Recent African American Community Fund Work
Anthony Ray Hinton, St. Joe County Public Library, 2022
Although the African American Community Fund no longer accepts grant applications through a competitive grants process, the committee continues to identify and support projects and initiatives of importance to the local African American community.
FY 2024
In Fiscal Year 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), $82,500 in funding from the AACF supported:
- The MLK Jr. Dream Center
- South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s MLK Concert Series
- South Bend Civic Theatre’s diversity productions
- Imagination Library
- Gentlemen & Scholars
- Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County
- Imani Unidad’s program expansion
- MLK Jr. Community Celebration Breakfast
- NC100BW South Bend Chapter Scholarship Fund
- WNIT’s Legends of Michiana
FY 2023
In Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023), $174,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- The MLK Jr. Dream Center (payable in four installments)
- Imagination Library
- South Bend Symphony Orchestra for MLK Jr. Celebration Concerts
- South Bend Civic Theatre to support diversity productions
- Project Impact for MLK Jr. Breakfast
- NC100BW South Bend Chapter Scholarship Fund
- NAACP Scholarship Fund
FY 2022
In Fiscal Year 2022 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022), nearly $75,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- St. Joe County Public Library renovation and expansion project
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in St. Joseph County
- One Book, One Michiana program through the St. Joe County Library featuring a presentation by Anthony Ray Hinton, author of The Sun Does Shine, a bestselling book sharing his story of spending 30 years on Alabama’s Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit
- Bringing a life-size statue of Harriet Tubman to South Bend
- Multiple arts and culture projects of interest to African Americans, such as South Bend Civic Theatre’s productions celebrating African American stories and characters, including Civic’s continuing commitment to producing the 10-year August Wilson Century Cycle; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s MLK “Celebration of a King” project, a community-focused performance series in several area Black churches, as well as recordings aired for Juneteenth on WNIT-TV; and the community-wide “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast”
- The NAACP Scholarship Fund
FY 2021
In Fiscal Year 2021, over $68,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- St. Joseph County Public Library renovation and expansion project
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in St. Joseph County
- Indiana Citizen Education Foundation for One More Voice Campaign in St. Joseph County
- Multiple arts and culture projects of interest to African Americans, including Indiana University South Bend’s “Lift Every Voice: Celebrating the African American Spirit” concert; South Bend Civic Theatre’s productions celebrating African American stories and characters, including Civic’s continuing commitment to producing the 10-year August Wilson Century Cycle; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert”; South Bend Heritage Foundation’s community-wide “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast”
- The NAACP Scholarship Fund
FY 2020
In Fiscal Year 2020, over $90,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- St. Joseph County Public Library renovation and expansion project
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in St. Joseph County
- Renovation and repair of Dismas House in South Bend
- Multiple arts and culture projects of interest to African Americans, including Indiana University South Bend’s “Lift Every Voice: Celebrating the African American Spirit” concert; South Bend Civic Theatre’s productions celebrating African American stories and characters, including Civic’s continuing commitment to producing the 10-year August Wilson Century Cycle; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert”; South Bend Heritage Foundation’s community-wide “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast”; WNIT Legends of Michiana documentary on Richmond and Virginia Calvin, and installation of the J. Chester and Elizabeth Allen Historic Marker in downtown South Bend
- “The African American Community Fund: Celebrating 20 Years,” exhibited at The History Museum from November 2019 through March 2020
- The NAACP Scholarship Fund
FY 2019
In Fiscal Year 2019, over $33,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in St. Joseph County
- Multiple arts and culture projects of interest to African Americans, including Indiana University South Bend’s “Lift Every Voice: Celebrating the African American Spirit” concert; South Bend Civic Theatre’s productions celebrating African American stories and characters; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert”; South Bend Heritage Foundation’s community-wide “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast”
- The NAACP Scholarship Fund
FY 2018
In Fiscal Year 2018, over $33,000 in funding from the AACF supported:
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in St. Joseph County
- Multiple arts and culture projects of interest to African Americans, including Indiana University South Bend’s “Lift Every Voice: Celebrating the African American Spirit” concert; South Bend Civic Theatre’s production of “Topdog/Underdog”; the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert”; South Bend Heritage Foundation’s community-wide “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast”
- The NAACP Scholarship Fund