investing in our communities
Grantee Stories
We are proud to partner with nonprofit organizations in the United States supporting the JA and broader Asian American Communities. Since 2016 we have awarded grants totaling over $2.4 million to more than seventy organizations. On this page we share some of the stories we’ve received from grantees about the impact of our grants.
Arts & Culture
Tanforan Assembly Center Memorial in San Bruno
TACMC is currently working on the development of a memorial consisting of a bronze statue and open-air plaza located between the San Bruno BART station and the Tanforan Mall. The memorial was designed by the internationally known architectural firm RHAA, and the statue is based on a famous photograph by Dorothea Lange of two young children at the Tanforan Assembly Center.
The memorial will remind and teach future generations of all races and ethnicities about the injustice endured by Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in 1942 without due process as guaranteed under the United States Constitution. We hope the memorial will also inspire commitment to equal justice under the law – now, and in the future. Learn more about the memorial at tanforanmemorial.org.
Senior Health
Central California Nikkei Foundation in Fresno
CCNF has received grants from the JA Community Foundation to support their work with seniors. The purchase of a van had an immediate impact.
“Many of these seniors live in the rural communities, whose only contact is with their care provider. By providing transportation to Vintage Gardens and the Nikkei Service Center, they are now able to visit with their friends and neighbors from long ago. To see them reconnect is priceless.”
Senior Health
J-Sei expansion of Senior Services in the East Bay
“J-Sei is the only senior service organization that is targeted to supporting Japanese American older adults and their families living in the San Francisco East Bay. With the JA Community Foundation grant, we have expanded our current senior programs.
The J-Sei community is one with many points of interconnectedness and the following anecdote shows the impact our senior services have on the whole family.
Mrs. T is 57 years old and she is the primary caregiver for her 96 year-old father who was widowed over three years ago. Her father comes in for congregate lunches and reiki but he also enjoys seeing all of his friends and recently became a J-Sei home delivered meal volunteer. With his son, they take a home delivered lunch driving route and supply hot lunches and friendly chatter with other seniors.
Mrs. T joined the caregiver support group and benefits from the discussions led by a licensed clinical therapist. Mrs. T’s father-in-law also receives daily home delivered meals and case management as needed.
This year, a volunteer started a monthly J-Sei Movie Night with a potluck dinner, Japanese movie and guided discussion after the movie. Mrs. T, her husband and father attend the movie night and have fun connecting with past friends and making new ones.”
To learn more about the vital community resources provided by J-Sei visit their website at j-sei.org
Senior Health
Meals on Wheels by ACC in Sacramento
“With the JA Community Foundation grant we were able to began serving new, culturally responsive Japanese inspired meals at two locations starting in April 2018. The recipes we are using were suggested by participants and are meals they prepared for their own families in years past. Best of all, there is no longer leftover food that is thrown away, every morsel is eaten each week!”
Capital Improvement
Kizuka Hall Senior Center, Watsonville, CA
“Kizuka Hall Senior Center is part of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL and serves Santa Cruz County. We currently have 53 members that are 75 and older, with the oldest being 103. In order to maintain the comfort and safety of the seniors, we needed to upgrade equipment in our building which was built in the 1950s and still had the original furnaces.
With the grant we received from the JA Community Foundation we have replaced two old furnaces and the water heater, put in security lighting around the outside of the building and had the exterminator out to spray the building for termites as well as mice.
Our hall was a former church, with no central air or heat. When one of the furnaces died, it made one side of the hall super cold in the winter and put more stress on the other one. We actually had to tell seniors who normally sat on that side that if they were cold, they should move to the other side of the hall. I think since the new furnaces were put in, we have not had one complaint about it being too cold in there. No complaints = success!”
To learn more about the Kizuka Hall Senior Center visit their website at kizukahallseniors.wordpress.com
our grants
We award grants from $2,500 to $50,000. Our grant application process has two stages. You must first submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) and then, if invited, submit a full proposal.