June 1, 2022
Applications are now being accepted for the Good Samaritan Grants Program.
Read details below and
APPLY HERE.
Initiated in 1996, SOCF's
Good Samaritan Grants Program supports non-profit organizations for which a modest grant would make a difference in continuing to provide necessary and immediate goods and services to individuals living in poverty. In 2020, amid COVID-19's earliest impact on Northeast Ohio, SOCF expedited the Good Samaritan Grants Program to best respond to the needs of the community. By deploying a Fast Response Team of staff & board members, grant applications could be assessed weekly as need demanded.
As the pandemic continues and poverty conditions pervade in the areas we serve, SOCF has updated the program based on feedback collected during the 2021 program assessment. The Good Samaritan Grants applications will now be open three times per year, awarded within three months of application.
The Good Samaritan Program responds to our community’s challenge of ensuring that its residents can meet their basic needs. Basic needs are primarily defined as food, clothing, emergency shelter, and transportation to access services. As we have learned studying the social determinants of health, we also recognize the basic needs of utilities & hygiene products, identification, stipends, and short-term medications and/or medical supplies. We also consider support of physical and mental well-being, self-sufficiency, relationships and social connection, internet access, cash assistance, and narrowing our geographic focus as essential to the wellbeing of our community.
This year, applications will open
June 1, 2022. Grant requests are for $5,000 (partial funding will not be awarded). Funding requests always exceed the grant program budget for this competitive program, and priority is given to those organizations with annual budgets under $1 million and based in or serving Cleveland's Central neighborhood.
Applications will be open on a rolling basis.
- To be considered for funding in September 2022, applications must be submitted by July 1.
- To be considered for funding in December 2022, applications must be submitted by October 1.
- To be considered for funding in March 2023, applications must be submitted by January 1.
Joseph Black, SOCF health equity officer, manages the Good Samaritan process. He says that keeping the application periods shorter and more frequent means all applications will be reviewed at the same time, rather than on a rolling basis. "There is no benefit to submitting applications early," said Black, "so smaller organizations can worry less about their capacity to apply quickly." Black also hopes that with several opportunities to apply throughout the year, there will be a wider and possibly more diverse pool of candidates.
For questions about the Good Samaritan Grants Program,
visit the Grantmaking section of our website.