Stronger Together: Building Community Resilience
In an environment of unprecedented challenges facing our region, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has remained steadfast in its commitment to convene, support, and advocate for the organizations that serve our communities every day.
Through strategic partnerships and collective action, we've deployed more than $2 million in grants and resources to organizations across the Greater Washington region – a critical first step in what we hope will be a growing movement to build and strengthen community resilience in our region.
Responding to Urgent Needs Through Bridge Grants
In July, The Community Foundation’s Community Resilience Initiative launched Bridge Grants to provide targeted support to help nonprofit organizations maintain their critical work. The Bridge Grants focused on two main areas:
Supporting nonprofits that have experienced significant funding losses since January 2025
Providing resources for organizations to engage in scenario planning and explore strategic options such as a merger, winddown, or strategic alliance.
The response to this initiative was immediate and reflective of the critical challenges facing our nonprofit sector, with nearly 200 applications requesting approximately $10 million in support. These requests spanned a wide range of services from across the sector and the region – from health, food security, education, immigration, community violence prevention – across Maryland, Northern Virginia, and DC. Of those applications, The Community Foundation has awarded more than $1 million in Bridge Grants to 21 organizations navigating funding losses or planning for their future during uncertain times.
Some of these organizations include:
The Ability Challenge
Action in Montgomery
AfriThrive
Aspire Afterschool Learning
Community Health Foundation, Inc
Everyone Home DC
Health Betterment Initiative
HumanitiesDC
LAYC
Peace for DC
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC
Primary Care Coalition
ScholarCHIPS
Solutions in Hometown Connections
"When our original funding was cut, HBI stretched limited donor resources to keep shelter testing alive in DC. Thanks to the Bridge Grant from the Greater Washington Community Foundation, we can now continue this vital work twice a month. This support allows us to maintain our two dedicated shelter navigators, Sulema and Michael, who guide clients through testing and linkage to care, provide vaccines and incentives, and offer immediate assistance when needed—ensuring navigation remains a vital bridge to healthier lives." – Health Betterment Initiative DC
“Aspire is grateful for the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s support through this Bridge Grant, which is a strong source of support for us as we navigate federal funding cuts and work to ensure that we can continue serving as many students as possible. Through these challenging times, Aspire has centered our values, our students, and our community. Having that community rally around us has been an honor, and as we look to the future, we will continue leading with resiliency and care.” – Paula Fynboh, CEO, Aspire Afterschool Learning
“Like many other organizations implementing Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programming, my organization abruptly lost federal funding to support the public safety needs of individuals and communities. The Bridge Grant, offered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, provided my organization with the timely support needed to provide critical resources and services to individuals navigating transformation and healing. This funding award helped ensure service continuity while supporting the implementation of effective public safety strategies to prevent gun violence. On behalf of the communities we serve, thank you!” – Chandra Dawson, Executive Director, Peace for DC
The disparity between requests and available funding —with demand far exceeding our capacity—highlights both the scale of need in our region and the importance of continued collective action from funders, government, and community partners.
Building Infrastructure for Sustained Impact
Beyond emergency response, The Community Foundation, through our Community Resilience Initiative continues to build the infrastructure our region needs for long-term stability. We host bi-weekly funder calls which have become essential coordination hubs, bringing together leaders for real-time information sharing and strategic planning.
We've provided critical supports for our nonprofit partners including crisis communications training, legal clinics, and strategic planning resources—tools that help organizations not just survive immediate challenges, but emerge stronger and more collaborative. These capacity-building efforts have helped create ripple effects throughout the sector, with organizations sharing resources, exploring partnerships, and developing more resilient operating models.
Stand with DC
With National Guard deployment continuing and over $1 billion in local DC funds still frozen, these federal actions threaten our city’s public safety, critical services, and our fundamental right to self-governance. The impact of these actions have reverberated around the region and across the country.
We are committed to building a stronger, safer, and more equitable region. While we are non-partisan, we are not neutral about supporting and protecting the health of our region and the values that make it a welcoming and inclusive community for all who call the region home.
In response, we released a letter and were joined by nearly 60 local foundations, nonprofits, and faith leaders to defend our community's right to self-governance and supporting evidence-based solutions.
We know that advancing community safety and supporting our unhoused population comes through investments in proven solutions like violence prevention programs, affordable housing, and mental health resources—not through federal overreach that undermines local progress. We also continue to support effective programs and advocacy efforts through our Partnership to End Homelessness.
The data supports this approach. DC experienced its lowest violent crime rate in over 30 years in 2024, with a 35% drop in violent crime, and homelessness decreased by 19% over the past five years thanks to strategic public investments. These gains are now at risk without sustained funding for community-based solutions.
A Model for Community Response
Our work isn't staying local—we’re ensuring the infrastructure we've built together is serving as a model for how other communities can respond to similar challenges. The combination of emergency response, capacity building, and strategic advocacy demonstrates what becomes possible when philanthropy acts as both first responder and long-term partner.
Our Managing Director of Community Investment, Darius Graham shared his perspective with the national nonprofit organization, Candid in an article about supporting nonprofits through uncertainty with flexibility, collaboration, and data.
Looking Ahead
As we continue this work, we're grateful for the donors who have made the Community Resilience Initiative possible and for the nonprofit partners who trust us to stand with them during challenging times. The need remains urgent, but so does our commitment to building a more resilient, equitable, and thriving region.
We'll continue to convene, support, and advocate—because our communities depend on the critical work of nonprofit organizations, and these organizations depend on all of us working together to ensure they can continue serving those who need it most.
Learn more about the Community Resilience Initiative and how you can support this critical work at thecommunityfoundation.org/community-resilience.