The grants support the Wean Foundation’s goal of funding organizations whose leadership reflects the communities they serve
WARREN, OHIO—SEPTEMBER 19, 2024—The board of directors of The Raymond John Wean Foundation recently approved a total of $215,000 to three nonprofits supporting the Mahoning Valley. The Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative (Freedom ROC) and the African American Male Wellness Agency (AAMWA) are new community investment grantees for the Wean Foundation. The Organización Cívica y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc. (OCCHA) received a renewal of an existing grant. The awards are consistent with the Wean Foundation’s goal of funding viable solutions and organizations that align with its strategic priorities and values and whose leadership is reflective of the communities they serve.
Freedom ROC will receive funding over two years to support its expansion into the Mahoning Valley. Founded in 2021 in Akron, the organization builds Black progressive community and political power by organizing within communities around key issues and candidates. It achieves this mission through healing-informed care, non-partisan voter education, engagement and registration initiatives, and leadership development workshops and programs. The grant will support voter registration and engagement activities in Warren and Youngstown, reinforcing the Wean Foundation’s strategic priority of public and civic sector leadership.
The AAMWA received a one-year grant to support its Financial Opportunity Center, which provides financial and employment education, mentoring and support with the goal of increasing economic mobility for residents in Warren and Youngstown. Founded in 2004, the AAMWA is a national organization based in Columbus with a presence in nearly 20 cities, including in the Mahoning Valley. Though it began as a grassroots organization primarily focused on the health of Black men, AAMWA has expanded in recent years to include programs and initiatives for everyone, focusing on fatherhood, financial wellness, mental health, mentorship, and research. The grant supports the Wean Foundation’s strategic priority of economic opportunity.
“We are pleased to support these resident-centered, equitable solutions in the Mahoning Valley,” said Fallon Peterson, Senior Director of Programs and Operations at the Wean Foundation.
The Wean Foundation’s board of directors meets four times a year to consider and distribute community investment grants, or grants of more than $5,000, to efforts and organizations that reinforce the Wean Foundation’s strategic priorities of community revitalization, economic opportunity, educational opportunity and public and civic sector leadership. To date in 2024, the Wean Foundation board has approved more than $400,000 of community investment grants to six organizations. To learn more about the Wean Foundation’s grantmaking philosophy and opportunities, visit https://www.weanfoundation.org/apply-for-grants/.
About The Raymond John Wean Foundation
Established in 1949, the Wean Foundation is dedicated to community building in the under-resourced communities of Warren and Youngstown in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley. The Wean Foundation leverages a dynamic combination of grantmaking, capacity building, convening and partnerships to provoke new thinking, strengthen communities and disrupt the status quo to achieve its vision: empowered residents creating an equitable Mahoning Valley. Visit weanfoundation.org to learn more.
MEDIA CONTACT
Kasie Rogers (she/her)
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The Raymond John Wean Foundation
330.394.5600, ext. 109