Community Affiliates Network (CAN) Mini-Grants

Overview:
The Woodson Center awards mini-grants through its Community Affiliates Network (CAN) to support local grassroots organizations and social entrepreneurs addressing urgent community problems.

Geographic Scope: Nationwide (United States)

Focus Areas:

• Solutions to unemployment
• Crime reduction and violence prevention
• Poverty alleviation
• Quality education improvement
• Reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals
• Youth mentoring and development
• Human trafficking awareness and prevention
• Food security and urban agriculture
• Photography and arts programs for at-risk youth

Award Amounts:

• Individual grants: $5,000 or $10,000
• Over $500,000 awarded annually to 90+ organizations (as of 2022)

Eligibility:

• Community-based organizations
• Grassroots nonprofits
• Social entrepreneurs
• Organizations with demonstrated success in their communities
• Local leaders who live in and serve the neighborhoods they work in
• CAN affiliate organizations

About CAN:

• Consists of 500+ organizations and nonprofits across the country
• Members collaborate and share best practices
• Focuses on indigenous/local solutions rather than top-down interventions
• Trusted local leaders who are central to their communities

Contact Information:

• Phone: (202) 518-6500
• Email: info@woodsoncenter.org
• Address: 1625 K Street NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20006

Recent Recipients (2022-2023):

• Gary Wyatt, He Brought Us Out Ministry (Akron, Ohio)
• Pastor Cheryl Gaines, Project EDEN (Washington, D.C.)
• Teresa Merriweather, Trafficked Lives Matter Hand-N-Hand (Elyria, Ohio)
• LaKisha Cohill, Photography Project (Birmingham, Alabama)
• Jon Ponder, Hope for Prisoners (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• Hope Delgado, The Caruthers Scholars Program (Caruthers, California)