schools students are classified as “English Language Learners,” and the achievement gap for these students can be difficult to surmount.  One key program offered by DPS is the English Language Acquisition Academy.  The Academy provides math and literacy instruction in the summer months for students who are English Language Learners. On a related note, the Academy launched with a three-year grant from a donor advised fund at The Denver Foundation.

While the Biennial represents a twenty-first century view of Metro Denver and the Western Hemisphere, the dollars contributed to these organizations represent the earnings on legacies left by generous donors since The Denver Foundation was established in 1925.  “Every dollar for the Community Grants Program comes through the generosity of local donors over the last 85 years of the Foundation’s history,” says David Miller, President of The Denver Foundation.  “Men and women who came of age in the early and mid-1900s are supporting organizations and causes that are serving our community far beyond their lifetimes.”

For a full list of organizations receiving grants and the grant amounts, click here.