Phoebus Criminal Justice Initiative

Phoebus Criminal Justice Initiative

Award Size: Grants range from $4,000 to $8,000

Focus: Community organizing for criminal justice reform. Grantees target issues including (but not limited to):

Police accountability

Racially biased sentencing policies

Growth of the for-profit prison industry

Criminalization of youth

Death penalty

Geographic Scope: Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Camden counties

Status: Applications closed January 30, 2026. Next cycle expected early 2027.

Eligibility Requirements

Must meet all of the following:
• Meet all Bread & Roses basic funding criteria
• Have a long-term vision and engage strategies that promote justice within the criminal legal system
• Led by people most affected by injustice; build broad membership and leadership bases that can survive when key leaders step down
• Understand power differences based on identity and can talk about how trying to challenge power imbalances both within organizations and in communities
• Have a shared vision for change and can articulate that vision
• Prioritize ongoing education/consciousness raising for constituents and allies that broadens membership base
• Have a plan with short-term and long-term goals that are specific, achievable, and relevant to criminal justice
• Knowledgeable about other organizations working on same issue; able to work in coalition across movements, issues, and communities to amplify impact
• Less likely to be funded by traditional funders due to commitment to challenging power and prioritizing leadership of marginalized people; grant from Bread & Roses critical to seeding or sustaining work
• Building a base for taking collective action against injustices within criminal legal system

Previous Grantees

Include Coalition to End Death By Incarceration and Prison Health News. Check website for full list of recent grantees.

Decision Making

Unique Structure: Fund established in 2000 as partnership between Phoebus Fund family foundation and Bread & Roses Community Fund. Final decisions on grants made jointly by family members and criminal justice activists.

Reapplication: Groups who have received grants in past may reapply in following grant cycle.

Contact: grants@breadrosesfund.org | 215.731.1107