Inglis Methodist Gardens was awarded low-income housing tax credits through Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to create 47 accessible, affordable and technology-enhanced apartments in the Wynnefield Heights neighborhood of Philadelphia. The project also received a $4 million leadership gift from Aetna Better Health of Pennsylvania.

The tax credits were awarded at the PHFA’s July board meeting, and close in early 2020, setting the groundbreaking for the new housing community for summer.

According to the announcement, Inglis Methodist Gardens will be the first community of its kind in Philadelphia, “bringing together affordable housing providers, healthcare organizations and social service agencies to form the Philadelphia Housing as Health Collaborative.”

Located on the campus of Methodist Services in West Philadelphia, Inglis Methodist Gardens will house families who have experienced homelessness as well as individuals with disabilities.

The project was also the recipient of a $0.7 million investment from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburg.

2. Benefits Data Trust receives grants totaling $7.5 million from the Rockefeller Foundation and Mastercard.

The Rockefeller Foundation and Mastercard are awarding $7.5 million in transformative grants to Benefits Data Trust (BDT) to improve health and economic mobility for low-income people in the United States by streamlining access to essential benefits. The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting BDT with a $5 million grant and the Mastercard Impact Fund, administered by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, is providing $2.5 million.

These grants enable BDT to enhance digital products and build partnerships with government, healthcare, community-based organizations, and higher education to improve the health and economic mobility of low-income families. Over the course of the five-year project, BDT will scale its impact using a combination of digital products, machine learning, policy, research, and new partnerships to deliver at least $2.5 billion in benefits.

The Maguire Foundation announced a gift of $2.5 million to Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) which will launch CSFP’s new Maguire Early Access Scholarship Program to support scholarships for under-resourced pre-K – 1st grade students at 34 participating schools in Philadelphia. It will enable CSFP to offer scholarships to this age cohort for the first time.

In addition, the donation launches a five-year partnership that will allow CSFP to award 2,000 pre-K – 1st grade scholarships for low-income children to attend tuition-based schools in Philadelphia.

4. William Penn Foundation launched Phase II of its  $1.6 million effort to bring city’s museums, science and arts centers into neighborhoods.

William Penn Foundation renewed and expanded the Informal Learning Initiative, a network of 24 local organizations that collaborate to bring learning experiences to families with young children in neighborhoods across Philadelphia.

The initiative, which began in 2017, “pairs a cultural institution, such as Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial or The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, with at least one community-based organization that has strong relationships with families, such as Sunrise of Philadelphia, Congreso de Latinos Unidos or ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania,” stated the Phase II announcement.  “Together, they design a series of learning opportunities to engage children and their caregivers in creative play and discovery geared toward developing children’s vocabulary, oral language, writing and comprehension skills — known together as early literacy skills. The partnerships are vehicles to bring early learning programming directly to families in ways that not only engage children, but also involve adults as active participants.”

The nine Informal Learning Initiative partnerships:

• The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, and ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania — These partners will offer “Discover, Play, Share.”
• The Barnes Foundation and Puentes de Salud — These partners will offer “Puentes a las Artes” (“Bridges to the Arts”).
• Center for Aquatic Sciences at Adventure Aquarium, Indochinese-American Council, Tacony Library branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Tacony Community Development Corporation — These partners will offer “Nature, Play, Read.”
• The Clay Studio and Cecil B. Moore Library and Kensington Library branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia — New to the Initiative in Phase II, these partners will develop and implement “Clay, Play, Read.”
• Fairmount Water Works and Edward Gideon Community Partnership School — These partners will offer “The Watershed is an Open Book.”
• Mighty Writers, WHYY, Inc. and Mill Creek Recreation Center — New to the Initiative in Phase II, these partners will develop and implement “Mill Creek Learners,” a science and technology-based program for 300 children ages 3-8 in the Mill Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia.
• National Liberty Museum and Salvation Army Kroc Center — New to the Initiative in Phase II, these partners will develop and implement “Big Ideas for Little Learners,” a free social-emotional development program for 300 children ages 3-8 and their families in North Philadelphia.
• Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, Parent-Child+ managed by Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), and Tiny WPA — These partners will offer “Everyday Literacy.”
• Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial and Sunrise of Philadelphia — These partners will offer “Our Stories.”

5. Mt. Cuba Center received more than $140K in funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mt. Cuba Center, a botanic garden in Hockessin, Delaware, received a $144,159.00 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to implement the largest and most significant phase of its interpretive master planning project.

The grant will be used to install new interpretive signs, including plant labels, wayfinding tools and interpretive content and interactive tools meant to enhance the garden experience. In addition it will help fund the launch of a new, more-personalized docent tour program.

6. Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance distributed more than $95K in PCA grants.

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance distributed $95,412 in Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) Project Stream grants across the five-county Greater Philadelphia region.

Project Stream grants provide funding to individual artists and nonprofit and fiscally-sponsored organizations offering innovative, community-based arts projects in southeastern Pennsylvania and are made possible through the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ (PCA) Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts program.

Philadelphia County recipients:

View a full list of funded projects here.

Theatre Philadelphia recently announced  the 2018-19 Barrymore Award recipient, celebrating the diverse professional theatre scene in the Greater Philadelphia region. This year, thanks to the support from local philanthropists, the Barrymores awarded $92,000 to artists and individuals:

• The Brown Martin Philadelphia Award ($25,000 to recipient, $2,500 to four finalists), The Color Purple at Theatre Horizon
• F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist ($15,000 to recipient, $2,000 to four finalists), Jaylene Clark Owens
• Victory Foundation Award for Outstanding Theatre Education Program ($10,000 to the recipient, $2,500 to four finalists), Theatre Horizon’s Autism Drama Program
• June and Steve Wolfson Award for Evolving Theatre Company ($10,000 to the recipient, $1,000 to four finalists), Lightning Rod Special

The Leeway Foundation announced it is providing $55,000 in funding for 31 individual women, trans* and gender nonconforming artists and cultural producers in Greater Philadelphia.  Leeway’s Art and Change Grant provides project-based funds of up to $2,500 to artists and cultural producers who propose a project that impacts a larger group, audience or community; have financial need; and live in the Greater Philadelphia region.

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The Fall 2019 Art and Change grantees: