Greater Harrisburg Foundation makes matching grants to 15 groups

Listen to this article

But the lack of a state budget means sources of funding have been drying up for the Community Check-Up Center of South Harrisburg.

So a new grant from the Greater Harrisburg Foundation is expected to help “tremendously,” Check-Up Center practice manager Linda Hengst said.

The organization is one of 15 nonprofits in Central Pennsylvania to receive a grant of up to $7,500. To receive the full value of their so-called “Challenge Grants” the nonprofits have to raise matching funds on their own, though the amounts vary.

The center at 38 Hall Manor learned last Monday it will will have all of 2016 to raise $22,500, or three times its $7,500 grant from the Greater Harrisburg Foundation.

Also being helped are programs promoting literacy, job training and help for seniors and young women, among others.

For Barry Stein, executive director of Jewish Family Service of Greater Harrisburg Inc., the grant will “greatly enhance our transportation” to better meet the needs of seniors.

“This is very exciting news for us. Obviously, money is tight, and the state budget impasse doesn’t help, especially with cash flow. We’re treading water, although we can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Stein said.

Once the matching amounts come in, the grants are expected to bring $315,000 to nonprofits in Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon and Perry counties and in the Dillsburg area of York County.

GHF is a regional organization of the Foundation for Enhancing Communities, and it funds culture, community development, education and other fields in the Harrisburg region.

Organizations receiving the grants have operating budgets of $1 million or less, officials explained.

Those with operating budgets up to $250,000 receive a $1-to-$1 match, while those between $250,000 and $1 million get a $3-to-$1 match.

Organizations have until the end of 2016 to raise the required match. It is hoped that nonprofits increase the number of new private donors, reconnect with lapsed donors and encourage more giving from current ones, foundation leaders said.

“We were really excited when we heard about this,” the Check-Up Center’s Hengst said. “Now, we’ll get to work and get ready to raise more money for next year.”

The $7,500 grant awards go to:

• Capital Area Girls on the Run, a 1:1 match, for a hoped-for total of $15,000 in new money, helping to fund a chapter expansion into Lebanon County.

• Carlisle Arts Learning Center Inc., a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• The Chambersburg Ballet Theatre Youth Company Inc., a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• The Employment Skills Center, a 3:1 match, $30,000.

• Hope Within Ministries Inc., a 3:1 match, $30,000, helping it to add a development assistant position to its staff.

• Jewish Family Service of Greater Harrisburg Inc., a 3:1 match, $30,000. The grant is to allow the organization to add a driver and a scheduler to better meet seniors’ transportation needs, executive director Stein says.

• LEAF Project Inc., a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• LGBT Center of Central PA, a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• Love Inc. of Greater Hershey, a 1:1 match, $15,000, to provide classes on budgeting, parenting, life skills, job-search training and other skills.

• Open Stage of Harrisburg, which is embarking on its 30th season, a 3:1 match, $30,000.

• The Perry County Literacy Council, a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• Samara, The Center for Individual and Family Growth, a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• Susquehanna Chorale Inc., a 1:1 match, $15,000.

• YWCA Carlisle, a 3:1 match, $30,000.

The nonprofit receiving the grant must raise its match before receiving the funding. But if it does not meet the $7,500 goal by the end of 2016, it will be paid according to its match for what it did raise, foundation officials said.