Nonprofit grant awards

Five local nonprofit organizations were awarded a total of $25,000 in grants through the Greene County Community Improvement Corporation last week.

Xenia’s Towards Independence and The Caring Place, Fairborn’s Roads to Recovery, the Glenn Helen Association and The Riding Center in Yellow Springs each received $5,000 from the corporation, in partnership with the Department of Development.

This is the third year the corporation has awarded grants to local nonprofits through this program. The five nonprofits were selected from a pool of 15 applicants.

“We are very happy with the applications we received this year,” said Greene County Director of Development Eric Henry. “Non-profit organizations are essential for a strong and resilient Greene County, and these five, in particular, are doing some amazing work.”

Funding for this grant is generated by the Greene County Port Authority, which collects revenue from user fees associated with conduit financing for projects such as the REACH center, the Greene County Combined Health District, and PACE financing for the Mall at Fairfield Commons.

For this year’s program, the Port Authority voted to grant $25,000 to the Community Improvement Corporation to award to local nonprofits. Funding for future years will be dependent upon revenue collected from Port Authority projects.

“Not many Port Authorities take their revenue and invest it back into the people and organizations that make their communities great, but we do,” said John Finlay, Greene County Port Authority chairperson. “This is a terrific program to be a part of and we hope it continues for a long time.”