Wean Foundation Announces New Community Investment Grants

WARREN, Ohio – The Raymond John Wean Foundation Board of Directors recently approved a total of $215,000 for three nonprofits supporting the Mahoning Valley. 

The Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative and the African American Male Wellness Agency are new community investment grantees for the Wean Foundation. The Organización Cívica y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc. received a renewal of an existing grant. 

Freedom ROC will receive funding over two years to support its expansion into the Valley. Founded in 2021 in Akron, the organization builds Black progressive community and political power by organizing within communities around key issues and candidates. It achieves its mission through healing-informed care, nonpartisan voter education, engagement and registration initiatives and leadership development workshops and programs. The grant will support voter registration and engagement activities in Warren and Youngstown.

“We are excited to be in partnership with the Wean Foundation as we work to empower everyday people in Warren and Youngstown through civic education and community organizing efforts,” said Rev. Raymond Greene Jr., Freedom ROC executive director.

The African American Male Wellness Agency received a one-year grant to support its Financial Opportunity Center, which provides financial and employment education, mentoring and support, with the goal of increasing economic mobility for residents in Warren and Youngstown. Founded in 2004, the AAMWA is a national organization based in Columbus with a presence in nearly 20 cities, including in the Valley. Though it began as a grassroots organization primarily focused on the health of Black men, AAMWA has expanded in recent years to include programs and initiatives for everyone, focusing on fatherhood, financial wellness, mental health, mentorship and research.

“We are pleased to support these resident-centered, equitable solutions in the Mahoning Valley,” said Fallon Peterson, senior director of programs and operations at the Wean Foundation.

The foundation’s board of directors meets four times a year to consider and distribute community investment grants, or grants of more than $5,000, to efforts and organizations that reinforce the foundation’s strategic priorities of community revitalization, economic opportunity, educational opportunity and public and civic sector leadership. 

To date in 2024, the board has approved more than $400,000 in community investment grants to six organizations. More information about the foundation’s grantmaking philosophy and opportunities can be found HERE.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.