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Gifts of Kindness Fund
A community-focused fund helping central Ohio individuals and families with emergency needs.

Through Gifts of Kindness, The Columbus Foundation partners with 30 local nonprofit agencies to identify individuals experiencing an unforeseen hardship. One-time grants provide an immediate financial boost to help individuals and families continue on a path to independence and sustainability.              

 

When the Gifts of Kindness Fund was established at The Columbus Foundation in fall 2014, the thought was simple—to encourage kindness by lifting up people with one-time financial gifts that could help them overcome a sudden obstacle.        

 

The grants, typically between $500 to $3,000, go toward expenses associated with the hardship and help stem any ripple effects of it. Often, these expenses are related to housing, transportation, and assistance with utilities. Individuals must already be involved in a service or program of a partner nonprofit to apply for and receive a grant. 

 

Additional nonprofit partners will be added to reach a representative cross-section of people in need throughout central Ohio.  

NONPROFIT PARTNERS

Advocating Opportunity Logo
Advocating Opportunity

MISSION:

Use a human rights-based framework to provide holistic legal services and advocacy to survivors of sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and exploitation in Ohio, serving adults, juveniles and youth, as well as foreign national survivors.

Alvis, Inc Logo
Alvis, Inc

MISSION:

Innovate and deliver evidence-based human service programs that empower those we serve to build successful and productive lives.

ASHA-Ray of Hope, Inc. Logo
ASHA-Ray of Hope, Inc.

MISSION:

Support and counsel people affected by domestic violence in Ohio, especially the South Asian community, connect them with resources, educate, advocate, collaborate and raise awareness.

At Home by High Logo
At Home by High

MISSION:

Provide support, connectedness, and enable independence for adults ages 50 and over within the Short North neighborhoods, Milo-Grogan, and Weinland Park.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio Logo
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio

MISSION:

Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Broad Street Presbyterian Church Logo
Broad Street Presbyterian Church

MISSION:

Serve the city and its residents, and make a difference in the surrounding community and the world.

Catholic Social Services Logo
Catholic Social Services

MISSION:

Help poor and vulnerable seniors and families reach their potential.

The Center for Family Safety and Healing Logo
The Center for Family Safety and Healing

MISSION:

Break the cycle of violence through the advocacy, prevention, intervention, treatment, and research and integrate comprehensive services through community collaboration and evidence-based practices.

The Center for Healthy Families Inc. Logo
The Center for Healthy Families Inc.

MISSION:

Engage teens and their children in opportunities to acquire self-sufficiency, health and well-being, education, and employment through a coordinated network of the most effective community services.

Central Community House of Columbus Inc. Logo
Central Community House of Columbus Inc.

MISSION:

Empower people to reach their full potential, to be self-supporting, and to live cooperatively with all others.

Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center Logo
Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center

MISSION:

Deliver responsive services, cultivate partnerships, and promote opportunities to foster a healthier community.

Community Development for All People Logo
Community Development for All People

MISSION:

Catalyze collaborations with key strategic partners to improve the quality of life for all residents of the South Side through individual and community services.

Community Housing Network, Inc. Logo
Community Housing Network, Inc.

MISSION:

Create homes that provide residents with the support, stability, and community connections they need to live and thrive.

Community Refugee and Immigration Services, Inc. Logo
Community Refugee and Immigration Services, Inc.

MISSION:

Help refugees and immigrants reach safety and stability, sustain self-sufficiency, and achieve successful integration into the central Ohio community.

Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio Logo
Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio

MISSION:

Support families, promote community involvement, and encourage a lifetime of opportunities for people with Down syndrome.

Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services Logo
Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services

MISSION:

To be the focal point of integration for immigrants, refugee families, and low-income individuals in central Ohio in order to improve the quality of their lives, to facilitate their integration through education, training, supportive services, resettlement, self-development opportunities, and to increase the awareness of their culture and heritage in central Ohio.

Franklin County Family Recovery Court Logo
Franklin County Family Recovery Court

MISSION:

Provide collaborative evaluation and treatment services for substance dependent parents who have lost or are at risk of losing custody of their children due to abuse, neglect, or dependency.

Freedom a la Cart Logo
Freedom a la Cart

MISSION:

Provide hope, supportive services, and workforce training to adult survivors of human trafficking so they can live a life of freedom gained through self-sufficiency.

Gladden Community House Logo
Gladden Community House

MISSION:

Strengthen the well-being of Franklinton’s children, families and community, and build a thriving equitable neighborhood.

Goodwill Columbus Logo
Goodwill Columbus

MISSION:

Transform the lives of individuals with disabilities and other barriers through pathways to independence and the power of work.

Hilliard Food Pantry Logo
Hilliard Food Pantry

MISSION:

Improve the well-being of our community by providing food and support.

Home for Families Logo
Home for Families

MISSION:

Believes families deserve and have the right to housing, financial, and educational stability.

Homeport Logo
Homeport

MISSION:

Create strong communities by developing quality, affordable homes on a cornerstone of dignity, security, and opportunity.

Huckleberry House, Inc. Logo
Huckleberry House, Inc.

MISSION:

Reach young people and their families to build stronger lives.

IMPACT Community Action Logo
IMPACT Community Action

MISSION:

Fight poverty by providing hope-inspiring help and real opportunities for self-sufficiency.

Jewish Family Services Logo
Jewish Family Services

MISSION:

Helping individuals and families achieve economic self-sufficiency and emotional stability.

Kindway Logo
Kindway

MISSION:

Invest in the lives of those impacted by incarceration.

LifeCare Alliance Logo
LifeCare Alliance

MISSION:

Lead the community in delivering health and nutrition services to meet the community’s needs by providing services to seniors and individuals living with a medical challenge or disability in central Ohio.

Lower Lights Ministries Logo
Lower Lights Ministries

MISSION:

Break cycles of poverty and drug addiction through supportive housing and individualized mentoring for youth, adults, and ex-offenders.

Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio Logo
Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio

MISSION:

Create a better world by serving people in need.

Maryhaven, Inc. Logo
Maryhaven, Inc.

MISSION:

Helping individuals and families lead healthy lives free from addiction and mental illness through education, treatment, and support.

Military Veterans Resource Center Logo
Military Veterans Resource Center

MISSION:

Help veterans develop self-reliance and independence by providing access to the resources they need to successfully manage their lives.

The Mother Ship, Inc. Logo
The Mother Ship, Inc.

MISSION:

Help parents and caregivers of children with special needs focus on their own personal health, career, social, and life goals.

Move to PROSPER Logo
Move to PROSPER

MISSION:

Help families move to opportunity and help make central Ohio more equitable, welcoming, and inclusive. 

Neighborhood Services Food Pantry Logo
Neighborhood Services Food Pantry

MISSION:

Respond to the ill effects of poverty in central Ohio by providing food and material assistance to persons in need; strive to improve the quality of life in our community by compassionately and respectfully serving our neighbors.

New Directions Career Center Logo
New Directions Career Center

MISSION:

Empower women in transition to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency by providing holistic career counseling and career development services that help women obtain the skills, information, and resources needed to confidently live their own personal definitions of success through meaningful employment.

OhioGuidestone Logo
OhioGuidestone

MISSION:

Provide pathways for growth, achievement, and lifelong success. 

Physicians CareConnection Logo
Physicians CareConnection

MISSION:

Optimize the health of the most vulnerable in central Ohio.

Riverview International Center Inc. Logo
Riverview International Center Inc.

MISSION:

Empower our New American neighbors by supporting individuals, strengthening families, and nurturing communities.

The Salvation Army (Central Ohio) Logo
The Salvation Army (Central Ohio)

MISSION:

Serve people in need without discrimination, and putting funds to maximum use to provide services, programs, and ministries that produce measurable, life-enhancing results.

SproutFive Logo
SproutFive

MISSION:

Provide Franklin County children with quality affordable care and early learning; and promote emotional, social and intellectual growth and development in preparation for success in school and in life.

St. Stephen's Community House Logo
St. Stephen's Community House

MISSION:

Strengthening families and empowering our community so that Linden becomes a community of togetherness with endless opportunities.

Star House Logo
Star House

MISSION:

Provide youth experiencing homelessness with a safe respite from the streets and connect them with a chance to thrive.

Volunteers of America Ohio and Indiana Logo
Volunteers of America Ohio and Indiana

MISSION:

Help those in need rebuild their lives and reach their full potential.

YMCA of Central Ohio Logo
YMCA of Central Ohio

MISSION:

Serve the whole community through programs expressing Judeo-Christian principles that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body.

YWCA Columbus Logo
YWCA Columbus

MISSION:

Eliminate racism; empower women; and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.      

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