Roofs from the Heart Charitable Fund and The Energy Equity Fund Announce combined efforts to bring Low-Moderate Income Families Roofs and Energy Efficiency Updates

Dover, DE— Roofs from the Heart is an important part of G. Fedale Roofing & Siding’s identity as a family-owned company. It all started when Glenn Fedale Jr. used his knowledge, skills, and faith to begin a small business based on family values and strong vibrant communities, and it has grown to become one of the most recognizable brands in home remodeling in Delaware. To celebrate the thousands of satisfied customers the company has served, Glenn and his brothers started The Roofs from Heart campaign several years ago as a roof giveaway program to help those in need and give back to the community.

To build upon this successful roof-giveaway program, Roofs from the Heart formed a charitable fund with the Delaware Community Foundation. G. Fedale Roofing is dedicated to funding this charitable fund and working with the broader philanthropic community to bring roof home improvement to those in need. “It is our hope to expand the scope of our work to not only support homes that needs roofs, but work to make homes in communities more energy efficient as well”, says Adam Fedale. This broadened effort led to a partnership between Energize Delaware-Energy Equity Fund and Roofs from the Heart Charitable Fund combine efforts to bring new roofs and other weatherization opportunities to many homeowners facing obstacles to creating a healthy, safe and energy efficient home.

It is the Empowerment Grant vision to implement impactful and innovative energy equity projects in underserved communities that include direct investment, community outreach, education, and engagement. Low- and moderate-income communities have been historically underserved. The Empowerment Grant is focused on expanding the inclusion and participation of low- and moderate-income communities in the clean energy movement.

According to Jim Purcell, Director of Development for the Empowerment Grant, “we are working to show how targeted investment and alignment with our local communities can achieve equity as we transition to clean, more efficient and renewable energy for underserved Delaware communities.”

Roofs from the Heart, Resilient Homes Grant is focused on providing repairs or a new roof installation for single-family dwellings owned by individuals in the state of Delaware. In addition to repair or replacement of the roof other energy efficiency services will be provided based on a comprehensive energy audit of the home. Home residents and sponsors are welcomed to submit nominations to the Roofs from the Heart, Resilient Homes Giveaway at https://roofsfromtheheart.org/nominate-someone. Nominations will then be asked to complete a short application detailing the need. The Roofs from The Heart and Empowerment Grant team will then select one of the nominations for up to $20,000 worth of roofing and energy efficient upgrades for the home. There will be three campaigns in 2022, with more opportunities to come in 2023 and beyond.

Additional program details, including program qualifications, requirements and how to submit current proposals can be found on the website: https://roofsfromtheheart.org/ and www.energyequityfund.org. A Facebook page - @EmpowerGrantDE; and a Twitter account - @EmpowerGrantDE; are also available for public interaction and information.

About Energize Delaware

Energize Delaware is a unique non-profit that helps Delawareans save money through clean energy and energy efficiency. Our myriad programs provide energy education and financial incentives to Delaware homeowners, businesses, non-profits, state agencies, farms, houses of worship, local government and schools. Find a program to fit your needs at www.EnergizeDelaware.com.

About Roofs from the Heart

Our amazing team of regulars and part-time volunteers are committed to helping others. Seeing a need to provide help in our community in providing roofs the Roofs from the Heart Charitable Fund was formed at the Delaware Community Foundation. We focus on home, family, health, safety and security in our communities. www.roofsfromtheheart.org 

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Delaware’s two-year, $5.3 million coordinated philanthropic response to the COVID-19 pandemic culminated this week with grants to key hospital systems throughout the state.

Bayhealth in Kent County, ChristianaCare in New Castle County and Beebe Healthcare in eastern Sussex County have each received $60,000, and the TidalHealth Nanticoke in western Sussex County received $35,390.60 from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to address community healthcare needs related to the evolving pandemic.

The awards mark the final grants from the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, which was launched in March 2020 as a partnership of the Delaware Community Foundation and Philanthropy Delaware.

Since inception, the fund has awarded a total of $5,333,615.60 donated by more than 400 Delaware foundations, corporations, businesses and individuals, to help nonprofits throughout the state effectively address the community’s needs.

In the early phases of the pandemic, the Strategic Response Fund made weekly grants to address urgent needs, including emergency food, housing, medical care and other services. As the community’s needs changed, the fund began awarding broader grants to help nonprofits pay for technology for virtual programming and services, build outdoor facilities, increase support to those isolated by the pandemic and more.

Over the past two years, the fund has awarded 294 grants to more than 200 nonprofit organizations and engaged more than 40 volunteers in determining how to distribute the money. Hundreds of thousands of Delawareans have been touched by these grants in one way or another, DCF President and CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay.

“If you or a loved one received services or enjoyed a virtual program from a library, senior center, Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, the Brandywine Zoo, the Biggs Museum, the Freeman Stage or any other Delaware nonprofit organization, you may have benefited from one of these grants,” Comstock-Gay said. “Delawareans stepped up, donated millions of dollars and gave generously of their time and expertise to help their neighbors in this crisis. This has been a case study in what it means to be a community.”

The Strategic Response Fund was established as part of a coordinated philanthropic response in partnership with United Way of Delaware and the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA). The combined expertise of the DCF, Philanthropy Delaware, United Way and DANA magnified the impact of the charitable dollars available, Philanthropy Delaware President and CEO Tynetta Brown said.

“These partners understand both the community’s needs as well as what it takes for our nonprofit organizations to meet those needs,” Brown said. “That made it possible for us to home in on the most effective ways to help the most Delawareans. I have never been prouder of our community.”

A full list of grantees and reports on earlier phases of the grantmaking programs are available at delcf.org/covid-19. The DCF and Philanthropy Delaware are preparing a final, comprehensive report that will provide the public with a detailed breakdown of all grants awarded, including distribution across geographic areas and categories of need.

We are grateful to the major donors to the Strategic Response Fund, including Longwood Foundation ($2 million), Barclays ($700,000), New Castle County ($500,000), Welfare Foundation ($300,000), CSC ($100,000), Crestlea Foundation ($100,000), Fund for Women ($100,000), Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware ($100,000), Jesse Ball Du Pont Fund ($100,000), Laffey-McHugh ($100,000), Discover ($100,000), DCF ($75,000), DuPont ($75,000), Gates Foundation ($65,000), Jeff and Rhonda Banning Foundation ($50,000), Comenity Bank ($75,000), M&T ($50,000), Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell ($50,000), Fulton Bank ($35,000), JP Morgan Chase ($30,000), Bank of America ($25,000), Capital One ($25,000), TD Bank ($25,000) and WSFS Bank ($25,000).

About the Delaware Community Foundation 

The mission of the Delaware Community Foundation is to improve the lives of the people of Delaware by empowering and growing philanthropy through knowledge and relationships, now and in the future. As a facilitator, information resource and manager of charitable funds, the DCF helps communities and philanthropists focus charitable resources for the greatest community benefit statewide. For more information, visit delcf.org or call 302.571.8004.

About Philanthropy Delaware

Philanthropy Delaware advances philanthropy in the first state by connecting key stakeholders to drive meaningful impact for all Delawareans. Our vision is to crat a just, vibrant and thriving Delaware through effective, strategic, impactful and sustainable philanthropic investments. Philanthropy Delaware exists to also provide information, education, networking, and collaboration opportunities to individuals, corporations, and foundations that make significant charitable investments in Delaware, and to strengthen philanthropy through information and appropriate advocacy.  

 

Statewide, March 15, 2022 - DANA, the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, and Philanthropy Delaware introduced SHARE Delaware as the State’s first comprehensive resource for information on Delaware nonprofits and their program locations – all in one searchable database. Thanks to generous support by Discover Bank and Christiana Care an updated SHARE Delaware website with more enhanced mapping features is re-launched today.

In partnership with Policy Map, the enhanced website contains information on registered 501(c)(3) organizations operating in the State of Delaware and allows anyone to search for organizations based on geographical areas and mission focus area. Policy Map’s community indicators such as demographic trends, housing, (list others) permit users to understand community impact in the areas where nonprofits operate.

The update has created a user-friendly, locally customized, and mobile-friendly website intended to help government, foundations, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and community members know which nonprofit is providing services in which location. The purpose behind the site is to transform the Delaware nonprofit and philanthropy community by providing universally accessible and useful information that will inspire collaboration and drive sustainable impact.

“Philanthropy Delaware is pleased to collaborate with DANA in launching the SHARE Delaware platform,” said Philanthropy Delaware’s President & CEO, Tynetta Brown. “We see this as a way for our Membership to quickly access additional information about the nonprofits that request support for their respective missions. Noting the gaps, how resources and services are distributed across our State will be of immense value, ensuring that informed, impactful, sustainable investments are made.”

"Through our partnership with Philanthropy Delaware, we have envisioned SHARE Delaware becoming a tool to identify organizations working on specific causes within the state, helping nonprofits to inform their strategic planning and identify potential partners," said Sheila Bravo, President & CEO for the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement.

An information webinar will be held on April 7^th, at 3:00 P.M. to profile the new features of the SHARE Delaware map. Registration is open at https://dana.events/sharede. Visit the website at https://sharedelaware.org - and nonprofits can check to be sure their information is included and up to date.

To be included in the map or for any questions contact Charles Alfree at calfree@delawarenonprofit.org or 302-777-5500.

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Philanthropy Delawareadvances the growth of effective philanthropy that promotes improved quality of life in Delaware through education, networking, and collaboration. (Visit website)

As the leader of the nonprofit sector, the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement’s mission is to strengthen, enhance, and advance nonprofits and the sector in Delaware through advocacy, training, capacity building, and research. (Visit website)

We were all more than generous when it came to contributing human and financial capital and resources in response to the crisis in 2020 and throughout 2021. Contributing to fill in the gaps that COVID-19, natural disasters, and other devastating events brought to the surface and placed on our consciousness was at an all time high across our nation. Our State was no different, and we need to sustain what we started.

Philanthropy Delaware is a philanthropy serving organization that works with the philanthropic community in Delaware. It exists to provide information, education, networking, and collaboration opportunities to individuals, corporations, and foundations who make significant charitable contributions to nonprofits in Delaware, and to strengthen philanthropy through public information and advocacy. We also interface with nonprofits to monitor their needs and advise on how best to engage with the philanthropic community.

While the philanthropic community and government make every effort to appropriately support nonprofits, the needs far outweigh the available dollars to address those needs, challenges, and barriers. We all have a role to play as individuals when it comes to contributing to the various missions of our nonprofit organizations. Contributing to their sustainability as viable providers of services, experts and community champions should not be obligatory or done for public relations value, but because we all have some small role we can play, and we need everyone involved.

The nonprofit of choice that you support throughout the year and during Do More 24 Delaware should reflect your passion, values and commitment to extend a hand to others. Issues such as childcare shortages, homelessness, and food scarcity that the pandemic brought to light cannot go away without your continued support to the nonprofit organizations that have quietly fulfilled these needs the past few years and your continued support is vital.

Delaware’s Giving Day, “Do More 24 Delaware” returns at 6pm on Thursday, March 3 and runs until 6pm on Friday, March 4, 2022. This 24-hour, virtual fundraising event is yet again an opportunity for individual Delawareans to support the many nonprofits that openly and in some cases quietly serve the First State.

Let us all be the individual that willingly steps forward to join in and help take care of one another, help our communities continue to thrive and generously become that “stand up” philanthropist for the greater good of our society. Every contribution is necessary and impactful to making sure that the quality of life of our neighbors is not one of living in or continually experiencing challenges that can be eliminated or at least eased with a simple online click of kindness.

-Tynetta Brown, President and CEO of Philanthropy Delaware

Delaware Humanities has awarded $620,153 to 36 organizations in Delaware through its RECOVER and RENEW grants, which are funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Grant recipients include cultural, historical, and community-based organizations such as the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village, Jewish Historical Society of Delaware, Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware, and many others.

RECOVER grants were awarded to supply general operating support to organizations for the purpose of preventing, preparing for, responding to, or recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. RENEW grants offered support for implementing specific humanities programming and activities addressing one or more of the purposes of the ARPA grants. They expanded on the RECOVER General Operating Support Grants to include strategic planning, transitioning to virtual or alternative formats due to the impact of Covid-19, and capacity building efforts. All recipients are Delaware 501(c)(3) organizations, public institutions of higher education, state and local government agencies, libraries, or performing/visual arts organizations. Grantees received a maximum of $20,000 in funding. For a full list of awardees and grant amounts, visit www.dehumanities.org/grants.

These awards mark the largest distribution of funding Delaware Humanities has ever allocated in a single grant cycle. The funding will help sustain the humanities in Delaware in the wake of the ongoing pandemic as organizations continue to respond to the unique and evolving challenges of COVID-19.

According to Delaware Humanities’ Grants Officer Erin Samarasinghe, “We were gratified to receive funding requests for ARPA Grants that exceeded the amount we were allotted, making the process more competitive and ensuring that the final 36 awards given were truly exceptional in design. The RECOVER and RENEW grants gave us the opportunity to broaden our own grant-making focus by encouraging organizations to turn inward to reflect on Covid-19’s impact, which we know was wide-ranging in its scope. RENEW grants in particular provide the freedom to respond to that impact with innovation and action.”

Delaware Humanities is Delaware’s independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Founded in 1973, Delaware Humanities strengthens our communities by encouraging all Delawareans to be inspired, informed, and engaged through exploring the diversity of the human experience.