Local nonprofit organization Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts received a $50,000 grant in late February to help bolster the bond between Phoenix businesses and the arts through a community outreach program.
The NeighborhoodLIFT grant was issued by the Wells Fargo Foundation to help stabilize Phoenix neighborhoods by creating a stronger sense of community through beautification projects and the economic development of small businesses.
Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts is one of six nonprofit organizations in Arizona receiving the grant, which totals $1 million. The NeighborhoodLIFT program was launched early last year and focuses on strengthening communities suffering from the nation’s housing crisis.
The organizaion will use the $50,000 grant to stabilize the Phoenix community by taking over the Business Volunteers for the Arts program. This program is dedicated to matching skilled business volunteers with arts organizations in Phoenix.
Executive Director of Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts, Catherine “Rusty” Foley, said that by reviving the Business Volunteers for the Arts program they will be able to enhance community life by enabling arts organizations to help make Phoenix a more appealing place to live. Potential homeowners will be attracted to the thriving businesses and presence of arts and culture in the neighborhoods, Foley said.
“The work achieved by arts organizations addresses community issues and improves overall quality of life,” Foley said. “Not to mention, healthy, small businesses are able to make a contribution to the stability of our neighborhoods.”
The bulk of the grant will go toward the personnel effort to manage the program. Foley said that for this kind of a program to be successful, there must be someone who has been trained to match up businesses with organizations that are willing to dedicate their time to that task.
“It’s required that we hire someone with experience in program and volunteer management,” Foley said. “There’s also technology costs, such as programs that help manage business relationships and keep track of data.”
Business Volunteers for the Arts was formerly managed by the Arts and Business Council of Greater Phoenix until they closed down business operations for financial reasons in September.
Former board president of the Arts and Business Council of Greater Phoenix Debra Kuffner is looking forward to the continued growth and success of the program.
“Business Volunteers for the Arts has always been a successful program, and we think Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts is the right organization to take over management and leadership of the program from us,” Kuffner said.
In addition to the grants awarded to the nonprofit businesses, the program encourages recovery by providing financial assistance to local families in order to achieve increased home ownership, vice president and Western Mountain communications manager at Wells Fargo Danny Ischy said.
Grant recipients are selected based on five key areas: support services for the homeless, neighborhood beautification and improvement, education and workforce programs, small business and economic development and the environment, Ischy said.
The local grant recipients were chosen in collaboration with the city of Phoenix, Mayor Greg Stanton and a nonprofit organization called NeighborWorks America.
“The nonprofits were identified as successful organizations that could leverage the grant dollars to continue to make a meaningful impact in these five key funding areas,” Ischy said.
Representatives for both Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts and Wells Fargo said that they are hoping to attract home buyers to the metropolitan Phoenix area by promoting the arts and small businesses.
The objective of Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts is to have business professionals lend their expertise to local arts organizations. This could range from teaching organizations how to write a marketing plan to facilitating a strategic planning effort or developing new technology programs.
Arizona Citizens Action for the Arts has not engaged with any specific arts organizations for the grant yet, but they are planning to make some initial matches between arts organizations and business volunteers by the fall.
Contact the reporter at arobrock@asu.edu
