Children Fleeing Violence Fund Awards $130,000 to Organizations Serving Children from Central America

The Children Fleeing Violence Fund, a collaborative grantmaking effort established by the Meyer Foundation, has awarded a first round of four grants totaling $130,000 to organizations that serve young people living in the DC region after fleeing violence in Central America.

The Children Fleeing Violence Fund was created in response to the 2014 crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, which brought thousands of young people to the DC region and strained the capacity of the nonprofit organizations that serve them and their families. Contributors to the fund include the Prince Charitable Trusts, Kaiser Permanente Foundation, and Patricia Weiss Fagen. The fund is housed at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.

Legal representation at immigration hearings is among the most urgent unmet needs for these young people, and the Children Fleeing Violence Fund’s initial grant round focused on support for nonprofit organizations that provide legal services, as well as support for communications and advocacy to raise community awareness around this issue.

“We believe deeply in the power of collaboration,” said Meyer Foundation CEO Nicky Goren, commenting on this collective investment from local funders. “We were delighted to partner with our colleagues on this important issue.”

The grants awarded include:

• $40,000 to CARECEN to support advocacy and communications
• $30,000 to Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County to support legal services
• $40,000 to CAIR Coalition to support communications, advocacy and legal services
• $20,000 to Hogar Immigrant Services (Catholic Charities of Arlington) to support legal services