“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” – Rev. Desmond Tutu
The Justamere Foundation’s mission is to find those areas that are underserved by traditional resources and see if we can make a bigger difference with direct involvement. Solutions might involve grants, non-traditional scholarships or simply making the right connection.
We focus on four main areas of need in our community:
Trade Education: Individuals working towards obtaining a family-sustaining income encounter many small barriers that can impede their progress. We’ve partnered with local community colleges and organizations that work to eliminate the barriers.
Veterans Resources: Veterans entering the civilian workforce can struggle to find the right fit. We’re working with organizations to support veterans with this process.
Childhood Literacy: Reading is essential. Fostering a love of reading and learning opens so many doors as children grow up. We support organizations with programs that focus on education and literacy resources for children in underserved areas.
Arts Education: Arts programs inspire and help children express themselves. We support summer and after-school programs in music, art, and theatre.
How do we support these areas?
Non-Traditional Scholarships – There are many traditional Scholarship and Financial Aid resources for high school kids going on to college. This is great but it leaves a whole lot of people out of the solution. Kids who couldn’t go directly to college or didn’t finish highschool – Adults who are in a job that cannot effectively support their family and want to make a change – or anyone simply looking for a better life. The resources available to them are limited. We want to work with organizations that are addressing those challenges and see if there’s a connection to be made, an existing program to utilize or even a new program to be developed.
Grants that make a real impact. Sometimes the barrier to success is not having the tools that will get you there. Schools can’t train someone to drive a forklift if they don’t have a forklift. As they wait for funds to arrive, they could have been training hundreds of people for a better paying job. We’re looking for those impact opportunities that might not fall under standard grant programs.
TEACH US HOW TO HELP YOU.
We don’t know all the areas that need help. If you have an idea – run it by us. We’d like to see how it can fit into our foundation mission. If it doesn’t, maybe we know somewhere it does. But if it DOES – we’ll work tirelessly to make it happen.
Asking is easy. Simply enter your idea on this form, we will review it and get back to you: http://fsrequests.com/justamere
Or, feel free to contact us if you have any questions.