Texas Methodist Foundation Fall 2023 Grant Recipients Empower Individuals and Lift Up Communities

Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF) has awarded $440,000 to 42 churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations during its Fall 2023 grant cycle. This cycle’s recipients are making positive social impacts through innovative faith-based initiatives that are lifting up communities by focusing on the personal and financial wellbeing of individuals and families in those communities.

Recipients are improving communities in innovative ways, engaging both spiritual growth and positive life outlook along with access to resources and services. They provide avenues to address and improve mental health, grow food to share with food-insecure neighbors, train youth to excel in new job opportunities and build a financial future, and break the cycle of poverty for single mothers, among other activities. These organizations are directly serving the needs of individuals in ways that strengthen the social fabric of neighborhoods and nurture a sense of possibility and belonging.

“We are proud to partner with each of these organizations as they improve the lives of those they serve,” said Wendy Abel, TMF’s vice president of Grants Ministry. “They understand the neighborhoods they serve in detail and are learning how to build on the assets those neighborhoods already have, giving the grants we provide the greatest possible impact.”

The recipients listed below provide an example of the great work being done by all the recipients. To learn more about the recipients, visit our Partners in Ministry page.

• Amarillo Wesley Community Center, Inc., in Amarillo, Texas, building on its 72-year history, serves at-risk children, youth, adults, and seniors in the Northwest Texas Panhandle with childcare, educational programs and mental health counseling.
• Cafe Momentum in Dallas, Texas, provides paid internships to 80+ justice-involved youth, equipping them to earn high school diplomas and access to living wage jobs and higher education, learning all aspects of a fine dining restaurant business and farm to table practices.
• Jeremiah Program, in Austin, Texas, disrupts the cycle of poverty two generations at a time, focusing on single mothers of color facing barriers in post-secondary education, providing support for affordable housing, and building generational wealth.
• St. Philip's School and Community Center, in Dallas, Texas, provides quality food and resources to food-insecure neighbors through Aunt Bette's Community Pantry in South Dallas with twice-a-month client shopping, walk-up assistance, or delivery.
• UpTogether, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, improves the lives and opportunities of those living in poverty by investing in over 1,000 households, focusing on those still impacted financially by the pandemic and who earn low incomes.

TMF’s grants are a critical part of a larger cycle of generosity where we partner with churches and nonprofits to bring financial resources to leaders who understand the potential of their community and are devoted to seeing it flourish. "These grants are made possible by donors who have chosen TMF to steward their charitable resources, often in the form of family endowments,” said Justin Gould, TMF's Chief Philanthropy Officer. “We are honored to partner with them to support their philanthropic visions, stewarding a world of potential.”

About Texas Methodist Foundation

Texas Methodist Foundation is a nonprofit lender and charitable services partner dedicated to empowering the church to achieve its God-appointed mission and finding bold ways for bringing about the loving world God imagines through cultures of purpose, generosity, and courage. Founded in 1938, Texas Methodist Foundation is one of the largest Methodist foundations in the country, helping churches and nonprofit ministries grow through investments, loans, grants, learning and innovation, gift planning, and endowment services. Texas Methodist Foundation serves organizations throughout Texas and New Mexico. Texas Methodist Foundation is based in Austin, Texas. To learn more, visit texasmethodistfoundation.org.