CRF Anti-Racism RFP Decisions

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Background

We formally adopted an organizational policy acknowledging racism as a public health crisis and deepening our commitment to equity and anti-racist work. To support this, we released $1.5 million of our Community Resiliency Fund (CRF) in a Request For Proposal (RFP) process to address racism and prioritize awarding dollars to organizations led by and serving Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

BHT received 34 letters of interest in total, of which 24 were eligible for the interview process. The final ask from applicants was much greater than the $1.5 million available. A team of community evaluators reviewed each project via a zoom panel. BHT staff gathered evaluators to review comments and scores for each project and then made final funding recommendations.

The following guidelines helped in the decision-making:

  • Fund no longer than 1-year contracts, with the intention of offering additional technical assistance (TA) and capacity building to earn funds in future opportunities.

  • Cap funding at $100,000. To seed support and establish a working relationship with organizations, we prioritized funding more organizations at lower amounts. Where possible and as projects are interested, BHT will work to support capacity building via additional means.

  • Prioritize projects with the most immediate readiness to make an impact for full funding; prioritize projects needing a longer start time for partial funding and technical support to develop future requests.

  • Support all projects through free coaching and TA sponsored by BHT to support project development and future requests.

Funded Projects

Terrain - $15,000

For their project, Terrain will be collaborating with the Carl Maxey Center to produce a large-scale public art piece focused on underserved youth in the East Central neighborhood of Spokane. They plan to use oversized images and individual narratives to touch on healing, identity, inclusion, and connection to one's community.

Excelerate Success - $25,000

Excelerate Success received funding to support their efforts to convene, coordinate, and support BIPOC Affinity Groups (caucuses). Funds will pay for staff time, facilitation, stipends for a planning committee, and developing the caucusing skills in community members interested in facilitating, organizing, and coordinating affinity groups for BIPOC communities.

Lilac City Legends - $27,500

This African-American owned basketball team seeks to create an awareness of black culture and other cultures represented on the team both on and off the court. They hope to develop Lilac City Legends into a pillar of our community, serving the community, and inspiring new legends in our community through entertainment and education, including special programs, partnerships, and shared platforms.

American Indian Community Center - $100,000

The project aims to eliminate racism and hatred towards our Native American population through a multi-faceted educational campaign. This project will provide educational opportunities to bridge gaps and foster understanding about our Native American community's rich culture, the naming of the City of Spokane, the Spokane River's original people, and the vital history of our Native American neighbors, and the modern lifeways of successful economic development.

Northwest Credible Messengers - $100,000

Northwest Credible Messengers, an organization that trains Credible Messengers in mentoring justice-involved youth using the Positive Youth Justice (PYJ) model, is creating cohorts of leadership and educational groups for marginalized young people in our community.

Carl Maxey Center - $100,000

Project funds will help support, sustain and increase the work the Carl Maxey Center is already involved in to address and prevent the impact of racism in Spokane County. Grant funds would increase staffing and general operations to sustain current efforts. The Carl Maxey Center is a leader in advocating for the needs of the Black community members within Spokane  County and issues that disproportionately impact Black individuals. The Carl Maxey Center also supports the development of infrastructure within Spokane's Black community through targeted outreach, capacity building, technical assistance, education, consulting, and training.

Latinos en Spokane - $100,000

This organization works to address Spokane's growing Latino population's needs through inclusive community development, improving access to healthcare, reducing barriers to local resources, and serving as a catalyst for immigrant social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. The program funds support the organizational efforts to collaborate with state agencies and local groups to advocate for Latino communities' needs, maintain trusted messengers/community comadres who keep direct contact with needy families, and acquire office space to provide regular office hours and host monthly events.

 Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition - $30,000

The program will provide education to help community members and partner organizations learn about immigrant rights when interacting with the immigration system and the resources available to support immigrant families in our community. It will include community outreach to families in immigrant communities, organizing and advocacy to build a broad community support base and achieving policy change, and increasing protections for immigrant families from abuse by the immigration system.

Tenants Union of WA State - $40,000

The funds will support tenant education and organizing work among BIPOC renters in the region, including frontline support for those facing housing crises due to COVID-19. The education program will provide individualized tenants' rights training, outreach to solve housing problems, and tools to identify the housing issues most impacting BIPOC renters in the region. The project aims to develop the leadership of BIPOC renters to organize to extend the eviction moratorium and move forward essential tenant protections. Funds will support the addition of a Tenant Counselor/Community Organizer, interpretation and translation services, and organizational supplies and materials.

NAACP - $45,000

The NAACP Branch #1137 is requesting funding to support a full year of monthly virtual broadcasted programming. The project goal is to broadcast one (1) presentation per month, highlighting cases related to the impacts of racism and the NAACP response. The requested funding will support a monthly presentation highlighting the widely ignored civil rights transgressions manifesting in Eastern Washington. The project focuses on lifting the voices of our community members most impacted by systemic racism and presenting the racially aware reality of systemic resistance to structural change.

Operation Healthy Family (OHF) - $50,000

This organization received funding to move beyond an all-volunteer staff. The organization uses Restorative Justice to repair the harm done in the community. The grant ensures that OHF will hire leaders and focus on building an OHF Racial Reconciliation Center to house social justice programs and health activities.

Spokane Eastside Reunion Association (SERA) - $50,000

SERA received funds to support their Fresh Soul social enterprise. When the COVID-19 emergency response is over, SERA and Fresh Soul will remain a beacon of hope and culture in our neighborhood, ready to help rebuild our East Central economy. The funds support efforts to build restaurant operations and provide paid job training to teens from our area. The project supports a local gathering place for community connection, cultural enrichment, and delicious soul food.

Spectrum - $50,000

This project will fund a Community Health Worker (CHW) for the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Eastern Washington to improve access to healthcare and other needed services and decreases overall healthcare costs by improving health outcomes for this marginalized population. The funding will also support recent staff additions, building a resource guide for our community members to have quick, transparent access to affirming resources and providers with an intersectional lens.

New Developed Nations - $75,000

New Developed Nations specializes in culturally appropriate programs led by an Indigenous and Black Executive Director to assist chemically dependent and at-risk youth to be positive, functional, and empowered citizens through music, sports, and physical health. The funding will support an electronic health records update, increasing staff, and purchasing new computers, musical instruments, studio equipment, and devices for clients to follow through with their treatment plans.

Feast Collective - $75,000

Received funding to complete construction to open the restaurant with full dine-in capabilities and community event spacing, including seating, training capacity, and restrooms at the 1321 W 3rd Ave location. Funds will support additional staffing and training dedicated to anti-racism and support for our participants, staff, and community members, including staffing, training, event expenses, and marketing materials. The project's goal is to make the donated restaurant building a community gathering space where immigrants and former refugees are elevated as leaders, trusted for solutions, and where the general Spokane population gains a deeper understanding, cultural awareness, and respect for our immigrant and refugee community members.

Just One - $75,000

Just One is requesting funding to help them empower at-risk youth and their families and address inequities. The project funds efforts to purchase a building, hire additional youth advocates and mentors to guide youth, help families access resources, and expand out-of-school programming for school subjects to support at-risk youth, disproportionately youth of color.

The Way to Justice - $100,000

The Way to Justice received funds to catalyze their work, temporarily suspended due to COVID-19. It will support essential staffing and supplies for civil legal aid services, including drivers' relicensing, record vacating, post-conviction relief, clinics and resources, civil rights, government accountability, and anti-racism work within educational, justice, and other community systems. They plan to participate in broader civic systems and policy work to reform the legal system and address unintended or unjust consequences, including persistent racial disparities.

MLK Jr. Center - $100,000

The project funds will support training and advocacy for staff supporting families with resources to address racism, biases, dominant culture, and privilege within the education system. This funding will help the Center recognize and address implicit racial bias and other forms of discrimination to improve access, achievement, and wellness for students of color and their families.

Healing Lodge - $22,000

The Healing Lodge received funds to train four staff to be administrators, provide Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Assessments for staff and students, supplies, and printed materials. The Healing Lodge's project implements the IDI System throughout the organization, including the school-based IDI Assessment to help each person within the organization make sense of cultural differences, respond to them, and build intercultural competence.

Health Equity Circle (HEC) - $50,000

 The HEC is collaborating with the Industrial Areas Foundation Northwest (IAF-NW) to develop a cohort of clinic-based organizers working to address systemic racism and other social determinants of health and equity. The funds support a clinic-based organizer through 50% match funding commitments from the WSU Elson S Floyd College of Medicine and the regional cohort, Health Organizations and Professionals for Equity (HOPE). HOPE organizers are part of a regional organizer training cohort developing leadership and professional development overseen by senior organizers. The HOPE project is a partnership between the WSU Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Health Equity Circle, IAF-NW, Spokane Alliance, CHAS, and the Spokane Teaching Health Center. HOPE will hire and train community organizers to work with local health clinics to address systemic racism.

PICA Spokane - $50,000

The funds support outreach to NHPI community organizers, facilitator costs, stipends for participants, and an "active practice" component including community organizing events, enhancing PICA Spokane and PICA chapters across Washington state. The project aims to build power and collaboration across the Pacific Islander communities to activate their political voice.

Spokane Public Schools (SPS) Family and Community Engagement - $100,000

This project supports SPS to pilot a school-community project for 5-7 elementary schools. The pilot project would include anti-racism training organized for employees, families, and the community. The training series will conclude by bringing employees and families together for a conversation about sustaining anti-racism practices. These quarterly events will help families and employees to work through past experiences while developing new connections and creating deeper relationships.

Eastern Washington University (EWU) - $100,000

Co-Constructing Strategies for addressing Structural Inequality in Refugee and Immigrant Communities (SSIRI) - This project aims to construct strategies for addressing structural inequality in refugee and immigrant communities by exploring regional capacity, readiness, training needs, and organizational challenges to service delivery, collaborating with the community on anti-racist and anti-oppressive solutions. Strategies include building sustainable and collaborative partnerships between system-level providers and the communities they served. The project is a partnership between Spokane based community activists and scholars from the EWU School of Social Work. EWU's goal is to expand opportunities for personal transformation through excellence in learning. The EWU School of Social Work's mission includes socially just practices through the integration of skills, ethics, research, and theory in advancing the well-being of individuals and society.