Announcing $560,500 in Grants Awarded Throughout Lancaster County
Lancaster County Community Foundation announced $560,500 in grants awarded to support the work of 18 different local organizations. These grants, ranging from $10,000 – $50,500, will fund a variety of initiatives including a small manufacturer accelerator program, workforce development, first-generation student support, and organizational capacity-building.
Community benefit organizations working in Lancaster County transform grant money into tangible impact, improving quality of life across our region. Every year, the community’s endowment yields millions of dollars in grants to local organizations. These organizations are connecting individuals to critical services and growth opportunities, while strengthening existing systems to better meet the community’s needs.
The projects receiving grants are:
Lancaster Thrives Together
Assets Lancaster – $40,000 – Supporting a program that equips entrepreneurs and makers from underserved communities to build small-scale manufacturing businesses
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South-Central PA – $44,000 – Supporting a two-year program to connect JP McCaskey students with Wickersham Elementary students through structured mentoring to build leadership and workforce readiness skills.
Boys & Girls Club – $50,000 – This program provides high school student-athletes with career exploration, workforce readiness training, and mentoring to build skills for long-term economic self-sufficiency.
CASA – $50,000 – This program builds the capacity of immigrant and working-class community members to secure family-sustaining employment through computer literacy classes, financial literacy counseling and tax preparation assistance.
Church World Service – $50,500 – Supporting unemployed or underemployed refugees and immigrants in their efforts to advance from entry-level jobs into sustainable career pathways through individualized coaching, English-language learning, and more.
Friendship Community – $40,000 – Funding will increase workforce inclusion for adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism through job readiness training, hands-on work experience, and community employment placement to increase economic independence and long-term self sufficiency.
Horizons at Lancaster Country Day School – $50,000 – Supports a tuition-free, six-week academic supper program for SDoL K-8 students that combines core academics with enrichment activities to combat summer learning loss.
Immerse, International – $20,000 – Funding will provide scholarships that remove financial barriers to intensive academic English instruction, helping newcomers build proficiency that opens doors to higher education and employment.
Lancaster County Workforce Development Board – $50,000 – Supporting a countywide initiative that aligns employers, educators, and community organizations to strengthen workforce training and career pathways.
Lancaster Recreation Commission – $25,000 – In support of a paid summer workforce program that trains McCaskey High School students in childcare and youth development, creating a pathway to education careers and helping to address Lancaster County’s shortage of qualified educators.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund – $40,000 – Funding will expand mentor connections, career readiness programming, and educational opportunities that help students achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency and career success.
Milagro House – $20,000 –Funding will increase access to education for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds through GED and post-secondary studies, workforce development, life skills training, and mentorship, serving as a pathway from poverty toward financial stability.
The Children Deserve a Chance Foundation – $20,000 –In support of workshops, first-generation student support, and an intensive college-transition retreat to equip Lancaster County students with the academic, financial, and life skills needed for college and career success.
Equity Fund
A Woman’s Concern – $10,000 – Funding will expand maternal and women’s health services in Lancaster City through early pregnancy and postpartum screening, enhanced patient navigation, and JEDI-focused staff training, prioritizing those facing the greatest barriers to care.
Hospice & Community Care – $12,000 – In support of staff-wide cultural competency training and a community-driven needs assessment to dismantle systemic barriers to palliative and hospice care for Latino and African American families.
Music for Everyone – $15,000 – Funding will expand Music for Everyone’s capacity to deliver culturally responsive Afro-Caribbean music education through a Bomba-based curriculum and practitioner partnerships, engaging at-risk Latino youth in Lancaster.
Partners with Purpose – $15,000 – Funding will support the development of a data dashboard that helps staff equitably prioritize repairs for 95 affordable homes for low-income families in historically disinvested areas of Lancaster City based on a physical needs assessment.
Writeface – $12,000 – Writeface will strengthen organizational resilience and culturally responsive practices so that its creative writing circles can serve as a safe, inclusive space for healing that centers underrepresented veterans’ voices in Lancaster County.
