Community Foundation Provides $150,000 in Leadership Grants to Local Nonprofits

May 6, 2021

Des Moines, IA - May 6, 2021 — The Community Foundation has awarded $100,000 to the Des Moines Area Religious Council and $50,000 to Proteus, Inc. through Leadership Grants made possible by the Better Together Fund.  Through strategic Leadership Grants in 2021, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines intentionally evolved grantmaking priorities and cycles to provide more nimble funding, center grant awards around equity and serve populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Donors to the Better Together Fund give to support community needs now and into the future as identified through the Community Foundation’s grantmaking process facilitated by the organization’s expert staff, Grantmaking Committee and board of directors.  

Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC)

 A $100,000 Leadership Grant will support the relocation and consolidation of DMARC’s warehouses and headquarters to maximize the organization’s ability to meet the growing need for food assistance in our local communities. With more than 58,000 individuals currently using the DMARC Food Pantry Network, the relocation will allow DMARC to store and distribute increasing quantities of food, including culturally specific food options, toiletries and necessities to ensure adequate capacity to meet the need for assistance while fighting to alleviate poverty in Greater Des Moines.

“DMARC cannot thank the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines enough for this incredible Leadership Grant support for our new headquarters project,” said Matt Unger, CEO of DMARC. “The investment will be transformational, not just for our organization, but for the whole community we aim to serve and assist.”

Proteus, Inc.

 A $50,000 Leadership Grant will support Proteus, Inc. in providing medical and behavioral health care to agricultural workers and their families by bringing mobile healthcare clinics to meat processing facilities and offering follow-up care through existing clinics or telehealth. This adaptation and expansion of the existing Proteus, Inc. healthcare delivery model will provide a medical home to at least 100 new patients from meat processing facilities. Proteus, Inc. meets patients where they are to eliminate as many barriers to care as possible and providing culturally responsive healthcare through bilingual team members.

"For more than two decades, Proteus, Inc. has provided agricultural workers and their families with access to affordable healthcare. While COVID-19 has impacted all of us, it has especially affected meat processing workers,” said Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, Proteus, Inc. CEO. “We recognized the need for better healthcare access within the industry and we’re excited to meet this need by taking our healthcare delivery model directly to meat processing worker facilities.”