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In the beginning, working with nonprofits was unfamiliar territory for Cheryl Smith, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach with the Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce). She says previous work with nonprofits would typically center around a specific policy goal, but with CARES Act funding, she was made aware of the importance and urgency around the many needs and gaps in nonprofit communities around the state. Many of the gaps Cheryl became aware of centered around nonprofits that provide essential services and during the pandemic. Many of them were experiencing financial hardship due to their inability to fundraise. After becoming […]

When Patrick Woo-Ching founded Voices of Pacific Island Nations in 2015, he did so by asking himself the question, “If not me, who else?” What Patrick felt he had an obligation to address was the lack of academic achievement among Pacific Islander students in public schools here in Washington state. Patrick says he became aware of a significant achievement gap back in the 90’s when he was doing research as an undergrad at the University of Washington. Years later, when he decided to go back to school to get his master’s in public administration, he revisited the issue and found […]

United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), an organization with its origins in activism, has a 51-year history of providing a variety of culturally responsive services and programming to Seattle and King County’s urban Native community. As a “hub for the Native community”, they provide thirteen social services that Leslie Haynes, the organization’s grants manager, describes as cradle to the grave services including doulas, developmental screening for young children to get them kindergarten ready, an indigenous focused preschool, a youth shelter for homeless youth, veterans services, services for those at risk for eviction, and an elders program. They also host […]

COVID-19 had a devastating impact on the creative economy across the country, and the creative economy in Washington state was not spared. The Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) says the state’s creative economy supports more than 17,600 arts and culture-related businesses and more than 305,000 jobs. In 2020, the sector saw 72% of creative businesses in the state severely impacted by COVID-19, with $5.2 billion in lost revenue, $1.8 billion total loss revenue for creative workers, and nearly 80,000 creative employees losing their jobs. To help alleviate COVID’s devastating impact, ArtsWA partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), […]

School’s Out Washington (SOWA), an organization dedicated to strengthening community systems that support quality expanded learning programs for Washington’s children and youth, is another nonprofit organization that successfully partnered with state government to distribute CARES Act funding through the Washington Youth Development Nonprofit Relief Fund (WYDNRF). Through their partnership with the Washington State Department of Commerce, SOWA awarded a total of $9.4 million in fall 2020 and an additional $4.8 million in spring 2021 to grassroots organizations around the state that directly support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) youth, youth in poverty, and other priority youth populations. Katya Miltimore, […]

Washington Nonprofits recently had the opportunity to connect with Sharon Miracle, President and CEO of the Yakima Valley Community Foundation. Sharon shared their success story of assisting Yakima County in allocating CARES Act funding to nonprofits in the Yakima Valley. Sharon told us that, Yakima County was just one week away from their spending deadline and had $3 million dollars left to spend. She said they had no idea how to work with the local nonprofit sector. In just seven days spanning the Thanksgiving weekend, the Yakima Valley Community Foundation was able to establish an agreement with the county, connect […]