SEAP Awards $50,000 in Grants to Southern-Based Non-Profits Promoting ARP Equity

ATLANTA — As aid from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) continues to flow into southern states, the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) plans to award $50,000 in grants to six non-profits to encourage the fair distribution of ARP recovery funds.

Grant funding will support initiatives aiming to increase community input and promote a focus on equity among local officials as they spend recovery dollars. With community engagement serving as the cornerstone of the ARP program, these six grantees have committed to ensuring that the people’s voices and needs are heard and met:

The Black Table Fund – Georgia
FoodShare South Carolina – South Carolina
SOWEGA Rising – Georgia
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc. – Georgia
Engage Miami – Florida
N.C. Congress of Latino Organizations – North Carolina

The Black Table Funds plans to use its grant to promote the need for affordable housing and fight back against rising evictions in Lowndes County, Georgia. According to the organization, landlords filed more than 400 evictions in June.

“We want to engage the community around the issues and encourage them to use their voice to demand that the city and county governing bodies use the funds to build low-income (affordable) housing and prevent evictions,” the organization provided as an application response.

Other grantees intend to use their award to ensure funding touches areas like food security, broadband expansion, youth programs, education assistance, business development, and other economic-building opportunities for disadvantaged communities.

Are you interested in learning more about ARP? Visit SEAP’s ARP Toolkit here.

About the Southern Economic Advancement Project
The Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) is your partner and resource. SEAP amplifies existing organizations’ and networks’ efforts to broaden economic power and build a more equitable future. Broadening economic power brings attention to how race, class, and gender intersect in social and economic policy in the South. SEAP explores policy ideas designed to address these connections directly. SEAP focuses on 12 Southern states and marginalized/vulnerable populations within the region.

–END–