The Barra Foundation is closing out the year with seven new grants we’re excited to follow in 2017 and beyond.

The grants range in topic from police-community relations to employment opportunities for people experiencing homelessness to better data for cultural organizations.

New grants! @phillyzoo @LISC_Philly @firststepstaff @ChildFamilyHeal @PearlSBuckIntl @ConstitutionCtr @philaculture https://t.co/W3iaIIZUiF

— The Barra Foundation (@BarraFdn) December 21, 2016

• Child & Family Connections ($130K, two years): CFC will pilot a “low-cost” new model for reducing custody loss for parents with mental illnesses called SafeTogether. The pilot will be carried out in partnership with the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
• First Step ($280K, one year): Founded in Atlanta, First Step is a nonprofit that connects people experiencing homelessness to employment opportunities through a for-profit staffing agency arm. First Step will look to acquire a staffing agency here in Philadelphia. Part of this grant will go toward hiring a broker to explore those opportunities, and then, if an appropriate agency is found, the remainder of the grant will go toward acquisition, according to Barra Program Officer Kate Houstoun.
• Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance ($150K, 18 months): In partnership with Jacobson Consulting Applications, the Alliance will pilot a tool called Audience Intelligence Database (AIDb), developed to allow cultural organizations to “translate complex real-time data into user-friendly dashboards.”
• Philadelphia LISC ($125K, 18 months): This grant will help LISC scale real estate developer Ken Weinstein’s successful Jumpstart Germantown program by formalizing the curriculum so other neighborhoods can “build their own,” according to Houstoun.
• National Constitution Center ($125K, two years): The Constitution Center is partnering with the Philadelphia Police Department and former Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to implement a program called Policing in a More Perfect Union, which aims to “mend fractured police-community relations” through a series of educational offerings for both officers and youth.
• Pearl S. Buck International ($250K, two years): Pearl S. Buck International will rebrand for a new era that calls for “cultural understanding.” The organization will implement a “dynamic new tour focused on social justice issues” including race, inequality and inclusion.
• The Zoological Society of Philadelphia ($125K, one year): The Zoo will follow the lead of the city’s anchor institutions and begin the process of evolving into an “urban asset” through community engagement efforts.