The Foellinger Foundation announced grants totaling more than $3 million to nonprofit organizations providing early childhood development and family development services around Allen County.
The money is divided between 17 organizations in the area, one of which is the Center for Nonviolence in Fort Wayne, which provides education, support and advocacy to end domestic and other forms of violence.
Dawn Witte is the finance and development coordinator for the Center of Nonviolence. She said grants like these can help fund programs that are necessary, but harder to receive funding for.
“We firmly believe that we need to make sure we’re helping all members of a family," Witte said. "And you know, to end violence, you have to work with people who commit violence. But it’s not always the one that people want to give to and so sometimes that program is really hard to fund.”
The Foellinger grant provides the Center $100,000 each year for three years and, because it goes towards programming, it can be used to offset funding for programs that receive less direct funding.
The foundation has been around since 1958 and is a private foundation that invests in organizations, programming and initiatives that serve Allen County residents with the most economic need.
