Support

The deadline to submit your application is

Friday, April 14 at 5:00 PM.

Click on the photo above or here to access to our online grant portal.

• Nonprofit Status

  Have current 501(c)3 IRS status OR a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)3 status* and be in good standing with the IRS, including faith-based organizations

• Geographic Location

  Must be physically located within the following boundaries in the Kensington, Harrowgate, and Fairhill communities, or bring a track record of providing programming/services in this area:(Lehigh Ave. to Erie Ave./Castor Ave and 5th Street to Aramingo Ave)

• Benefiting Community 

  Can demonstrate that funds from this grant will benefit community members living in the boundaries noted above

• Focus Areas

  Can document how work supports at least one of the six funding focus areas

• Reporting

  Can document and report on use of grant funds

• Completed Background Checks

  All staff and volunteers with contact with children under 18 years of age must have completed background checks on file with the organization. will be recorded and posted online.

• Commitment to Equity

  Demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion with respect to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and cognitive ability, immigration status, and religion, among participants, board members, leadership team and staff.

• Leadership

  Have decision makers (board members, leadership team, staff) that reflect the communities being served by the organization/project

• Previous KCR Fund Grantees

  All reporting requirements from previously received grants must be satisfied. All organizations must have spent 80% of most recently received KCR Fund grant and received extension approval from Scattergood Foundation for use of any unused funds.

Grant Award Size

All grants will provide flexible, general operating support in the amount of $10,000.

This level is intended to give grantees of all sizes the ability to think creatively about their work and to work sustainably over the one-year grant period, including being able to provide fair compensation to those carrying out the work. Small, grassroots organizations and community groups are far too often asked to work from a scarcity model and the KCR Fund seeks to rectify this mindset.

For example, for those who might typically seek smaller ($500 to $1,000) grants for one-time projects like cleanups or block parties, we encourage thinking about ways to build these projects out for a more sustainable impact.

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Grant Award Uses

As general operating grants, funding can support a wide range of uses, including overhead costs (salaries, rent, etc.), program costs, training, events, supplies, stipends, etc.

These grants are intended to give organizations and projects as much flexibility as possible to carry out their work supporting the Kensington community.

View a list of Allowable Uses here.

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Please contact KCRF@scattergoodfoundation.org if you have questions about your proposal.

Grant Focus Areas

Informed by resident surveys and determined by community providers and residents on the KCR Fund’s Community Advisory Committee, the KCR Fund will provide grants targeting the following issue areas that have been identified as being most important to community residents. Applicants should be able to demonstrate how their work aligns with, advances, and supports at least one of these areas. View additional information about Grant Focus Areas here.

• Public Safety
• Youth Development
• Workforce Development and Training
• Beautification and Blight Removal
• Connecting Residents to Resources
• Building Resilience and Addressing Community Trauma

Guiding Principles

In addition to these issue areas, KCR Fund grantees should share a commitment to advancing the following guiding principles that cut across all key issues, either currently or in their future work:

• Building social cohesion, collaboration, and connectivity
• Utilizing trauma-informed principles and practices
• Being informed by community voices
• Advancing equity and racial and social justice
• Demonstrating cultural competence and relevance
• Being informed by data, evidence, and best practices

Information Sessions

Information sessions for applicants were held on Thursday, March 23, 2023 and Friday, March 24, 2023.

KCR Fund 2023 Grant Information Session from Ashley Feuer-Edwards on Vimeo.

• To view a recording of the session, please click here.
• For the slides from the session, please click here.

Fiscal Sponsorship

If your organization/project does not currently have a 501(c)3 or fiscal sponsor, we have identified several community-based organizations that are willing to serve as fiscal sponsors for KCR Fund applicants.

If you would like more information, please email KCRF@scattergoodfoundation.org with the following information:

• Project/organization name

• Key staff or project leaders

• Brief summary your work or specific initiative to be funded (1-2 paragraphs)

• Location of your project/organization and the geography being served

Printable RFP

•  A printable copy of the complete RFP document can be downloaded here.

•  All applications must be submitted in the online grants portal.

•  If you have any challenges accessing a computer for your submission please contact KCRF@scattergoodfoundation.org.

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FAQ/Questions

• FAQ Document Coming Soon!

• Please submit questions to KCRF@scattergoodfoundation.org. Questions and answers will be added to the FAQ on a rolling basis.

Participatory Process

Grantmaking priorities, levels, and eligibility criteria have been developed and approved by a Community Advisory Committee that is comprised of individuals representing Kensington-serving community-based organizations, civic associations, and faith-based organizations, many of whom are also Kensington residents.

Special thanks to past and current participants in the KCR Fund Community Advisory Committee for their dedication and contributions to this work:

• Hector Ayala, Hispanic Community Counseling Service
• Sonja Bingham, Friends of Harrowgate Park
• Luis Centeno, Barnabas Transformation Ministries Inc.
• Craig Cerrito, The Rock Ministries
• Patricia Codina, Impact Services
• Jannette Diaz, Congreso
• Carolina DiGiorgio, Congreso
• Roberta Dubuclet, New Kensington CDC (NKCDC)
• Edward Esquivel, Kensington Neighbors Association
• Shannon Farrell, Harrowgate Civic Association
• Maria Gonzalez, HACE
• Gilberto Gonzalez, Kensington-area Resident
• Pastor Richard Harris, Somerset Neighbors for Better Living
• Susan Jones, Salvation Army
• Katsi Miranda-Lozado, New Kensington CDC (NKCDC)
• Casey O’Donnell, Impact Services
• Debra Ortiz-Vasquez, Esperanza Health
• Beatrice Rider, New Kensington CDC (NKCDC)
• Roxy Rivera, Kensington Resident 
• Harry Tapia, HACE
• Caz Tod-Pearson, The Simple Way
• Patrick Vulgamore, Temple University Health System, Episcopal Campus 

Grant applications will be reviewed and evaluated by a Community Granting Group that is comprised entirely of Kensington residents. These residents will provide recommendations for grants that will be approved by the Scattergood Foundation board of directors.

This fund is possible because of generous support from the following funders:

City of Philadelphia

Douty Foundation

JP Morgan Chase Foundation

K10 Kids Foundation

The Nelson Foundation

Patricia Kind Family Foundation

Philadelphia Foundation

Scattergood Foundation

William Penn Foundation

How to Give

The Kensington Community Resilience Fund welcomes contributions from foundations, corporations, and individual donors.  Please contact Ashley Feuer-Edwards at ashley@afestrategies.com with any questions or to discuss a gift to the fund.

History of the KCR Fund

The genesis of this Fund is the work of the Philadelphia Resilience Project (PRP), launched in 2018 as a holistic, multi-faceted emergency response to the situation on the ground in Kensington. The PRP activated and engaged 35 City agencies, as well as a diverse range of community providers, civic organizations, and neighborhood groups, and continued the extensive resident engagement that began with the Gurney Street encampment resolution process in 2017. The PRP has since transitioned into the Opioid Response Unit (ORU), a permanent office charged with implementing a set of long-term strategies to address the opioid crisis in key hot spots, including Kensington. A key mission embodied by both the PRP and ORU has been to mobilize community response, both among residents and partners on the ground, but also among the funding community in order to target critically needed resources and investments into the Kensington community.

In the spring of 2020, the Opioid Response Resource Mobilization Advisory Committee (ORRMAC), comprised of individuals from the funding community, corporate sector, and other institutional partner organizations, was established by the Managing Director’s Office and the ORU, in order to support the City’s efforts around funder engagement and coordination. Since the ORRMAC launched, members have explored various opportunities to support the Kensington community, with several members providing grants for various rapid response needs related to COVID-19, while others have led the planning of a pooled fund to leverage investments of a wide range of funders. This KCR Fund is the result of these efforts.

News Coverage

April 27: “‘We know we have to do things differently’: This partnership is ready to invest in Kensington in a new way” by Sabrina Emms, Generocity.org 

April 27: “New fund aims to help Kensington community groups address impacts of the opioid crisis” by Tom MacDonald, WHYY

May 5: “City creates fund that gives Kensington residents more power over their neighborhood” by Tom Beck, Star News Philly

May 6: “$10,000 por petición: develan fondos para combatir a la adicción” por Gerardo Pons, Telemundo 62. Click here for English translation of this article

May 11: “Kensington Community Resilience Fund will award $10,000 grants to eligible community groups this summer” by Zari Tarazona, Kensington Voice

July 14: “Philly awards 20 grants to Kensington groups battling opioid crisis” by Aaron Moselle, WHYY

July 14: “Neighborhood nonprofits granted $200K to clean up effects of Kensington’s opioid crisis” by Justin Udo, KYW Newsradio

July 14: “Resident-focused grant program celebrated in Kensington” by Jack Tomczuk, Metro Philadelphia

July 15: “Philadelphia groups addressing impact of opioid crisis receive $10,000 grants” by Brooks Holton, Philly Voice

July 21: “Kensington pushing hard to change the impact of the opioid crisis in its community” by Nathaniel Lee, University City Review

July 21: “City announces first 20 Kensington Community Resilience Fund recipients” by Zari Tarazona, Kensington Voice

Press Releases 

• English: https://www.phila.gov/2022-03-03-city-announces-200000-in-grants-for-second-round-of-the-kensington-community-resilience-fund/
• Spanish: https://www.phila.gov/2022-03-03-ciudad-anuncia-200000-en-subvenciones-para-la-segunda-ronda-del-fondo-de-resiliencia-comunitaria-de-kensington/

• English: www.phila.gov/2021-04-27-city-launches-kensington-community-resilience-fund/ 
• Spanish: www.phila.gov/2021-04-27-ciudad-lanza-el-fondo-de-resiliencia-comunitaria-kensington/