(York, PA, January 18, 2024) — York County Community Foundation (YCCF) strives to create a vibrant York County by engaging donors, providing community leadership, and investing in high-impact initiatives while building endowments for future generations. In 2023, YCCF awarded a total of $10.6 million in grants to 424 nonprofit organizations. Grants were issued from YCCF’s Fund for York County, the Hahn Home Fund for Embracing Aging, the Racial Equity Fund, Memorial Health Fund, and from a variety of the over 650 funds housed at the Foundation.
“YCCF is grateful for the generosity of our donors and is humbled by the collective impact of people and organizations working together to create positive changes in our community. We look forward to another year of grant-making and remain committed to our vision of a York County where everyone has the opportunity to THRIVE,” shared Holly Mayer, Board Chair of YCCF.
Grants from YCCF’s Fund for York County focus on building economic mobility for low-income individuals. By analyzing local data and studying the community’s greatest needs, YCCF has the unique ability to focus its grantmaking on addressing these needs. The Foundation’s efforts are collaborative and provide long-term solutions that target the root causes. With guidance from YCCF, more than 150 community volunteers helped to select the grantees of 2023.
In 2023, YCCF’s grants focused on:
• Addressing Equity Gaps in Communities of Color
• Career Development
• Child and Youth Development
• Environmental Protection
• Making York County a Great Place to Age
• Providing High-Quality Childcare
• Safe and Affordable Housing
For its donors, YCCF seeks to provide the highest level of confidence as they consider YCCF for their endowed philanthropy. In 2023, YCCF was proud to receive the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, an online resource portal offering insight into millions of nonprofit organizations around the world. YCCF earned the top seal by providing authoritative data from several validating sources, including 990s. YCCF’s most recent financial information, strategic goals, and efforts in equity are available through its GuideStar profile.
In 2023, donors created 26 new funds to support the causes they care about for generations to come. Their contributions totaled $8.5 million to the Foundation. These gifts helped the Foundation reach its goal to raise more than $1 million for the Fund for York County by the end of 2023. With an endowed gift to YCCF, funds are invested to grow over time. This provides donors with the ability to make a much greater impact in the York community. Anyone interested in learning how YCCF can help meet their charitable needs can visit www.yccf.org for more information.
The financial stability of YCCF’s nonprofit partners is critical to the community’s success.
Nonprofit organizations added $1.6 million to their endowments in 2023. By doing so, they will sustain their organizations and programs for as long as they continue to exist.
Additionally, YCCF’s scholarship program awarded over $525,000 to students from over 13 York County school districts.
YCCF continued to offer its virtual education series, Together We Thrive, to explore and uncover barriers to economic mobility within the community. Subject-matter experts were invited to discuss the pertinent issues and challenges our community faces to offering financial stability for everyone along with the solutions they are implementing through their nonprofit organizations. We will continue to offer this series in 2024. Follow our facebook page to stay updated on the next webinar. To re-watch the recordings from 2023, visit YCCF’s YouTube channel.
The YorkCounts page on YCCF’s website was also updated. This site serves as a community resource hub of York County data to help inform program development and public policy decisions by local grant-making organizations. The data links and resources on this page focus on community issues that are priorities for YCCF, our fundholders, and grantees.
Our Embracing Aging initiative is now in its 11th year of helping people improve their aging experience in York County. Visit http://www.EmbracingAging.org to see how YCCF can help your company or group create an age-friendly culture. In May, YCCF hosted Aging activist, Kyrié Carpenter, to share the importance of dismantling ageism and the societal biases that exist against the aging population. As part of its commitment to creating an age-friendly York County, YCCF also provides TroveStreet, an online aging navigator resource. In 2023, TroveStreet held its first library tour across York and Adams Countys, stopping at 10 locations and reaching 150 people. Visit http://www.TroveStreet.com to create a plan for your aging.
In 2023, YCCF continued working on its goal to ensure York County is a more equitable and inclusive place to live and work. Through its Racial Equity Fund, YCCF awarded over $130,000 in grants to nonprofits that serve marginalized communities of color. YCCF staff continue to improve their own cultural proficiencies by working with experts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Training was provided to staff to help increase their knowledge and understanding of various cultures and to expand their own lens through which a person views and experiences their environment.
YCCF staff also received a certificate of completion from Dementia Friends Pennsylvania after attending a training on recognizing the many forms of dementia as another aspect of using our DEI lens.
And finally, after 13 years with the Foundation, President & CEO Jane Conover officially retired at the end of 2023. YCCF Board and Staff are grateful to Jane for her dedication to the York County community and wish her a happy and restful retirement!
