Grant Opportunity Meeting -- "Open Spaces Sacred Places"

The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama announces a new grant opportunity.  Funding will be provided to organizations that desire to conceptualize, plan, design and implement an open and sacred green space. A $10,000.00 grant will be allocated for each space with two spaces available for each county.
 

“Open Spaces Sacred Places™” are public, outdoor, green spaces designed with a variety of purposes in mind: healing and remembrance; peace and reconciliation; rest, respite and stress reduction; reflection, meditation and response to the natural world around. Each of these spaces is a unique expression of a situation, population or place-based need that is recognized by a “Firesoul” – a person who burns with the idea that access to nature can be a positive solution to various community and personal challenges we face.

By providing this grant opportunity The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama (CFNEA) desires to facilitate a deeper understanding of the passion and legacy of Susie Parker Stringfellow and develop sacred spaces in communities.  This grant opportunity is intended to inspire organizations to come together to address community well-being by providing access to Open Spaces Sacred Places™ sites in their county. Each award will support their creation and design. The design includes the conceptualization, development, and construction of a prominent Open Spaces Sacred Places™ site that will serve their community. The Foundation believes Open Spaces Sacred Places™ encourages human well-being and health, promotes nature, enhances quality of life, improves mental state, and alleviates negative health impacts. People who come together to create and steward green spaces often form community bonds and beneficial relationships that may be transformational for these individuals and the communities in which they live.
 

About Susie Parker Stringfellow and the establishment of The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama:
 

What began as one woman’s passion to provide a hospital for her community has had long reaching effects throughout northeast Alabama. In 1920, just a few days before her death, Susie Parker Stringfellow sat with pen in hand to make a donation that would forever improve the lives of residents in northeast Alabama. Susie was 51 years old. In her will, Susie left her beautiful home at 301 East 18th Street, plus approximately eight acres of land, to serve as a not-for-profit hospital subject to a life estate. Upon her husband’s (William W. Stringfellow) death in 1932, the property and estate assets were placed in the Susie Parker Stringfellow Charitable Trust. A donation of this type in 1920 from a women was a little unusual. 1920 was the year women were granted the right to vote under the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On January 15, 2009 the Board changed the trust name to the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama to respond to the growing number of funds being established for adjacent counties. This name change reflected the Foundation’s expanded region to include: Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, Randolph, St. Clair and Talladega counties. Stringfellow Memorial Hospital has provided valuable healthcare to millions of families in its 80 years of existence.

Since 1999 grants from the Stringfellow Health Fund have awarded just under $8 million to not-for-profit organizations throughout our region. These grants have impacted health and well-being through: feeding programs, sight and vision programs, education on all levels. The Community Foundation has assisted not-for-profit organizations in building capacity through trainings and workshops, building collaborative partnerships and connecting donors to what matters most to them. Today The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama holds $43 million in assets and awards over $1 million a year in scholarships and grants to not-for-profit organizations. We focus on three key areas: effective donor philanthropy, impactful grant making, and collaborative community partnerships. 

Find out more information HERE