Princeton, N.J.—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), in partnership with Public Interest Projects, announced a package of new grants to promote opportunity and health for young men of color in rural communities in the South and Southwest. The grants of $415,000 each are a compliment to the Foundation’s $11.5 million Forward Promise initiative to improve the health and success of middle school and high school boys and young men of color.
The new grants, known as Forward Promise Catalyst grants, will provide funds to regional philanthropies, each of which will contribute their own matching dollars. The regional funding partners will, in turn, invest in local partners working directly with young men of color in their region. Public Interest Projects will provide strategic and technical assistance and help to manage the overall initiative.
In the South, the new funding will seek to expand opportunities for African-American young men while in the Southwest, the focus will be on Latino and Native American young men. The Catalyst Grant program will also enable regions to identify best practices for engaging young men of color in rural communities.
“If we want to build a Culture of Health for young men of color in America, we cannot ignore rural communities,” said Maisha Simmons, RWJF program officer.
“Young men of color in rural communities face a different set of barriers to opportunity, especially because resources like schools and jobs are not centralized,” she added. “These grants are specifically designed to help rural communities to build capacity and work together to address those challenges.”