- $180,500 granted towards several non-profit organizations with programming that leads to more housing and economic stability
- Encompass Early Education and Care is one of six non-profit organizations receiving funds that serve those within the ALICE threshold.
- Video shows special programming offered at Encompass and a new facility in Oconto Falls that is expected to be completed by June.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
In 2021, more than 39,000 households struggled to afford the basic cost of living in Brown County which was a record at the time.
At the start of 2024, a representative with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation said "Poverty is a huge problem in Brown County and Green Bay."
"We're able to help families, wrap our arms around them, and be that support," Alexa Priddy, Encompass early education & care fund development director, said.
The organization is one of six local non-profits awarded the 2023 Stand Together Foundation grant from the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation.
It's helping specifically to support a space that is connected to our child and family advocate program.
I'll have more on that program later, but first, Kari Olson, Greater Green Bay Community Foundation grants and scholarship programming director, called attention to some shocking statistics.
Below are the six non-profit organizations awarded:
- Encompass Early Education
- Golden House
- Kewaunee County Department of Health & Human Services
- The Gateway Collective
- Veterans 1st of NEW
- We All Rise: African American Resource Center
"In Brown County, one-in-four people are in the ALICE threshold. So they're working but they really aren't making ends meet," Olsen said.
ALICE pertains to people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, but still employed.
In 2021, Brown County experienced its highest number of those falling between the ALICE threshold and the poverty line (39,071) according to the United for ALICE organization.
$1.5 million has been awarded to non-profits since 2018 to help those in the community regain economic stability.
In 2023 more than $180,000 was awarded to several non-profits joining the fight against poverty.
"The costs for childcare continue to rise and for most families there's just no support," Priddy said.
Priddy said Encompass supplies basic needs assistance such as food, and clothing, and offers educational spaces for children.
"We're able to help really get in front of those generational cycles and see that breakdown," Priddy said.
And now the organization will use the funds awarded to them for a new center coming to Oconto Falls.
"I think it's going to help the workforce here in Green Bay, and it's going to help the Oconto Falls community and we're just excited to be part of it," Priddy said
The grant program also applies to Kewaunee and Oconto counties. Priddy said that the organization's new facility is expected to open in June.
Click here to donate to the organization.
