GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Green Bay is one of nine communities across the country to receive a prestigious national grant.
Green Bay was selected to receive a $250,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant.
The award celebrates communities that have made incredible strides toward building safe and supportive places where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Prize winners are reshaping food systems, emboldening youth leaders, honoring elders, protecting the environment, and changing the narrative about their communities.
Green Bay nonprofits Wello, We All Rise, COMSA, and Casa ALBA joined together to apply for the grant. They will split the grant four ways.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wrote of Green Bay on its website:
A new generation of leaders in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is uniting across cultures to build people power. Rooted in the cultures and voices of all the communities that call Green Bay home, local leaders in government, business, sports, and community-based organizations are collaborating on interconnected initiatives. These issues include everything from housing, to food security, from health services, to making the city a welcoming and supportive place for everyone. Learning about the changing dynamics of the city’s population was critical. Leaders implemented a new framework for measuring wellbeing, providing insight into residents’ physical health, mental health, social connections, and community conditions—such as income, housing, and safety. By centering the lived experiences of its residents, Green Bay, Wisconsin’s oldest city, is actively recalibrating systems to better prioritize community needs, build trusting relationships, and foster hope for a future of health, equity, and liberation.
To make an even bigger impact with the grant, the nonprofits launched a match campaign.
And Green Bay wasn’t the only community in Wisconsin to receive a grant this year.
Milwaukee County is among the nine recipients of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant as well as Tribes in the Great Lakes Region, which tribes residing in Wisconsin.
The six other prize communities are the City of Jurupa Valley, California; City of Trenton, New Jersey; Juneau, Alaska; Lower Eastern Shore, Maryland, and Sussex County, Delaware; ; Molokai, Hawaii and Sacramento, California.
COMSA is a resource center serving immigrants & refugees in Greater Green Bay
Wello is an action-oriented, community effort to support health and well-being for all in Greater Green Bay.
We All Rise is an African American resource center that serves those in the Greater Green Bay area.
Casa ALBA provides a place of trust for Hispanic families to become part of the community in Green Bay.
