Hubbell-Waterman Foundation grants $1.2 million to 43 nonprofits
GRANT AWARDS INCLUDE A $140,000 COMMITMENT TO PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER
The Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, now administered in partnership with the Quad Cities Community Foundation, today announced $1.2 million in new one-time and multi-year grants to 43 local nonprofits. Spanning the foundation’s three focus areas of education, social welfare, and culture and the arts, the grants advance the foundation’s vision of a growing, thriving, and compassionate Quad City community whose strengths are in education innovation, its quality of life, and its commitment to fostering economic opportunities.
“Through philanthropy, we can create the opportunity for people to improve and change their lives, whether it’s from an economic, health, or learning perspective,” said C. Dana Waterman III, one of the foundation’s trustees. “We are proud to support more than three dozen nonprofits with this funding.”
The foundation’s largest grant this year will go to the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport, a $140,000 commitment to help fund a transformational reimagining of the museum’s facilities and programs. “We have a long history of partnership with the Putnam, and we wanted to be a lead donor in their campaign initiative,” said Waterman.
In the area of social welfare, a $50,000 grant will support the implementation of the Zero Suicide initiative launched by the Quad Cities Behavioral Health Consortium in partnership with Vera French Community Mental Health Center and the Quad Cities Open Network. Created by the global Education Development Center, Zero Suicide helps improve suicide care in healthcare systems. “This is another area we’ve been involved in supporting,” said Waterman, “and we were pleased to have an opportunity to provide funding for this important initiative.”
Across its grantmaking, the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation funds both larger nonprofits and smaller programs, as well as established institutions and newer organizations. This year, in culture and the arts, it will provide $20,000 for general operating needs at the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, while a $50,000 challenge grant will help the newly opened Deanery School of Music with operational support. In addition, the foundation is providing $80,000 for grants to be made by Quad City Arts through its Arts Dollars program.
Established as a charitable trust in 1967, the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation’s grantmaking has grown in scale to almost $2 million annually in new and multi-year grants while its focus has sharpened on three areas of need in the Quad Cities. Since its founding, the foundation has awarded more than $35 million in grants.
In 2018, the foundation initiated a relationship with the Community Foundation for technological and administrative support, while continuing to make all grantmaking decisions among trustees.
“We have been thoughtfully transitioning more administrative services to the Community Foundation to be able to develop the institutional knowledge and memory necessary to support our ongoing programs,” said Waterman. “We need an organizational structure and affiliation that provide us with the continuity, stability, and sustainability that will enable the current trustees and our successors to continue to pursue the work of the foundation in the Quad Cities.”
“We’re so pleased to partner with the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation,” said Kelly Thompson, vice president of grantmaking and community initiatives at the Community Foundation. “Simply put, we can do more together—and that means philanthropy will continue to thrive and grow in our region.”
The following nonprofits received grants from the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation:
* Indicates the first installment of a multi-year commitment.
Culture and the Arts
Ballet Quad Cities: Using Ballet to Improve Social Emotional Learning, Self-Expression, and Literacy in Quad City Youth—$25,000
Figge Art Museum: Education Programs—$55,000
Mississippi Valley Blues Society: Blues in the Schools: Augmenting History and Music Education with Blues Performances and Workshops—$5,000
Quad City Arts: Arts Dollars 2022—$80,000
Quad City Symphony Orchestra: Operational Support—$20,000
Quad Cities Community Broadcasting Group, Inc.: Access to Opportunity—$15,000
River Music Experience: InTune: Building Positive Futures with Music Mentoring—$20,000*
SBC Outreach Music & Arts Academy: Office Operations—$5,000
The Deanery School of Music: Operational Support in our Crucial Foundational Stages—$50,000
Education
Fresh Films: Yearly Learning, Skill-Building & Career Program for At-Risk Quad City Teens—$9,000
Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois: The Girl Scout Leadership Experience for Girls in Scott and Rock Island Counties—$30,000
Hope At The Brick House, Inc.: Enhancing Learning for At-Risk Children—$10,000
Junior Achievement of the Heartland: Inspiring Tomorrows Today: JA BizTown and JA Finance Park Learning Experiences—$18,000
Junior Theater: Breaking Down Barriers: Shows are Free for All to See—$8,000
Putnam Museum and Science Center: The Putnam Reimagined—$140,000*
Spring Forward Learning Center: Improving Literacy Rates for At-Risk East Moline-Moline Elementary Students—$30,000*
WQPT Quad Cities PBS-WIU Foundation: Education and Outreach Services—$50,000
YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley: Camping Counts: Chance for Success—$25,000
Social Welfare
Argrow's House: Critical Equipment—$23,940
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley: 2021 Operational Support—$20,000
Cafe On Vine: Daily Readiness Program—$6,000
Child Abuse Council: Child Abuse Prevention and Community Education—$20,000
Family Resources, Inc.: Survivor Services and Victims of Crime Support—$40,000*
Grow Quad Cities Fund-Iowa: Quad Cities Career Connections Program: Apprenticeship Signing Day—$10,000
Hand in Hand: Pre-K Expansion—$41,000
Heart of Hope Community Outreach Ministries: Wings to Fly Higher—$20,000*
LivWell Cares: Free personalized placement, information & referral services for low-income seniors in the QCA—$6,000
NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley: Development Operations Support—$30,000
Narratives QC: Empowering At-Risk Young Adults to Reach Their Full Potential—$10,000
One Eighty: Transportation to Improve Workforce Training for At-Risk Davenport Residents—$15,500
Project Renewal of Davenport: Summer Youth Program—$8,500*
Q2030: Quad Cities Regional Vision—$40,000*
Quad Cities Open Network: QCON-SEAP—$25,000*
Quad Cities Open Network: Zero Suicide—$50,000*
River Bend Food Bank: Expanding to End Hunger Capital Campaign—$20,000*
River Bend Food Bank: Backpack Program—$60,000
Safer Foundation: Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) program support—$25,000*
School Health Link: Program Support for Youth Healthcare Services—$10,000
Tapestry Farms: Investing in the Lives of Refugees in the Quad Cities—$10,000
The Martin Luther King Center: Operating Support—$30,000
Unity House: Improving the Safety and Security of Unity House Residents in the West 8th Street House—$8,000
Vera French Foundation: Sustainability & Expansion to Reach More At-Risk Youth—$75,000
Youth Service Bureau of Rock Island: Peer Justice Program—$15,000
In addition to these new grants, the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation also paid out over $750,000 in multi-year grants awarded in 2020 and 2021. To read more about grants made in prior years, click here.