Foundation for the Tri-State Community
Receives West Virginia Grantmakers
Critical Impact Award for Its Support
of Unlimited Future, Inc.
Can a small grant of $5,000 really make a difference?
“Yes, it can!” according to Mary Witten Wiseman, president of the Foundation for the Tri-State Community. She is specifically referring to a grant made 15 years ago by the Foundation to Unlimited Future, Inc. (UFI), located in Huntington.
That initial grant paved the way for UFI’s success and has led to the Foundation’s selection this year as one of two recipients of the West Virginia Grantmakers Association’s Critical Impact Awards, according to Wiseman.
“The Foundation’s initial grant and two subsequent ones have truly been grants that keep on giving,” says Wiseman. “UFI has had a significant impact on our area, especially in the areas of small and minority business development.”
According to UFI, it focuses on an intensive technical assistance component coupled with access to capital. Its small business incubator is located in the Fairfield neighborhood of Huntington and it serves clients throughout the tri-state area from all socio-economic walks of life, with an emphasis on helping low-income and disadvantaged entrepreneurs through training, technical assistance, incubator space and loans.
The initial Foundation grant in 1993 provided the money for the feasibility study that led to UFI’s establishment in 1995. Some of UFI’s accomplishments include:
- 30 businesses have used UFI’s incubator
- UFI has had 400 students attend its classes on business planning
- 100 businesses have used UFI services
- 25 businesses in the tri-state, assisted by UFI, have now been in business more than five years
- UFI provides free monthly continuing education classes.
- “This is a significant award for our Foundation, because it is given for philanthropic leadership,” said Wiseman. “The Foundation was very pleased to provide a $5,000 grant to Unlimited Future to assist in its start-up and has been excited to be a part of its continued, important success.”
“This is a significant award for our Foundation, because it is given for philanthropic leadership,” said Wiseman. “The Foundation was very pleased to provide a $5,000 grant to Unlimited Future to assist in its start-up and has been excited to be a part of its continued, important success.”
“The Foundation for the Tri-State Community met all the criteria for this award – creativity, innovation, and sustainability,” said Shannon Cunningham, president of the West Virginia Grantmakers Association. “The Foundation is a model for others who engage in philanthropy and its support of UFI certainly has demonstrated how a foundation can make a ‘critical impact’ in a community.”
This is the second year the West Virginia Grantmakers Association has made its Critical Impact Awards. The association makes one award to a non-profit for a grant of $5,000 or less and a second award to a foundation that makes a grant of more than $5,000. Each recipient must demonstrate how its grant made a significant, positive impact.
The Foundation for the Tri-State Community is the tri-state’s oldest community foundation. Announcement of the award was made at the recently concluded West Virginia Grantmakers Association’s annual conference.