Funding Priorities and Objectives
Gazelda prioritizes the following areas to help low-income youth ages 16-24 in America:
Food Security
Food-insecure youth are more likely to suffer in school and to experience mental and physical health issues.
We give financing priority to projects that:
- Improve access, awareness, and involvement in organizations and services that provide free food distribution.
- Increase participation in and understanding of state and federal nutrition assistance programs (e.g., SNAP, WIC, Summer Food Service Program, etc.)
- Improve the availability of inexpensive, nutritious foods for purchase, especially in food deserts, and employ innovative methods to solve the issue of food access.
Affordable Housing
Housing stability can serve as the basis for a secure future.
We prioritize financing for organizations that provide access to safe, permanent homes for those who are homeless or at danger of homelessness through programs that:
- Assist kids suffering homelessness and assist them in navigating and gaining access to community services, with the aim of securing permanent housing for them.
- Provide low-income college students with supplemental services and inexpensive housing.
- Offer temporary or permanent free/affordable housing options for youth; programs focusing on transitioning youth rapidly into permanent housing solutions will receive the highest attention.
- Offer housing-related case management, foster care, and other assistance to youth living in hazardous or unstable family situations, including LGBTQ+ youth and youth aging out of the foster care system.
Educational Excellence
Far fewer low-income youth enroll in and complete college than their peers.
We emphasize funding for programs that support students "to and through" college (including vocational schools) and focus on removing obstacles for low-income adolescents who:
- Emphasis on academic readiness, including college-level coursework during high school, and high school completion with an emphasis on enrollment in postsecondary education.
- Promote persistence in postsecondary education, particularly programs that emphasize alternatives to remedial curriculum.
- Help students through the college search, application, and enrollment processes, ensuring that they are finally admitted to, enroll in, and attend schools that meet their unique needs.
- Offer access to financial help for low-income kids and/or continuing financial planning and credit building for students and their families in order to ensure that they finish postsecondary education.
Accessible Healthcare
Transitioning from pediatric to adult healthcare is more difficult for low-income folks.
We give financing priority to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and community organizations that provide physical or mental healthcare and that:
- Provide free or sliding-scale access to physical and mental health services.
- Offer young women with primary and preventative care, including health screenings.
- Concentrate on delivering solutions that eliminate prevalent obstacles to caring for this population (e.g., telehealth visits, pop-up clinics, after-hours appointments, etc.)
- Increase awareness and give education about healthcare services and/or Medicaid in order to assist this population in applying for and gaining access to Medicaid.
Foundation Funding Eligibility
To be eligible for a grant, organizations must be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Revenue Code and provide direct services to 16- to 24-year-old residents of America.
Three consecutive years, organizations may apply for and receive money from the Gazelda Foundation.
After receiving financing for three years, organizations will be ineligible for a grant for one year.
The Ergo partners Foundation will not fund:
- Organizations that discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, gender expression, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, citizenship status, political affiliation, service in the United States Armed Forces, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic are prohibited.
- Organizations younger than three years
- Requests for funding over several years
- Event sponsorship, fundraising events and campaigns (such as galas, golf tournaments, award ceremonies, raffles, runs/walks, auction purchases, and memorial campaigns, etc.)
- Disease-specific initiatives
- Capital campaigns or endowments
- People, particularly those seeking aid through scholarships or fellowships
- Religious institutions for sectarian ends
- Requests largely focused on advocacy or research
- Particular K-12 institutions
- Fraternal societies
- Expenses associated with travel, unless specifically tied to a qualifying program or project
- Unless specified in a program or project request, advertising or marketing activities are prohibited.
- Political, labor, and civic associations (this includes advocacy, government agency, and political entities)
- The creation or production of books, movies, or television programs
- Any group that is not aligned with our corporate values or potentially entangle Gazelda in controversial matters is ineligible for partnership.