September 2023

Community Impact Grants in Action

Pastor Tonya Ware fills a bag during the first Jackson Community Concrete Farmers Market.

Our Community Impact grantees have taken no time getting to work on their projects! The first Jackson Community Concrete Market took place on September 23, funded in part by our Community Impact Grant program! The group gave an incredible 1,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from Footprint Farms, water and school supplies in about an hour. The market was a dream of Pastor Tonya Ware of The Church Triumphant Global - A Word Church.

She said: “A year ago, I was driving around Jackson looking at all the overgrown vacant lots. The idea came to me to turn them into farmers markets for families needing healthy foods. Our surveys tell us that many families in Jackson have enough food for the first 20 days of the month. The last week of the month is when food storages impact families most. Because of generous support, families here received fresh foods at their first 'pop up' Jackson Community Concrete Farmers Market."

New Fund Spotlight: Robert Malouf, Jr. Memorial Fund

Robert Malouf, Jr.’s life was full of promise. In January 2017, at the age of 25, Robert died from an accidental opioid overdose. To honor his legacy and to assist many struggling with addiction, his mother has opened the Robert Malouf, Jr. Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi. On August 31, WLBT featured the fund in a story to highlight International Overdose Awareness Day. View the story here.

What if journalism could bring together people in Mississippi?

Thank you to everyone who joined us on September 19 for our virtual meeting discussing the question "What if journalism could bring people together in Mississippi?”

We were excited to have a great group from the media and community engaged in this conversation!

Couldn't make it to the event? We have updated our journalism resources page with the video and a link to a feedback survey after you have finished watching. By responding via this survey, you will help us organize information and apply what we learn. It is written for media members, but we invite all viewers to use it.

CACM Continues Matching Gift Campaign in September

If you could help Mississippi children in abusive situations have a streamlined experience to report trauma, would you? That’s a question the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Mississippi (CACM) asks often.

With a new endowment fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi, CACM hopes to support its mission to revolutionize child abuse – forever.

For over 20 years, CACM and its affiliated children’s advocacy centers have provided a community-based, child-friendly, and trauma-informed network to coordinate a multidisciplinary response to child maltreatment allegations. At a children’s advocacy center, children can speak to a forensic interviewer trained to understand child development, manage bias, and identify secondary trauma and other best practices for interviewing children.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, CACM is kickstarting the fund with a $50,000 matching challenge during the month of September.

Statewide Grant

The Mississippi Arts Commission mini-grant application for individuals and organizations opens on October 1. Mini-grants for Organizations are matching grants designed to support professional development and capacity building for arts organizations. Mississippi-based non-profit organizations and government entities are also eligible to receive Mini-Grants to hire professional artists such as those listed on MAC’s Artist Roster and Teaching Artist Roster. LLC’s and other for-profit businesses are NOT eligible to apply for MAC grants. Learn more here.

National Grant



T-Mobile is investing $25M in 500 rural towns over 5 years to jumpstart projects and build stronger communities. Rural communities can apply for up to $50,000 for a Hometown Grant to bring their community idea to life. Twenty five grants are awarded each quarter. Learn more here.