The Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Foundation has announced the recipients of nearly $800,000 in competitive grant awards to help our communities heal from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 recipients are comprised of 89 community-based nonprofit organizations that are working to address challenges exacerbated by the pandemic.
Funds will specifically support programs addressing health and welfare insecurities, and focus on immediate needs such as food, childcare, shelter and access to other essential services with a specific intent to address racial inequality by ensuing nearly fifty percent of funding designated to organizations that primarily serve communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
The PSE Foundation enlisted the help of PSE employees to identify the 2021 awardees from their local community. They were provided professional training and mentoring in the practice of grant reviewing with a deliberate focus on diversity, equity and inclusion by the Giving Practice of Philanthropy Northwest.
These local employee volunteers worked with the PSE Foundation team to assess a record-setting 433 applications from worthy community based nonprofit organizations throughout PSE’s 10-county service territory. Through their analysis, reviewers identified programs that could be quickly deployed and implemented to move critical resources into communities and provide support to disproportionately impacted populations.
One of the recipients of the grants this year is Chief Seattle Club which serves the urban Native homeless population in our community.
“At Eagle Village, one of our temporary housing locations, we house over 30 members and provide 24/7 services,” said Nadine Philp, development coordinator at Chief Seattle Club. “However, the units at Eagle Village are made of repurposed shipping containers and can get very hot and cold as the weather changes. With the funds from Puget Sound Energy Foundation, we will be placing a dual heating and cooling unit in every room to help keep members safe and healthy, no matter the weather! This grant is also helping us expand the community garden at Eagle Village, where traditional medicine and edible foods are grown by and for our members.”
A full list of grant recipients can be viewed here.
The PSE Foundation is committed to helping the communities where Puget Sound Energy serves its customers and has facilities. As the COIVD-19 crisis has continued through 2021, together, the PSE Foundation and PSE have responded to both emergent-needs in communities, as well as supporting work for sustained and systemic change. This program contributes to the overall two million dollars that PSE Foundation has committed to investing throughout the region in 2021 to help combat the impacts of the pandemic, prepare our communities to respond and recover from disasters and to support individuals and families to reach their potential so communities can thrive.
