Community Foundation outlines new small-town grant initiative

By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     During the Jones County Community Foundation Grants & Gifts Celebration held on Dec. 14, some updates were presented on behalf of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.

   Nancy Van Milligen, president and CEO of Greater Dubuque, praised the work of the JCCF.

   "We love working with Jones County; you have a great board of directors," she said.

   The JCCF is an affiliate of Greater Dubuque.

   "The biggest thing that we do," noted Van Milligen, "we are your back office for finances. We invest all of the money. We write the grant gift-acknowledgment letters. We write the checks so that your board can really focus on your community, your community's needs, and figuring out which grants they want to make and how to go forward."

   Van Milligen said it's great to see the JCCF supporting such initiatives as Vision to Learn and Every Child Reads.

   With Vision to Learn, kids receive a free eye exam and two free pairs of eyeglasses.

   Every Child Reads hopes to impact a student's reading level.

   "Kids' reading scores are really down; children are not reading by third grade," shared Van Milligen. "If you don't read by third grade, you're more likely not to graduate from college. In fact, many states accurately predict their prison populations using third-grade reading scores. It's a very important benchmark."

   She noted that Every Child Reads Coordinator Heather Weers does a great job running the program in Jones County.

   "She makes sure that kids have the resources they need, and the teachers have what they need so that kids can read by third grade."

   Van Milligen also shared information about a brand-new program the Dubuque foundation is overseeing: Small-town Dreams Initiative.

   "We currently do not have a Jones County community involved," she noted.

   A generous donor stepped forward and donated $1 million, allowing 10 communities to receive $100,000 each.

   "If your community decides it's ready and can show us their readiness, we will give them $100,000 as a challenge grant."

   Van Milligen explained that $25,000 can be used to leverage additional grants as the community reaches certain benchmarks.

   "Your goal would be to raise a $450,000 community endowment," she said. "You have the $100,000. You've taken the $25,000 for grants. You have $75,000 left over.

   "You form a leadership committee and they give or get $150,000. So now, this committee has $225,000."

   Van Milligen was honest in saying that when she first heard of this concept, she thought it was unattainable.

   "But guess what?" she proposed. "Those of us in northeast Iowa do not want to leave $100,000 or $75,000 on the table. People get to work and they take that $225,000 and they match it with another $225,000 and now the community has a $450,000 endowment."

   Right now, the Community Foundation has four communities taking part in the program including Manchester and Ryan.

   "We thought this would take two to three years," said Van Milligen of the timeline. "It's taken each of them about 18 months on average.

   "So if you live in a small community and you think you can do this, talk to your community leaders," urged Van Milligen.

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