Initiatives Grants

Sections

Advanc­ing the goals of our Initiatives

Ini­tia­tives Grants and Oppor­tu­ni­ties Grants are com­ple­men­tary pro­grams under the umbrel­la of Cat­a­lyst Grants. While both address com­plex com­mu­ni­ty prob­lems, Ini­tia­tives Grants specif­i­cal­ly sup­port the work of the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion’s Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies and Hous­ing Solu­tions Initiatives.

Pro­gram Details

  • Grant funds must advance the goals of the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion’s Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive or Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive. (See below for Ini­tia­tive Goals.) 
  • Appli­cant must be a 501(c)(3) non­prof­it, gov­ern­ment enti­ty, or oth­er IRS-rec­og­nized char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tion serv­ing Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming OR be fis­­cal­­ly-spon­­sored by an enti­ty that meets these require­ments. (No for-prof­it appli­cants, even with a qual­i­fied fis­cal sponsor.)
  • Grant funds must be used exclu­sive­ly in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming. (In select sit­u­a­tions, grants may ben­e­fit peo­ple work­ing in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming who live in neigh­bor­ing communities.)
  • Funds may not be used for debt retire­ment or reli­gious or polit­i­cal activities
  • Grant funds may not be used for work that has already been completed
  • Required 30-minute meet­ing with Foun­da­tion staff (July-August)

The basis of each of the Foun­da­tion’s Ini­tia­tive is a col­lab­o­ra­tive work­ing group that has been active­ly involved in the devel­op­ment of the frame­works below.

EDU­CA­TION & FAM­I­LIES INI­TIA­TIVE
The fol­low­ing is under devel­op­ment by the Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive (for­mer­ly Sys­tems of Education).

  • Pur­pose. The Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive believes that access to out-of-school learn­ing has the pow­er to close the edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty gap and sup­port the suc­cess and ful­fill­ment of youth in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming. We work to address bar­ri­ers to access, sup­port edu­ca­tor recruit­ment and reten­tion, and build stronger rela­tion­ships between providers and their constituents. 
  • Approach
    • Fos­ter oppor­tu­ni­ties and address chal­lenges for out-of-school time through col­lec­tive action.
    • Break down silos and pro­mote col­lab­o­ra­tion to ensure we are learn­ing with and from each oth­er and our community.
    • Impact learn­ers through pro­gram­ming and by engag­ing with the broad­er con­text that sup­ports their suc­cess, includ­ing edu­ca­tors, insti­tu­tions, families.
    • Ground our work in data, sto­ries, and the wis­dom and expe­ri­ences of com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to ensure equi­table access to out-of-school learning. 
  • Goals
    • Improv­ing Equi­table Access to Pro­gram­ming: Iden­ti­fy and address sys­temic bar­ri­ers to access­ing out-of-school pro­gram­ming that per­pet­u­ate inequities with­in our community.
    • Estab­lish­ing and Enhanc­ing Path­ways and Sup­ports for Edu­ca­tors: Pro­mote the recruit­ment, train­ing, and reten­tion of edu­ca­tors to pro­vide the high­est qual­i­ty expand­ed learn­ing experiences.
    • Fos­ter­ing Stronger Com­mu­ni­ty Rela­tion­ships: Invest in strate­gies to strength­en rela­tion­ships between providers and con­stituents to ensure pro­gram­ming is rel­e­vant to com­mu­ni­ty needs and that fam­i­lies and care­givers can nav­i­gate the pro­gram­ming landscape.
    • Address­ing Crit­i­cal Gaps in Out-of-School Pro­gram­ming: Build capac­i­ty to meet the expand­ed learn­ing needs of Teton Coun­ty youth by iden­ti­fy­ing and address­ing gaps in services.
  • Pur­pose: The Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive cham­pi­ons col­lab­o­ra­tive solu­tions to increase the avail­abil­i­ty, acces­si­bil­i­ty, and diver­si­ty of afford­able hous­ing options in Teton Coun­ty and Jack­son. This work is ground­ed in the belief that safe, sta­ble hous­ing is essen­tial to com­mu­ni­ty well-being, eco­nom­ic resilience, and a thriv­ing local workforce. 
  • Approach: The Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive sup­ports local hous­ing efforts by address­ing the root caus­es of hous­ing chal­lenges and focus­ing fund­ing on com­mu­ni­ty-iden­ti­fied needs. It aims to cre­ate space for shared learn­ing, aligned goals, and col­lec­tive action among cross-sec­tor part­ners work­ing to advance hous­ing solutions.
  • Goals
    • Expand Equi­table Access to Hous­ing: Fund strate­gies that close afford­abil­i­ty gaps — par­tic­u­lar­ly for mod­er­ate-income work­ers who are not served by cur­rent pro­grams — and increase hous­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties across income lev­els, house­hold types, and life stages.
    • Build a Uni­fied, Data-Informed Hous­ing Sys­tem: Invest in data tools, research, and col­lab­o­ra­tive infra­struc­ture that fos­ter shared under­stand­ing, track progress, and guide deci­sion-mak­ing across the hous­ing ecosystem.
    • Acti­vate Cross-Sec­tor Solu­tions to Increase Hous­ing Sup­ply and Sta­bil­i­ty: Sup­port pub­lic-pri­vate part­ner­ships, col­lab­o­ra­tive employ­er-led ini­tia­tives, and pilot inno­v­a­tive fund­ing mod­els that increase the sup­ply of homes, pre­serve hous­ing for locals, and cre­ate more sta­bil­i­ty in the hous­ing market.
    • Increase Mobil­i­ty and Sta­bil­i­ty With­in the Hous­ing Sys­tem: Sup­port solu­tions that help res­i­dents move more eas­i­ly with­in the hous­ing sys­tem as needs change — includ­ing down­siz­ing, upsiz­ing, or tran­si­tion­ing between deed-restrict­ed and mar­ket-rate homes. Fund strate­gies to pre­serve exist­ing hous­ing for the local work­force, such as preser­va­tion funds and buy-downs.
    • Fos­ter a Shared Hous­ing Vision Across Sec­tors: Pro­mote efforts that shift pub­lic under­stand­ing of hous­ing as both an eco­nom­ic dri­ver and a social good, ele­vate diverse com­mu­ni­ty voic­es, and build shared nar­ra­tives that gen­er­ate trust, align stake­hold­ers, and cre­ate momen­tum for col­lab­o­ra­tive solutions.
    • Sup­port Pol­i­cy Change for Com­mu­ni­ty Hous­ing: Advance efforts to mod­ern­ize poli­cies and inter­nal orga­ni­za­tion­al prac­tices that enhance qual­i­ty of life and eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties for cur­rent and future renters and homeowners.


This year, the Foun­da­tion’s Behav­ioral Health Ini­tia­tive is tran­si­tion­ing out of Cat­a­lyst Grants to a new fund­ing mod­el aligned with the Teton Behav­ioral Health Alliance’s Inte­grat­ed Plan (overview here). This is a com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven, five-year roadmap to strength­en behav­ioral health sys­tems across Teton Coun­ty relat­ed to access to care, sys­tem coor­di­na­tion, cri­sis response, youth ser­vices, provider capac­i­ty, and com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment. Behav­ioral health fund­ing will be dis­trib­uted through a struc­tured Request for Pro­pos­als (RFP) process tied direct­ly to the Plan’s strate­gies. This mod­el will fea­ture clear­ly defined scopes of work, stan­dard­ized eval­u­a­tion cri­te­ria, and trans­par­ent selec­tion, with strong expec­ta­tions for mea­sure­ment, report­ing, and outcomes.

To learn how your work may align with the Inte­grat­ed Plan, please con­tact Kate Schelbe, Back­bone Leader of the Teton Behav­ioral Health Alliance. RFP details will be announced lat­er this year.

Sys­tems change is the ​“north star” of Cat­a­lyst grant­mak­ing impact. The Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion rec­og­nizes that sys­tems change takes time, part­ner­ships, and resources, and that it comes in iter­a­tions. We are pleased to part­ner with local orga­ni­za­tions in var­i­ous stages of sys­tems change work. 

Pref­er­ences and Con­sid­er­a­tions

The strongest appli­ca­tions will feature: 

  • Com­pelling strat­e­gy for sys­tems change or oth­er inno­va­tion, sup­port­ed by data if available
  • High like­li­hood of yield­ing mean­ing­ful impact 
  • Strate­gic partnerships 
  • Diver­si­ty of fund­ing sources and a plan for ongo­ing funding 
  • Appli­cant has orga­ni­za­tion­al capac­i­ty, sta­bil­i­ty, respon­si­ble lead­er­ship, and a track record of pro­gram­mat­ic success 
  • Align­ment with Com­mu­ni­ty Foundation’s Strate­gic Plan and Values
  • Encour­aged but not required: par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Hous­ing Dash­board Col­lec­tive or Expand­ed Learn­ing Collective

Exclu­sions

Requests for the fol­low­ing will not be considered:

Pro­pos­als that have been fund­ed by the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion or request­ed with­in the past 12 months may not be resubmitted.

  • High-impact pro­gram­ming focused sig­nif­i­cant com­mu­ni­ty issues and their root caus­es (large num­bers or dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly affect­ed pop­u­la­tions served)
  • Capac­i­ty build­ing for orga­ni­za­tions to bet­ter meet the needs of under­served populations
  • Imple­men­ta­tion of strate­gic plan­ning (not strate­gic plan­ning itself – think ​“Series B” funding) 
  • Cap­i­tal expen­di­tures for orga­ni­za­tions sys­tem­i­cal­ly address­ing crit­i­cal com­mu­ni­ty needs (expen­di­ture must have broad and endur­ing com­mu­ni­ty ben­e­fit, or sig­nif­i­cant­ly sup­port pop­u­la­tions in need)
  • Struc­tur­al changes with­in orga­ni­za­tions that will increase effi­cien­cy and impact in crit­i­cal ser­vice areas (e.g. non­prof­it mergers)

This is not a com­pre­hen­sive list. The Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion wel­comes cre­ative pro­pos­als that mean­ing­ful­ly advance Ini­tia­tive goals. 

Fol­low­ing are exam­ples of past Ini­tia­tives Grants geared toward sys­tems change:

Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive Grants

  • $55,000 to build an inclu­sive and sus­tain­able sys­tem to ensure chil­dren with dis­abil­i­ties can ful­ly par­tic­i­pate in sum­mer camp along­side peers. This grant sup­ports Inclu­sion Coun­selors in pro­vid­ing dis­abil­i­ty-spe­cif­ic safe­ty and inclu­sion train­ing to camp staff. Grantee: Teton Adap­tive, in part­ner­ship with Coombs Out­doors and Teton County/​Jackson Parks and Recreation
  • $20,000 to imple­ment a mul­ti-age, inte­grat­ed approach to expand­ing equi­table math sup­port in Teton Coun­ty. This grant pro­vides free tutor­ing to stu­dents with demon­strat­ed aca­d­e­m­ic and finan­cial need, enrich­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for advanced learn­ers, and math learn­ing tools for pre‑K stu­dents. Grantee: Ele­vate Math Wyoming, in part­ner­ship with Teton Coun­ty School Dis­trict #1, Teton Lit­er­a­cy Cen­ter, Chil­dren’s Learn­ing Cen­ter and Wyoming Stargazing

Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive Grants 

  • $75,000 to pilot an afford­able hous­ing preser­va­tion mod­el that improves home qual­i­ty, safe­ty, and acces­si­bil­i­ty for long-term home­own­ers earn­ing at or below 80% MFI. Grant-fund­ed work will inform a scal­able approach with poten­tial to extend across the broad­er deed-restrict­ed home­own­er­ship port­fo­lio over time. Grantee: Habi­tat for Human­i­ty of the Greater Teton Area
  • $50,000 to align hous­ing with envi­ron­men­tal health. This grant sup­ports infra­struc­ture design to deliv­er clean drink­ing water to 26 new afford­able homes at Horse Creek, where water access and qual­i­ty con­cerns have his­tor­i­cal­ly lim­it­ed afford­able hous­ing devel­op­ment. Grantee: JH Com­mu­ni­ty Hous­ing Trust, in part­ner­ship with Hoback Junc­tion Water and Sew­er Dis­trict, Teton Coun­ty Pub­lic Works, and the State of Wyoming

Avail­able fund­ing for 2026 Ini­tia­tives Grants: TBA this summer

There is no spec­i­fied minimum/​maximum request. See Sys­tems Change Grants above for a ball­park range.

We antic­i­pate a total appli­cant pool request that exceeds what is avail­able to grant, mak­ing the appli­ca­tion process high­ly competitive.

July 8‑August 31

  • Devel­op pro­pos­al con­cept, solid­i­fy project partnerships
  • Required 30-minute meet­ing with Foun­da­tion staff to dis­cuss your pro­pos­al con­cept (required to sub­mit an Expres­sion of Inter­est in Sep­tem­ber). Our goal is to sup­port appli­cants and ensure pro­pos­als’ align­ment with Ini­tia­tives Grants.

Sep­tem­ber 16 – 23: Expres­sion of Inter­est sub­mis­sion period

Octo­ber 14: Expres­sion of Inter­est noti­fi­ca­tions; select orga­ni­za­tions advance to writ­ten application

Octo­ber 14-Novem­ber 4: Writ­ten appli­ca­tion period

Ear­ly Decem­ber (dates TBD): 10-minute Q&A with review committee

Decem­ber 8 – 9: Grant noti­fi­ca­tions

Mid Decem­ber to mid Jan­u­ary: Grant con­tract and disbursement

Grantees are asked to sub­mit a report after com­ple­tion of their grant-fund­ed work. Report­ing dates are cus­tomized to indi­vid­ual project time­lines. The Grant Report form focus­es on impact, eval­u­a­tion strate­gies, and bud­get align­ment. Log into the CFJH Grant Appli­ca­tions plat­form to access your report form, which appears as the last task with­in the relat­ed appli­ca­tion. Email Grants Asso­ciate Cindy Coro­na with any report­ing questions.

Grantees must adhere to the Foundation’s Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Require­ments For Grant Recip­i­ents.

Ini­tia­tives Grants are fund­ed by gen­er­ous pri­vate donors seek­ing cat­alyt­ic com­mu­ni­ty advance­ments in the areas of hous­ing and youth out-of-school learning. 

Please email grants@​cfjacksonhole.​org with ques­tions about Ini­tia­tives Grants.