Current Grantees
A sampling of Permanent Fund grantees
- Mentor Connector
- http://www.mentorconnector.com
- After funding a mentoring needs assessment in Rutland County, the Permanent Fund and its philanthropic partner made a three-year commitments to start and sustain the Mentor Connector with the goal of significantly increasing the number of mentor matches. The Mentor Connector is a mentoring network that supports Rutland County mentoring programs with technical assistance, resource development, and mentor recruitment. At the close of the first year of operations, the Mentor Connector has created almost 50 matches between Rutland County children and caring adults.
- Grant: $75,000/ 3 years
- Partners: New Castle Fund
- Mobius, The Mentoring Movement
- http://www.mobiusmentors.org/
- Mobius was founded after the Permanent Fund brought the drop-out and heroin use rates by young people to light in Chittenden County. After convening a diversity of community leaders, everyone agreed that youth lacked positive relationships with caring adults. A strategy for addressing these issues was developed through an in-depth community planning process and, with leadership from the United Way of Chittenden County, Mobius was born to recruit mentors, develop financial resources, conduct regional marketing campaigns and ultimately build a culture of mentoring in Chittenden County.
- Mobius developed relationships with state government officials that led to the appropriation of $250,000 in new funds for mentoring across the state. These funds are being granted to the Permanent Fund to re-grant, and the Permanent Fund will seek on-the-ground guidance from Mobius to structure the grant round.
- Grant: $100,000/ 4 years
- Partners: A.D. Henderson, McClure Supporting Organization of VCF, Turrell Fund
- NeighborKeepers
- http://www.neighborkeepers.org/
- When the Permanent Fund heard that Hal Colston, founder of Good News Garage that matches restored cars with low-income families, had left his beloved organization to follow his passion to break the generational cycle of poverty, the board was all ears. Hal, a social entrepreneur, natural leader and gentle educator, had a concept that involved ending the isolation of families in poverty by matching them with middle-income volunteer coaches. Building on the “Circles of Support” model originating in Iowa, Hal envisioned building a supportive network around each low-income family to provide employment skills, social connections, and family support as appropriate. The Permanent Fund and its philanthropic partner committed to helping Hal start the program, and are currently exploring a replication in Rutland County.
- Grant: $25,000/ 2 years
- Partners: New Castle Fund
- Vermont Works for Women (formerly Northern New England Tradeswomen)
- http://www.nnetw.org
- The Permanent Fund had long been a fan of the Rosie’s Girls program that, using Rosie the Riveter as a model, used the mediums of the trades to help middle-school aged girls gain the self-confidence to set their goals high. However, Northern New England Tradeswomen was only able to hold a few camps annually. Permanent Fund board members partnered with NNETW Executive Director Tiffany Bluemle to envision a future where the Rosie’s Girls experience might be accessible to girls in every Vermont town. The Permanent Fund made a grant to NNETW to study the feasibility of, and then map a strategy for replicating Rosie's Girls statewide. Permanent Fund board members have continued to be accessible to Bluemle for strategy sessions and networking.
- Grant: $13,000
- Partners: New Castle Fund